JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
48 
[ January 18, 1883. 
formal outlines should, as far as possible, be avoided, such as 
hedges or screens of Yew, Arbor Yitse, See., as they are extremely 
monotonous. Evergreens that naturally have a tufted appearance, 
as low-growing evergreen shrubs, Rhododendrons, and Berberis 
Darwini, with the choicer description of deciduous flowering 
shrubs, disposed in wavy rather than in straight lines, will afford 
a pleasing contour and variety. Tall trees must be at a reason¬ 
able distance, and yet a spreading Beech tree or Lime readily 
accessible and provided with seats will be much appreciated in 
the intervals between games. Arbours and summer houses, good 
as they may be in their way as refuge from a passing shower, or 
a shelter from heat to non-players, or resting spot for the heated 
or fatigued player, are inadvisable from their being suggestive of 
complete seclusion or retreat from the affairs of ordinary life, and 
are incompatible with the associates of a playground. Temporary 
shelters from.sun and rain answer their purpose much better, as 
for instance, tents or awned seats.—G. Abbey. 
(To be continued.) 
EASTER BEURRE AND BEURRE RANCE PEARS. 
The first-named Pear (referred to on page 11) is with me not 
to be depended on. Although blooming profusely, and often 
setting a heavy crop of fruit, very few, considering the quantity, 
are of any use, as they crack seriously, and are very often covered 
with black spots. The soil is a deep loam, rather stiff, but well 
drained, and although this variety is trained to a wall in the best 
part of the garden as regards aspect and soil, the produce is 
anything but good. Our largest tree of this kind (fan-trained) 
had quite a bushel and a half of fruit on it this season, but the 
majority had to be thrown to the pigs, it being so badly spotted 
and cracked. The rest that were stored in the fruit-room are not 
keeping well, and will be of little value. 
Beurrd Prance, I find, is much more useful, and as a January and 
February Pear is very good, being juicy and rich in texture, but 
cannot be depended on only from walls with an exposure to the 
south. This, and last year too, most of the fruit was good for dessert 
purposes, many being from 6 to 9 inches in length ; but this 
variety, with many others with me, is liable to crack. The 
trees of these two kinds are old, but are enriched with decayed 
manure about the roots annually. The fruit, too, is left on the 
trees as long as possible, being generally the last two kinds that 
are gathered. A few trees of these two kinds planted in the open 
are of little use, only very few fruits on them coming to perfec¬ 
tion. I intend to saw them down and graft early kinds upon 
them, as they are certainly more profitable. Beurrd Ranee I 
could recommend as a winter Pear to anyone having south wall 
space sufficient to spare, to be grafted on the Pear stock, and the 
branches to be trained horizontally a foot apart, not forgetting to 
mulch in winter with decayed manure, as it tends to keep the 
roots near the surface.—A. Harding-, Orton Hall Gardens, 
Peterborough. 
MY SUBURBAN GARDEN. 
(A COLUMN TOR AMATEURS.) 
“ Didn’t I tell you that if you sent a letter to an editor of one 
of the gardening journals that he would insert it ? I had no 
doubt whatever he would do so. Learned and scientific disqui¬ 
sitions are all very well, but unless I am very much mistaken the 
majority prefer plainer fare ; and while I do not go so far as to 
say that ‘ he who drives fat oxen must himself be fat,’ I am 
strongly of opinion that no one can communicate information 
that is so useful to amateurs as an amateur himself who records 
his own practice. Go on as you have begun. I shall look out for 
the next edition.” 
Such was the letter which last Saturday’s post brought me 
from my horticultural friend ; and although I did not in the first 
instance tell him to which paper I should address my letter, he 
making no suggestion on that point, he has evidently been on the 
“lookout,” and I have obtained at the least owe reader. I will 
take this as encouraging and proceed. 
1 wish to say a little more about my glass structures, or rather 
about plant houses generally, for these are increasing apace, and 
I perceive that money is being wasted in their erection. The first 
house I had built was the most elaborate of all, cost by far the 
most money, and has given the least satisfactory results of any. 
It is a conspicuous span-roof, very lofty, with upright side lights 
(which do not open), 8 feet high, and a lantern roof containing 
ventilators. A flat latticework table for plants runs round the 
sides over the hot-water pipes, and a stage step above step occupies 
the centre of the house. Why I had such a house built I do 
not know. The plants cannot be watered without climbing up 
amongst them, and the result is that those at the top are often 
too dry. “ But did you not state for what purpose the house was 
required ?” some reader may ask. Yes, I did, in a way. I told 
the builder I wanted it for “ Camellias, Azaleas, Fuchsias, Palms, 
Liliums, and all those sorts of things,” and he appeared to know 
in a moment as if by intuition ; and with a “ Leave it to me, sir, 
leave it to me,” the affair was settled. 
