344 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ October 16, 1884. 
in these positions from insufficient space elsewhere, and in 
return have had to sponge the whole of the Vines. All the 
late crops, or those grown to precede those planted on warm 
borders, succeed admirably if started by gentle heat such as 
that afforded by a hotbed made up in cold frames. The last 
batch to be grown under the protection of glass may be sown 
on a warm border and covered with a frame until the weather 
is sufficiently genial for them. 
Those grown in pots during the winter need no staking if 
Osborn’s Forcing is the variety grown, which is decidedly the 
best for winter and early spring. Later in the season, if 
grown in pots and these have to be removed, staking is neces¬ 
sary, or the stems break and are then worthless. Staking 
should not be deferred until the plants attain half their size, 
but must be attended to as soon as they commence making 
the third leaf. When sown and placed upon a shelf where 
they are intended to remain and fruit, a few stakes at inter¬ 
vals of a few yards along the row, and a cord run the whole 
length, is as good as staking and considerably less trouble. 
When grown planted out in pits no attempt is made at 
stalirg. 
In the cultivation of Beans in pots and planted out I am 
inclined to think much unnecessary feeding is practised. 
During the past year or two I have been experimenting with 
this matter, and have found that the plants do not succeed 
so well nor fruit so abundantly when much liquid manure is 
poured into their pots as when one or two applications of 
Standen’s or any other good artificial manure is applied to the 
surface. We have found two applications, whether grown in 
pots or planted out, if the soil is moderately rich when the 
seed is sown, to be ample for the production of a heavy 
crop of Beans. 
It is important in the cultivation of Beans during the 
winter that the plants have a light position close to the glass, 
where a circulation of air can be maintained daily, or 
whenever the weather is favourable. The most suitable 
temperature is that ranging from 65° to 70° at night, 
according to external conditions, with a rise of 5° or 10® by 
day, the latter from sun heat.— Wm. Bardney. 
ORCHAED HOUSES. 
“ Tout bon chevalier croit que son armure est pins brillante 
que I’armnre de son adversaire.” No one can dispute the truth 
of this old French saying. The letter of “ H. W. H.” on the 
subject of orchard houses is apparently intended as a thoroughly 
calm and judicial opinion, on the whole damning the system 
with faint praise. But there is perhaps another side- I, too, 
also have an orchard house—a legacy from the promoter of 
orchard houses, built according to his original plan in 1855; 
size, 100 feet by 24 feet, span-roofed. When the house was 
built, large trees enough to stock it and to bear fruit without 
delay were in existence. Since the year 1857 the house has given 
a continuous supply of fruit from July to October of not less 
than 4000 annually. The trees have suffered, as all trees will, 
fx’om attacks of the Peach aphis, but not from red spider. The 
first pest has always been promptly destroyed—not a difficult 
operation. The second pest has probably not made his appear 
ance from the climate not being agreeable. This orchard house 
has, like Grape vineries, greenhouses, conservatories, Peach 
houses, Orange houses. Orchid houses, &c., required the atten¬ 
tion of a man. It has also wanted, like the other houses, water 
and air; and the trees, like others, have wanted change of soil. 
But, unlike the other houses, from October to March it has 
required scarcely any attention. Now, what is there in this 
method of cultivation that presents the extreme difficulty sug¬ 
gested by your correspondent? It is true that the absence of 
the owner may cause some anxiety on his part as to the care¬ 
taker, but does he not share this feeling of anxiety with regard 
to his dwelling house, his horses, poultry, or any other living 
plant or animal which he may possess ? Neither wealth, talent, 
nor prevision can render any man independent of his fellow 
creatures. I fail, therefore, to see that this objection is a 
weighty one. 
The objections raised as to the difficulty of Inowing the 
exact process of potting, &c., are incidental to all processes of 
gardening. Difficulties will arise in Vine-growing, Peach grow¬ 
ing, Pear-growing, rearing poultry, bees, stock, and of everything 
living; but surely these difficulties are to be overcome. Into the 
selection of trees I cannot enter, as it does not seem to have 
anything to do with the system—it is a matter between the 
purchaser and vendor; but I suppose that no man on starting a 
stud farm would commence by buying unsound animals. This 
appeal to Nature seems to me to be a fallacy. If Nature is left 
to herself our fields would soon produce unprofitable weeds, and 
our fruit trees would probably be Crabs and Sloes. Nature 
cannot be followed as a guide. The natural instincts of man 
are inveighed against by thousands of pulpits at least orce a 
week. The natural instincts of animals are by no means calcu¬ 
lated to increase the comfort of man. The natural instincts of 
the land, if I may use the term, would afford a very lean sus¬ 
tenance to its masters ; therefore I think that Nature must be 
left out. The doleful picture of the state of an untended orchard 
house may equally be drawn of a neglected farm, a neglected 
family, a neglected vinery, greenhouse, or garden; but because 
these cases exist are we to give up farms, families, or gardens ? 
