26 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ March S9. lass' 
day or two—and you have likely saved the patient’s life, if the 
surgery has given yourself pain. It may surprise you to find how 
soon, unless the heart of the plant he gone, new roots will be 
formed. This hint would ai one time have been of much value to 
myself. Unpleasant surprises will be fewer as you come to love 
the flower as it deserves, and gain fuller knowledge of its habits, 
and I trust the result of your present investigation will be as 
gratifying as my own. — A Noktiikrn A.m.vtkuk. 
TRITELEIA UNIFLORA IN POTS. 
These bulbs are very useful for pioducing a quantity of white 
flowers in winter. Their dark green foliage and the number of 
flowers are always welcome in the dull days. We have many pots 
of them in a warm greenhouse. They commence flowering about 
Christmas, and continue until the end of March. The flowers are 
much liked in a cut state in the house, also for making wreaths and 
crosses, and they help to add to the beauty of the conservatory or 
greenhouse associated with other plants on the front stages. We 
place several bulbs in a 5-inch pot, the soil used being two parts 
good loam, one of decayed manure and old mortar rubbish. The 
bulbs are placed about an inch under the soil, which is pressed rather 
firmly. They should be potted in August. The pots are then 
placed in a cold pit until the end of October, when they can be 
removed to the house in which they are to flower. After they 
have filled their pots with roots liquid manure must be given 
twice a week. When the flowers have faded remove the plants 
from the greenhouse to a cold pit till the foliage is dead. The pots 
cm then be placed under the shade of a north wall, or the bulbs 
may be planted out in such a place till August, when they can be 
tiken up and repotted again. —Geo. Price. 
CUTTING AND TASTING FRUIT AT SHOWS. 
In reference to this subject Mr. Goodacre at page 82 alludes to the 
dissatisfaction that was caused at the Crystal Palace early in September 
last year by the prize in the class for “any other black Grape” not 
named in the Company’s schedule of prizes being awarded to good 
bunches of Lady Downe’s in preference to what your correspondent 
terms “ ordinary ” Muscat Hamburghs, but which the majority of 
Grape growers present at the time considered neat well-finished bunches 
of that excellent Grape, and deserving first honours. If the “ ordinary ” 
character of the Muscat Hamburgh is the production of medium-sized 
compact bunches consisting of well-coloured berries, then your corre¬ 
spondent’s description of the exhibits referred to is quite correct. But 
the reason I Lave referred to this particular paragraph in Mr. Good- 
acre’s letter is this —he says “ Because I quite agreed with the judges 
in this case I was advised to ‘ taste the difference,’ but I did not do so, 
as I condemn the tasting system ; it often disfigures exhibits,” adding, 
“ and I maintain that unless a man can judge with his eye he is not 
qualified to judge at all.” I quite agree with your correspondent in 
his condemnation of the practice adopted at some shows of cutting and 
tasting all kinds of fruits, as in my opinion none but Melons should be 
tasted ; but what I maintain is that Mr. Goodacre and every other 
])ractical fruit grower should know very well what the relative qualities 
(flavour included) of Lady Downe's and Muscat Hamburgh Grapes are 
the first week in iSeptember, or at any other time of the year for that 
matter, without “ tasting ” them at the time. The same may be said in 
the case of judges who may consider it necessary to cut fruits of Royal 
George and Barrington Peach to enable them to decide the awards by 
flavour, the specimens of both being in every other respect equal. In 
short, all practical fruit growers, especially those who officiate as judges 
at shows, should be sufficiently well acquainted with the relative 
qualities of all our best and well-establ-shed varieties of Grapes, 
Peaches, Nectarines, Plums, Pears, and Apples, to be able to judge of 
the merits of examples of the respective kinds when set before them 
without having to taste them.—H. W. Ward. 
THE ORCHARD HOUSE. 
[ i lecture delivered at Rlrmingham on the 13th lust, by T. Francis R vers, E-q J 
The cultivation of Peaches and Nectarines under glass, at one time 
almost a mystery of gardening, has, within the last few years, made an 
enormous stride ; the horticultural exhibitions all over the country show 
that a very great development has taken place in spite of the obvious dis¬ 
advantages of climate. The Peach, as everyone knows, is not indigenous. 
The habitat is generally assigned to Persia, and it is certain that Peaches 
are there very abundant and good. Travellers call them exquisite, and 
maintain that they are better than in England ; this I take leave to 
doubt, animal food is generally so very indifferent in the East that 
fruit of any kind is welcomed. The climate of Persia, although very 
hot in summer, is very cold in winter, and this is exactly suited to the 
Peach, the tree is a rampant grower, and requires an intense and dry 
cold in winter to induce it to rest. You have, no doubt, seen how easily 
it is excited to growth by our damp and sometimes warm vvinters when 
out of doors. I make these remarks to show that the dry air of an 
orchard house conduces to the health and well-being of the tree. Until 
the abolition of the duty on glass. Peach-growing was carried on in 
houses with moveable sashes glazed with 4-inch squares, and containing" 
as much timber as glass, in a very few years these lights became dim 
and dingy, the glass itself was of very bad quality, and dust would 
accumulate in spite of the gardener’s care. It is now difficult to under¬ 
stand how good fruit was produced at all under these conditions, and 
the abolition of the duty was a real relief to the gardener ; to the 
nurseryman desirous that his sorts should be correctly named, it was 
invaluable, the most extensive nurseries had scarcely wall-room enough 
to grow the number of trees required for securing scions, and I am 
afraid there was therefore a good deal of confusion in the names of 
sorts. As these were limited the evil was, perhaps, not so very great. 
