506 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ Jnne 21 , 1888. 
I -would like to retain Smiling Beauty, Glory, Ne Plus Ultra, ard 
Hepworth’s True Briton,-while amongst seifs surely Pizarro, Black¬ 
bird and Mrs. Sturrock should not be discarded.—£)., Deal. 
(To be continued.) 
ORCHAED HOUSES. 
Since the publication of the exhaustive paper in our columns as 
prepared by Mr. T. F. Rivers and read at Birmingham, inquiries have 
reached us for particulars of the orchard houses at Sawbridgeworth, and 
plans of them have been rerpiested. As the sixteenth edition of the 
“ Orchard House ” is exhausted, and some time must of necessity elapse 
before the seventeenth can be issued, Mr. Rivers has obligingly placed 
at our disposal illustrations of his structures for the benefit of those of 
our readers who may desire to erect structures of a similar character. 
THE LEAN-TO ORCHARD HOUSE. 
I will suppose, says Mr. Rivers, an orchard house 30 feet long is re¬ 
quired. A ground-plan 30 feet long and 12 feet C inches wide should be 
marked out.. Then six posts of oak or good yellow deal, 6 inches by 3, 
and from 10 feet to 11 feet G inches in length ; or of larch-poles 
16 inches in girth, cut in two, and the flat sides placed outwards, must 
be firmly fixed 2 feet in the ground : the ground ends, before fixing, 
should be charred 2 feet 6 inches from the bottom, and then have a coat 
of boiling coal-tar, which adds much to their durability. They will 
form the back line of posts, standing 9 feet 6 inches in height from the 
surface of the ground. For the front wall six posts of the same thick¬ 
ness, 0 feet 6 inches long, must be firmly fixed 18 inches in the ground, 
so that they stand 5 feet out. Two posts will be required at each end 
(at one end, if only one door is wanted) ; these will form the door-posts. 
On these posts, both at front and back, must be nailed a plate 4 inches 
by 3, on which the rafters are to rest; the posts are thus arranged in 
two lines. 
The rafters must be 14 feet long. A 9-inch deal —f.is., a deal 0 inches 
wide and 3 inches thick, will make four, each 44 inches by 14, or nearly 
so. These are light, strong, and economical. The rebate should be half 
an inch wide for the glass to rest on (not too much for glass 20 inches in 
width). I find that scarcel 3 ' any breakage takes place from frost owing 
to the large pieces being elastic ; 10-oz. glass answers, the extra cost of 
21-oz. glass is, however, worth incurring. 
On and outside the back posts three-quarter-inch well-seasoned 
deal boards should be nailed. In the back w-all thus formed sliding 
shutters in grooves 3 feet bj' 1 foot must be fixed to act as ventilators— 
two close to the roof and two 18 inches from the surface of the ground 
(the lower shutters in the back wall must always be on a level with the 
FIO. 69.—Small Span-roofed Orchard House, 
a. Iron Eccktt; 6, Boards to the ground; e,-Ventilating shutters; d, Glass 18 inches wide. 
ventilating shutter in front) ; if two more be added to the right and 
left of the lower shutters all the better : in summer it is impossible to 
give too much air. 
The front and ends (except the doorwa}^ must also have three- 
quarter-inch boaixls nailed on outside the posts ; one of them, the upper 
one in front, to be on hinges, so as to let down the whole length of the 
house : this, wdth the back shutters, when all are open in hot weather,, 
will ventilate thoroughly. 
Where there is a brick or other wall to serve as a back wall it may be 
built against it with a great saving in expense ; but as sliding shutters; 
cannot conveniently be let into such walls ventilators may be made at 
the top of the slope of the roof by having every alternate square fixed 
in a wooden frame, which should run in a groove and be drawn up and^ 
let down -with a cord, to which an iron w-eight should be attached to- 
keep the sliding sash in place; with this the ventilators can be regu 
lated at pleasure. An equally or more convenient mode of ventilating; 
at the top of the sloping roof is by a continuous shutter of wood in. 
