306 
JOURXAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ April 12, 1888. 
The grower would, I think, soon find customers among the connoisseurs in 
the country. The most inexpensive form of cultivation is, I think, that of 
using perforateil pots and small pyramids, a rough glass shed, 100 feet by 
24 feet, could be filled with trees about 18 inches apart, these may 
remain in under cover until about the end of May, or at all events until 
the danger of severe frost has passed, the young fruit of the Pear 
being very liable to injury when it is the size of a small Filbert. They 
should then be removed to a border specially prepared for them by 
draining and loosening the soil, and plunged up to the rim of the pot. 
As they will then be out of doors, they will not require so much atten¬ 
tion in watering, but they must be kept fairly supplied, and when 
taken out of the house a mulching of manure must be placea over the 
pots. Liquid manure, as used for Peaches, should be given about once 
a week. Tom tits are very troublesome when the fruit has attained its full 
size, as before ripening they will pick a little piece of the flesh out near 
the stalk and leave the rest to decay. I am obliged to net the trees, 
but if expense is no object a wire house will amply repay the cultivator. 
During the summer the roots will push through the holes in the border, 
and thus gain strength enough to ripen large and fine flavoured fruits. 
At the end of October or in November all these roots may be cut off 
and the tree repotted : they can then be packed closely together, the 
pots protected from the weather with straw or dead leaves, and remain 
until the end of February, when they will be ready to put into the 
house for another season’s crop. As it is a great strain on these little 
trees to bear continuously it is well to have an alternate supply, one 
faring and the other out of doors and non-bearing. Very little pruning 
is required, the shoots should be pinched in May and June, after these 
months the fruit will absorb the vigour of the tree. 
Apples grown under glass attain a flavour rarely equalled out of 
doorSj especially the American sorts Washington and Melon, and the 
English Cox’s Orange, the latter when kept entirely under glass is 
transformed, it becomes full of juice, and has the texture of flesh which 
we generally consider the attribute of the Pine Apple. The Washington 
is a sight to see, indeed I believe some were exhibited in a fruiterer’s 
shop at Tunbridge Wells, for which he asked a guinea apiece. Grafted 
on the Paradise stock they are as dwarf and as fruitful as Pears, and 
may be grown in exactly the same manner, as, however, there is 
generally an Apple crop in England their cultivation under glass is not 
a matter of absolute necessity. If the glass shed used for protection 
has a row of hot-water pipes it may be used for Black Hamburgh 
Grapes, but the heat must not be applied to Pears. In my district 
Hamburghs will ripen without fire heat, but in the northern parts of 
England I do not think this is often the case. I only speak of Grape 
Vines for this glass shed ; but the orchard house for Peaches, &c., must 
have the roof clear. Grapes may, however, be grown as small standards 
in pots, and are exceedingly ornamental. If the early but small Grapes 
are grown these little trees may be taken out of doors in August. The 
fruit will ripen in a fairly warm autumn, and so will Figs in pots, but 
the large leaves and vigorous growth almost banish them from an 
orchard house; if, however, a warm corner can be found for them they 
will give a good supply of fruit. The great secret of cultivation seems 
to consist in pinching the young shoots ; unless this is done the tree will 
grow without fruit. The first shoot should be stopped at the fifth or 
sixth leaf, and the young fruits will immediately appear. 
During the last few years, and mainly owing to the orchard house, a 
very great advance has been made in the season of ripening of Peaches 
and Nectarines. Under glass this now extends from the first week of 
July to the first week of October. I may here say, that although in the 
south of England artificial heat may not bo a'bsolutely necessary, it 
cannot be dispensed with in the cooler districts, and it is specially 
•desirable during the early si)ring and the late autumn, a single pipe 
round the house being sufficient. With this help Peaches will ripen the 
first week of July, and a continual supply be kept up until the first 
first week in October by the following sorts, which are arranged in the 
order of ripening :— 
JULY. 
Alexander Peach 
Waierloo „ 
Early Beatrice Peach 
n Iconise n 
„ Rivera „ 
„ Hale’a „ 
n Leopold „ 
Advance Nectarine 
AUGUST. 
Eirly York Rivers Peach 
Condor „ 
Early Alfred „ 
Goshawk „ 
Lord Napier Nectarine 
Early Grosse Mi^noune Peach 
J»r. Uoj?a 
CriniBon Galande „ 
Ma/;dala ,, 
SEPTEMBER. 
PEACHES. 
Grosse Mij^nonne 
Enf?lish Galunde 
Alexandra Nobles&e 
Royal George 
Barrington 
Nectarine 
Pnn<*e8S of AVales 
Sea Eagle 
Lady Palmerston 
Golden Eagle 
nectarines. 
(Joldoni 
Stanwick Elnige 
Rivers’ Orange 
Spenser 
Pine Apple 
Hnmholdt 
Victoria 
This list is, of course, intended for ix)t cultivation, as the sorts are 
too numerous for trellis training. 1 have also confined myself to 
Peaches and Nectarines, as they are not perhaps quite so well knouui as 
Plums, Pears, and Cherries. 