For my part, during thirty years’ experience of orchard houses, 
I have never seen the ezils which your correspondent has paintei 
with so much pathos and power. 
The pathetic complaint of the misery endured by the drawers 
of water may, 1 think, be applied to many other affairs of life. 
Do not servants complain of the toil of carrying water to upper 
rooms, and cannot all this be i-emedied by the exercise of a little 
ingenuity ? Most places possess a water supply, and what is 
easier to conduct than water ? The theory of your corre¬ 
spondent’s gardener in ascribing injury to lightning was in¬ 
genious, but as glass is a non-conductor his statement will 
hardly bear criticism. 
The vendors of infant trees are scarcely likely to pay their 
labourers for unprofitable labour; but this lean say, that the 
vendors of Orchids will probably reap more profit from the sale 
of a small houseful of these plants than the vendors of orchard- 
house plants have received during the years the orchard house 
has been in existence ! Ah, but the profit on the books—sixteen 
editions of the *•'Orchard House!” Your correspondent quotes 
Scripture. I will follow his example. The sorely tried Job, 
after all his experience, could think of no greater trial than 
authorship. Witness his heartfelt outburst, “ Oh, that mine 
enemy would write a book ! ”—T. Francis Rivers. 
SHRUB-GROUPING. 
High rank among shrubs does the common Holly take throughout 
the year, its daik glossy green foliage always being ornamental, and 
although its habit of growth is somewhat rigid, yet it is so symme¬ 
trical that the elegant tapering form of a well-grown specimen is 
unsurpassed in beauty by any other shrub either in a state of natute 
or art. In winter the rich red berries clustering so thickly upon the 
branches in charming contrast to the dark-hued foliage, impart such 
an air of regal beauty to it that we gladly hail it queen of winter 
shrubs, just as we do the Rhododendron in spring and early summer. 
It is indigenous to the soil here, and if one woi'd were necessary in 
proof of its hardiness I could point to a hundred magnificent wild 
specimens growing out on Ashdown Forest in bleak situations exposed 
to every wind that blows. Why are not more of it planted ? It is 
undoubtedly true that its growth is somewhat slow in a poor thin soil, 
but we have only to prepare stations of rich soil for it just as we 
do for a fruit tree, and it well rewards our care by growth that is 
positively rampant. In mixed groups for screens or hedges, or as 
specimens out on turf it is alike useful and ornamental. Ilex 
aquifolium flavum (jmllow-berried), I. a. tortuosum. Golden Queen, 
and Silver Queen are the best varieties, and are all worthy of one or 
many places, according to the size of the shrubbery. 
In elevated sheltered situations the Lauiustinus (Viburnum Tinus) 
is in full bloom when there are hardly any others to be seen, and its 
pretty white flowers, though small, are by no means inconspicuous. 
Last winter it was very beautiful, with such a mass of flowers as to 
quite brighten the shrubbery from Christmas till spring. At an 
elevation of 400 feet above the sea it passes unscathed through our 
most severe winters, flowerless or comparative^ so, it is true, but a 
little mild weather soon brings it iuto bloom. The magnificent 
specimens of Viburnum lucidum which I saw at Tehidy on the north 
coast of Cornwall a few years ago induced me to plaut some. They 
have grown, it is true, but judging from the result of three years' 
growth it is doubtful if they will ever approach the size of the Cornish 
specimens. 
Although the Arbutus suffers so much from exposure that there 
is always a risk of losing it, yet if a warm sunny nook can be spared 
for it by all means have one or more of it, for then it does not suffer 
so much from a hard frost as it does if exposed to cold cutting blasts 
from the north-east. Occasionally the sheltered shrubs have a good 
crop of the pretty pendant crimson berries, which are so uteful for 