10-feet lengths, on hinges opening upwards raised by a line and pulley ;. 
this should be 1 foot wide at least. In a house not more than 10 feet 
wide this mode of ventilating at front and at the top of the roof will do 
very well ; but in lean-to houses of greater width it is necessary to have-, 
shutters in the back w'all on a level with those in front, so that two- 
currents of air may meet and “ stir up ” all the air in the house. 
SPAN-ROOFED ORCHARD HOUSE. 
I now give a description of my favourite sort of orchard house, the- 
span-roofed. In houses of this kind Peaches and Nectarines do not, 
perhaps, ripen so early as in lean-to houses, but quite as early as om 
walls. Owing to their being detached they can be more thoroughly- 
ventilated, and the fruit from them is generally piquant in flavour. 
In the north of England and all cold or moist districts, of which. 
England contains too many, in the Highlands, and in the cold stormy 
climates of the north of either Scotland or Ireland, it -n’ill perhaps be- 
quite necessary to introduce hot-water pipes into houses in which 
Peaches, Nectarines, and Apricots are to be cultivated, not to force them, 
but to insure their ripening properly. 
Height o. my small span-roofed house at sides, 6 feet; height to- 
ridge, 10 feet width, 14 feet. The roof rests on oak posts 6 inches by 
3 inches, 5 fee apart ; but I now find deal posts let into iron sockets- 
are preferable to any other mode of building orchard houses of wood,. 
and the usual way of building -with brick foundations and sills may bef 
adopted. 
The rafters are 20 inches apart ; the roof is glazed with 21-oz. glass,, 
in pieces 20 inches by 15 inches. The two ends are glazed down to the; 
lower edges of the glass at the sides. The rafters are 3 inches by 14 inc 
and are tied together at the apex of the roof by a light flat iron tie* 
screwed to every fourth rafter. 
The path is down the centre, and the rows of trees may be placed orb 
each border 3 feet from stem to stem, so that the sun may shine on every 
leaf. This is most essential ; for I have occasionally had some of my 
Peaches deficient in flavour, and on examination have always found the- 
trees too much croivded, so as to shade each other. In these small span- 
roofed houses the trees placed as above form a charming avenue, and' 
are looked down upon by the cultivator, so that every leaf and fruit is- 
seen. 
The small span-roofed house referred to will be found an agi-ceablc- 
and economic structure ; but large gardens require large houses, and for 
these the following construction may be confidently recommended :—A 
cheap large span-roofed house 20 feet wide and 12 to 13 feet in heighk 
to the ridge may be built after the following manner :—Oak posts or¬ 
deal posts in cast-iron sockets 6 inches by 4 and 9 feet long should be-; 
placed flatwise, so as to stand 5 to 54 feet clear out of the ground and the 
soil well rammed round them, or concrete poured in so that they stand) 
firmly. These posts should stand in two ro-ws 20 feet apart, 6 feet apart 
in the rows. On them should be nailed the plates, to receive the end of 
the rafters, which may be nailed on to them. These plates should be 
4 inches by 3. The rafters should be 44 inehes by H, and nailed to the- 
ridge-board at the apex of the roof, which should be 12 feet from the 
surface. The ridge-board should be 7 inches by H- The rafters must 
be placed 20 inches asunder. The sides and ends of the house should be 
formed of three-quarter-inch boards ; for ventilation a shutter-18 inches- 
wide made into 15-fcet lengths and opening on hinges downwards, the 
lower edge 18 inches from the ground, should be placed o-n each side :. 
these are for the admission of cool air. For the egress of the heated air an. 
aperture 1 foot deep should be made at each end just under the apex of 
the roof. To this a shutter on hinges should be fixed, and this should 
be kept open from the beginning of June till the end of September. The 
roof should be supported, and kept from going out either by light 
“ collar-beams ” of wood to every sixth rafter, by iron rods so disposed a» 