Although the orchard house was devoted expressly to the English 
dessert fruits, I propose to show that with some modification the 
system may be made available for a very luxurious purpose, although 
not more difficult or expensive than Grape-growing, and that is the 
cultivation of the Orange. The Orange house was formerly a necessary 
appendage to great mansions, and usually a building of the most dreary 
character, the Oranges generally grown being small and bitter. Many 
years since a gentleman made my father a present of some Tangierine 
Orange trees, which were placed in the orchard house, and taken out of 
doors in the summer. This happened in one of our rarely hot seasons— 
thatof 1858, I think—and the trees ripened their fruit as readily as 
Green Gage Plums. After this hot summer came the cold series, and as 
the Tobacco cultivators will find out to their cost one hot summer is not 
always followed by others. The impetus was, however, given, and my 
father and myself began to collect varieties of Oranges, Lemons, Shad¬ 
docks, and Limes, all of which I have proved can he as easily grown as 
Peaches or Grapes. The temperature of an Orange house in winter 
should be about 50° ; in the summer heat it is necessary to give 
plenty of air. The house is a pleasant winter walk from October to 
March, almost cheating one into the belief that the promenader is trans¬ 
ferred to Valencia without the damp and enervating climate. The fruit 
will last on the trees without any loss of flavour for six months, and may 
then he gathered and eaten. The soil which the Orange prefers is a 
ferrugineous loam. In some parts of Italy, I understand the plantations 
are manured with beggars’ rags, and it ^vas once an article of belief that a 
sick Orange immediately recovered if a'dead dog was buried at the roots. 
Cotton cake and scraps of leather are both good fertilisers. The great 
point to be urged is the necessity of a light, large, and lofty well 
ventilated house, not too lofty, because of the difficulty of keeping the 
trees free from scale, which, as all Orange planters know, is a direful 
evil. In my own house I sometimes use a wax taper in the corners of 
the branches, and the bark may be washed with petroleum. The leaves, 
however, must be sponged with warm water by a skilful and tender 
hand, as any bruise or rough handling soon brings about an injury. I 
have collected about fifty sorts of Oranges, Lemons, and Limes. These 
are very interesting from the great variation in size and flavour, and one 
soon learns to appreciate the difference. The Maltese Blood Orange, I 
think, bears away the palm, but the varieties of the St. Michaels are 
very good indeed, the best of them being the Sustain, next the Long and 
Silver, and also the sort usually grown for commerce. The Seville or 
Bitter Orange flowers more abundantly and more frequently than the St. 
Michaels ; hence, if grown for the flowers alone it is likely to be more 
profitable. Although I am not prepared to say that as a commercial 
speculation Oranges grown in England can compete with Florida or 
Valencia, there does exist a considerable market for Orange flowers : 
the speculator must, however, avoid the season of Lent, iwhen his wares 
are somewhat depreciated in value. Lemons and Limes may be grown 
on the back walls of vineries, and really make a very useful return, and 
will produce more abun.iantly than Oranges when trained. They also 
can flourish even when partially shaded. It seems almost extravagant 
to speak of Orange groves in England, but there is no real difficulty, and 
I am certain that if sanatoriums on a large scale are erected an Orange 
grove will form a most interesting and plea.sant winter promenade. 
The Tangierine Orange is almost hardy. It is dwarf and seldom 
grows to a greater height than 5 or 6 feet, and therefore when grown in 
tubs can be easily removed to the open air for the summer. Placed in a 
warm part of the garden, the fruit will ripen even in moderately warm 
summers, and if they do not the fruit will come to perfection when re¬ 
turned to the Orange house. Plucked fresh from the tree it is delicious, 
and is quite as good in England as in Lisbon. 
This is, I fear, a dull lecture. It is impossible to avoid being technical 
in treating of technical matters, but I hope that I have been able to 
make my meaning clear. Although I am somewhat enthusiastic on 
this particular subject, I do not wish to lead anyone astray or to 
encourage an unjustifiable expense. Time, it is said, is the only real 
authority for a patent. As nearly forty years have passed since the 
first glimmerings of a new system of fruit cultivation, I may, I think, 
venture to 'nope that time has patented the orchard house. 
KOYAL CALEDONIAN, EDINBURGH. 
The spring Exhibition held on the 4th and 5th inst. was, owing 
no doubt largely to the extreme severe weather experienced during the 
previous five or six weeks, hardly so full, especially of plants, as on some 
jnevious occasions. The prizes offered for a table of plants 20 feet by 
5 feet brought only one competitor, Mr. Donaldson, gardener to H. E. 
Moss, Esq., Murrayfield, to whom the first prize was awarded. Messrs. 
E. B. Laird & Sons, AVest Coates, were in the same position in the class 
devoted to nurserymen ; the main feature of the arrangement being 
some large Azaleas and Palms in a groundwork of small flowering plants 
and Ferns. Mr. Eobertson Munro was the only exhibitor who set uj) a 
table of hardy spring flowering plants. With sixteen forced plants, Mr. 
McKinnon, Melville Castle, Lasswade, had first place, and Mr. McIntyre, 
The Glen, second. For four Azalea indica, Mr. John Patterson, Mill- 
bank, was first with large grandly flowered specimens. For two vari eties 
Mr. McLennan, Eestalrig House, had very good examples, to which first 
prize was awarded. Mr. Patterson was first also in the class for one 
plant. AVith six greenhouse plants the same exhibitor held first place, 
showing two fine Azaleas and a good Erica profusa, E. Victori®, and an 
Epacris. In the clas.s for four plants, Mr. Gros.sart, gardener to J. 
Buchanaii. Esq.. Oswald House, was first. Mr. Patter.sou was again in 
the first place with four Heaths. 
