FRUIT CULTURE DURING QUEEN VICTORIA'S REIGN. 349 



many were but perry and cider fruits, and probably the Con- 

 tinental stocks as well as most of our British ones were then far 

 from correct to name. Still some good Continental fruits were 

 introduced, and are standard varieties at this day. But no doubt 

 the national dislike to anything foreign operated in some degree 

 against their general adoption in the provinces. 



Meanwhile new methods had appeared on the scene. The 

 introduction of glasshouses heated by hot water and the removal 

 of the duty on window-glass at once gave an impetus to fruit 

 culture. At first Grapes felt the benefit of the change, and 

 later on Peaches and Nectarines ; but when our great practical 

 father of garden fruit culture, Mr. Thomas Rivers, of Sawbridge- 

 worth, adopted the Continental practice of using the Quince 

 stock for Pears, and the Paradise stock for Apples, the old saying, 

 " plant Pears for your heirs," was exploded ; and the marvellous 

 little pyramidal trees a yard high, producing fruit in abundance, 

 and Bush Apples with a crop that would weigh down the trees 

 themselves, at once became the rage. 



These fancy trees, combined with Mr. Rivers' practical little 

 work on " Root Pruning and Summer Pinching," laid the 

 foundation of that marvellous culture of garden fruit which has 

 placed our British produce in the foremost position, whether for 

 size, beauty, flavour, or quality ; and has by degrees made what 

 were the luxuries of the few in the past the inheritance of all 

 classes ; for example, good Grapes, once 25s. or 30s. per lb., can 

 now be had from a shilling to half-a-crown. 



The duty was taken off glass in 1845. Timber duties were 

 modified in 1830. The practical application of hot water for 

 heating purposes dates from 1821. Mr. Edward Weeks, of Chelsea, 

 introduced his tubular saddle boiler in 1835, and Mr. John 

 Weeks improved on this by constructing his upright tubular 

 boiler in 1839. 



Another factor has been the use of steam saws and planes for 

 cutting out and shaping suitable timber for rafters, sashes, &c, 

 and naturally the use of railways, steamships, and canals for the 

 conveyance of foreign glass and timber. In fact, it is now 

 reported that one firm of brothers in the market trade have, at 

 the present time, as many as 134 acres of glasshouses. 



Later on the introduction of the so-called glass -covered walls 

 and orchard houses created a further stimulus, in which choice 