Now the plants in this “ great mistake,” as we call it, never 
have done well. The Camellias cast their buds and have too many 
brown leaves ; the Palms have a yellow hue that is not agreeable ; 
Fuchsias get infested with thrips ; and small plants, such as Cine¬ 
rarias and Calceolarias, fall a prey to aphides. The truth is the 
house is not adapted for plants in pots ; it is too hot and dry in 
summer, and in winter makes sad work with the coal heap. A 
correspondent last week referred to unsuitable structures for 
plants. This is a case in point. Such erections as this are plant¬ 
killing, not plant-growing houses, and I would warn all inexpe¬ 
rienced amateurs against erecting them. 
Now, as I cannot grow plants in this house, what am I to do 
with it? “Clear out the stage, take up the brick floor, make a 
bed in the centre, and plant Palms, Araucarias, and such-like,” 
says one friend ; but purchasing plants of that kind and soil in 
sufficient quantity for supporting them is a costly experiment; 
and, besides, I do not want such big plants. No, I shall turn it 
it into an orchard house. I believe the natural soil will grow 
Peaches and Pears very well, as they grow well in the open ; but 
fruit does not always follow the blossom. My plan is to plant 
cordon Pears on the outside of the house and take them through 
like Vines, training them either vertically or obliquely up the 
sides at intervals of 3 feet. At this distance sufficient light will 
pass between them and through the roof for the Peaches in the 
centre, which will be grown the same as they are grown in America 
—namely, as standards, as I apprehend I shall have an American 
climate. What a sight an American Peach orchard is ! Once 
seen it is not likely to be forgotten by any traveller from the old 
country. But to the Pears. As each cordon can attain a length 
of at the least 10 feet by curving over the path, I think the plan 
worth trying. So much for an initial mistake in building and the 
proposed remedy. 
To proceed again. The next house I erected was much less pre¬ 
tentious. I think the more experience a person has the greater is 
his disposition to approach simplicity in most things. His zest 
for doing something greater than his neighbours becomes dulled, 
and he adopts a more common-sense practice of doing that which 
will be best for himself. With this object I erected a low span- 
roofed structure, 25 feet long and 12 feet wide, with a 3-feet path 
down the centre, and side stages each 4^-feet wide. The walls 
are 2 feet 9 inches high, and glass lights with sliding ventilators, 
above them, 1 foot 3 inches, the height from the floor to the apex 
of the roof being 8 feet. This is a serviceable house, and nearly 
everything grows well in it. The two shelves 15 inches from the 
glass overhead on each side of the path are especially useful and 
also convenient, being only 5 feet 6 inches from the floor. The 
roof ventilators consist simply of three 18-inch “ skylights ” on 
each side on hinges and perforated rods for affixing on a pin 
where required ; thus the lights can be opened from an inch 
to a foot according to the weather. This is no doubt very rudi¬ 
mentary, but the plan has this advantage—it answers well. The 
stage is 2 feet 9 inches from the ground, and 15 inches from the 
glass roof in front. But for the shelves, which hold as many 
plants in a small state as can be grown to decorative size on the 
side stages, the house need not have been so high or the roof so 
steep ; nor do I see that the side lights are of any real service. 
The house is divided so as to form a warm and cool greenhouse, 
and with all its faults suits both the plants and myself. 
The side stages of this house are of open latticework, which 
I have found is decidedly not the best base for the majority of 
plants. The air, often too dry, rising up through the pots and 
striking the under sides of the leaves, is not good for such plants 
as Cinerarias, Cyclamens, Calceolarias, Primulas, Begonias, 
Gloxinias, Hyacinths, and Ferns. All these plants thrive much 
better and are less liable to the attacks of insects when the pots 
stand on a surface of ashes, gravel, or cocoa-nut fibre refuse kept 
more or less moist according to the season of the year and 
weather. That this is so I have no doubt whatever ; indeed, if it 
were not I think we should not find so many what I may term 
close stages in nurseries ; and why with that experience before us 
persons will go on making open latticework stages passes my 
comprehension. I will have no more of them, nor do I advise 
their adoption by other amateurs who wish to grow softwooded 
plants in the best manner with the least trouble in watering and 
fumigating. 
My stages are now covered. The best and cheapest method of 
