April 28, 1881. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER . 
327 
28 th 
th 
Royal Society at 4.30 P.M. 
29th 
F 
Royal Institution at 8 P.M. 
30th 
S 
1st 
SUN 
2nd Sunday after Easter. 
2nd 
M 
Brussels Horticultural Exhibition (1st to 3rd inst.) 
3rd 
Tu 
4th 
W 
Society of Arts at 8 P.M. 
PEACH CULTIVATION UNDER GLASS. 
^^vj^'^UCH has been written lately of the various 
m ? methods adopted in the cultivation of the 
Fj (ui Alf \M) 1 ^ eac ^ un( ^ er glass. The different systems of 
planting, pruning, and training have been 
freely discussed in the gardening papers : some 
writers preferring one method, and some others, 
as the case may be. The method of planting 
generally practised in large gardens where there is a 
great demand for fruit, is to plant so that the trees when 
trained will cover the entire roof of the house. In 
span-roofed houses the trees are planted close to the side walls, 
and in lean-to’s close to the front wall, and trained-in fan- 
shape to a trellis at a sufficient distance from the glass. I 
prefer this system of growing and training the Peach to all 
others, as the trees have the full advantage of being exposed 
to all the light and sunshine possible to ripen the fruit and 
wood. Having had considerable experience in the cultivation 
of the Peach, I venture to say that more fruit can be produced 
from trees planted in a house and trained on this system, and 
of better quality too, than can be produced from any other 
method of planting and training. 
Good fruit may be grown both on cross trellises, back walls, 
and on the old-fashioned turned-over trellis in front of the 
house, but not with results equal to trees trained on a trellis 
close to the glass and properly managed. In proof of this 
assertion I might state that I planted a house here some six 
years since, a lean-to, 60 feet long, 14 feet wide, and 16 feet 
high, with a tree each of the following four varieties—Belle- 
garde, Royal George, Noblesse, and Barrington. The trees 
were young, clean, and vigorous, and had at the time of 
planting from three to five well-ripened shoots each of one 
year’s growth. The shoots were left their full length, and tied 
to the trellis just as they came from the nursery. They started 
well, and by the end of the first year’s growth they had more 
than trebled their number of well-ripened shoots, and in three 
years from the time of planting the trees covered the whole 
roof and finished-off a crop of no less than 112 dozen fine 
Peaches. I planted trees in another house some twelve years 
since, which came into full bearing four years after being 
planted, and have continued to bear heavy crops of the best 
quality ever since. 
I grow the Peach on what is now called the extension 
system. Is the system really new to the majority of gardeners 
in this country ? The name I admit is new to me, but not the 
system. I have not cut or shortened the point of a Peach 
shoot (as a rule) for more than twenty years. I do not, how¬ 
ever, allow the laterals to grow any more than I do those of a 
Vine. They are stopped as soon as they appear, and never 
allowed to make much headway ; and in this only does the 
system differ, as they are allowed to grow on what is called 
the extension system. As a matter of fact I can always get 
plenty of good shoots to fill the house without having recourse 
to the laterals. I make no claim of being the originator of the 
“ new system,” though I have practised it in a modified form 
(taking off the laterals), for more than twenty years. I 
could name several who have practised it for nearly fifty years, 
and yet it appears as a system but little known to gardeners in 
this country. 
The last place I worked at as a young man, where the shoots 
were shortened or cut back to what was thought a treble bud 
and practised regularly, was Drumlanrig, and the first place I 
ever saw the shoots of a year’s growth left entire at pruning 
time was practised at Stoke Farm near Slough by Mr. A. 
Simpson, and I am sure the system was not an original idea of 
his, at least he never said so. I have practised it ever since 
both in England and Scotland, and now, some twenty-three 
or twenty-four years after, I am amused to find it is com¬ 
paratively new to many, and thought to be a new discovery by 
some.—A. Pettigrew, Castle Gardens , Cardiff. 
BALSAM CULTURE. 
My experience on this matter has been gained from a good 
practitioner of the old school of gardeners. His method was 
most successful ; and although I live in a neighbourhood of 
good gardening, I have never seen Balsams like the magnificent 
specimens he produced twenty years ago. There is a great 
danger, especially among young gardeners, of despising plants 
which are cheap and which can be produced for a small outlay 
of labour and care. For this reason Balsams are grown by a 
few, and those few very often grow them badly. The ex¬ 
penditure of a shilling and the exercise of a little care will 
produce plants worthy to be staged in any conservatory. The 
first consideration is to procure good seed. If possible let the 
seed be English-saved, as foreign seed is often too cheap to 
be good. Any respectable seedsman will supply a packet of 
the best Balsam seed for Is. 
The compost in which the seed is to be sown should be some¬ 
what similar to that used for Pelargoniums. Small pots should 
be employed half full of the compost, and two seeds should 
be sown in each pot. The pots should be placed in a gentle 
hotbed close to the glass, and when the seedlings appear the 
weaker in each pot should be drawn out and the stronger 
allowed to grow. When the seedlings are tall enough the 
pot should be filled to the rim,This encourages the young plants 
to form abundance of roots. The plants should be potted as 
soon as the roots are plentiful into the next size, say a 4-inch 
pot, still keeping them in the frame. They may be succes¬ 
sively shifted on until they are in the pots in which they are to 
bloom, taking care at every potting that the soil is up to the 
seed leaves. If it is desired to have very large specimens the 
first flowers should be removed to encourage growth and the 
formation of side shoots. As the plants grow they must be 
taken from the frame. 
The material used by my old friend in the later pottings 
was as follows :—Two barrowfuls of well-decayed manure 
and one barrowful of good loam thrown on to the floor, chopped 
and mixed with the spade. This material was used very 
No. 4.— Vol, II., Third Series. 
No 1700 .—Vol LXV., Old Series. 