About the year 1849, my father, recognising the great value of 
exactitude in nomenelature, and desiring to grow his own Peaches, 
constructed a rough glass shed with the new glass, departing entirely 
from the old system of sliding sashes. The shed was a lean-to, 
and built with fixed rafters 20 inches apart, with sliding shutters 
in the back and front. Of course he was told that the trees would 
burn, that the thorough draught would kill them, and other evils 
would occur^ and he was rather nervous as to the result. In¬ 
stead of losing his trees they flourished exceedingly, and he soon, 
saw the impoitance of the dry air and brilliant sunshine. His 
expectations were more than realised, and he began to extend the 
culture, without, I think, being at all aware of the importance of the 
experiment on the future of fruit cultivation in England. After the 
rough shed, he took counsel with his garden architect, builder, and 
carpenter, who was at the same time a very intelligent labourer, and 
built a span-roof on the same principle of fixed rafters and large 
squares. The first shed was supported by larch poles sawn in half, 
larch being very cheap at that time, and the span-roof was built in the 
same fashion, but 20 feet wide, 12 feet in the centre to the ridge pole, 
and 5 feet high at the sides. This house, from the abundance of light 
and the thorough ventilation, the ventilators b ing deal planks on. 
hinges, running the length of the house on both sides, was a still 
greater success, and began to attract the attention of those cultivatora 
who were disconsolate from the repeated failures of the crops on -walls. 
About this time the parish church was in debt for a considerable sum 
for restoration, which it was difficult to raise. The parish was then 
fortunate in having the services of a very energetic curate (the present 
rector of Fringford), who had watched the experiment with great 
interest, and who persuaded my father to publish the new system, and 
give the proceeds of the first edition to the parish. After some hesi¬ 
tation the book was published, and to the author's great astonishment, 
quickly ran through a first edition, a large sum being placed to the 
credit of the church a year after its publication. It was tlierefore 
evident the idea was a happy one, it supplied a want which was, 
felt by most fruit cultivators. No doubt many mistakes were made 
from want of knowledge, and I may say, because the system was ex¬ 
pected to produce fruit without much care ; moreover gardeners could 
not be practically acquainted with it, and it is difficult to learn from a. 
manual, however simply written. 
As the original houses were quickly filled with trees, more were 
required, and it became necessary to extend and somewhat embellish 
the first idea of a rough orchard house, and to devise a structure which 
should meet the claims of the kitchen garden and the ornamental 
fruit house. The next was a span-roof 14 feet at the ridge pole, 24 feet 
wide, and 100 feet long, and this size, 1 think, is the most convenient. 
The length, of course, depends upon the will of the builder, it may be¬ 
half a mile if he likes. The points to be gained are complete venti¬ 
lation, and as much sunshine as our climate will afford. A house 
100 feet long, of the above width, built in the year 18.55, has produced, 
annually for the last twenty-eight years from 3500 to 4000 Peaches and 
Nectarines, a result which I venture to say would not be given by any 
wall built at the same cost—namely, £140, the original cost of the- 
house, the harvest of fruit extending from the beginning of July to the first- 
week in October. The work being carried on under shelter the gardener 
does not reap the plentiful crop of chilblains and the certain future of 
rheumatism consequent upon nailing and pruning wall trees in the- 
inclement early springs of our climate. I do not, of course, say that- 
the work is carried on without expense, but I maintain that this is- 
amply compensated for by the increased and continual production of 
fruit, and the great pleasure afforded of the dry atmosphere throughout 
the winter and spring. I do not know a prettier sight than a well- 
arranged orchard house when the trees are beginning to show the pink 
tips of the blossoms, and during the brilliant display of the trees when 
on bloom, the climate is dry and is free from the moisture inseparable 
to a conservatory, the trees are one sheet of rose-coloured blooms. ancT 
the interest, unlike most flowering trees, is kept up until they have- 
yielded their produce. 
Since the permanent establishment of orchard house culture, the- 
question of planted-out trees versun potted trees has been often agitated. 
For my own part, having given the planted-out trees a thorough trial— 
in fact, I have one house devoted to them—I am convinced that the potteiPi 
trees are superior. There is great difficulty in restraining trees planted 
out. The Peach naturally grows very vigorously in a dry climate, and 
does not submit to root-pruning, in many places the soil is not suit¬ 
able ; but those who object to the constant labour of watering cam 
pursue a modified system with the greatest advantage. This consists in 
the employment of perforated pots, the perforations, about an inch in 
diameter, being made about 4 inches from the rim of the pot and carried 
round ; the pot being sunk in the border below the perforations during 
the summer, roots will push through these holes into the surrounding- 
