124 
THE FLORIST. 
REVIEW. 
The Orchard House. By Thomas Rivers, of The Nurseries, Saw- 
bridgeworth. Fifth Edition, Longman & Co. 
We are pleased to see that this popular little work has reached a fifth 
edition—no small compliment to the author of this treatise, and the 
inventor of orchard houses, who has had to do battle inch by inch with 
a host of opponents, to a system which Mr. Rivers has fairly made his 
own. Our own opinion on the merits of orchard houses, and the 
valuable means thus afforded of securing a crop of fruit, under the too 
often disadvantages of our fickle climate, has been frequently expressed. 
But their merits do not rest in merely securing ordinary season crops. 
They can be made to prolong a supply of the finer kinds of fruit, much 
later than can be effected by any other means ; and hence their great 
value in large establishments, when a supply beyond the usual period 
proves of the utmost value to the gardener. Of their almost universal 
adoption, the following extract from the very modest preface to this 
edition will show: “ Orchard houses are now familiar things. Hundreds 
are rising up all over the face of the country. No garden structures 
have ever so rapidly advanced in popularity; ” a fact which our 
own knowledge amply confirms. That the introduction of orchard 
houses has given a great impulse to an important branch of fruit 
culture, cannot be denied; to the amateur they are still more valuable 
than to the professional gardener. The recreation and pleasure derived 
from attending to the culture of the trees is one which we cannot 
too highly recommend; and unlike many other sources of amuse¬ 
ments, can be made a profitable one at a small risk. Their intro¬ 
duction has also created a new field of nursery enterprise in sup¬ 
plying the numerous orders for fruit trees in pots ; and we shall not 
be far wrong in predicting for orchard houses a yet wider adapta 1 on, 
and one more generally interesting. It would be unfair towards Mr. 
Rivers to make extracts from a work which should be in everybody’s 
hands ; and as the proceeds of the sale are devoted to a most praiseworthy 
object—the repair of the parish church at Sawbridgeworth—we hope 
all our readers will take the opportunity of at once possessing them¬ 
selves of the work, and by doing so help the author in his good 
object. 
CALENDAR FOR THE MONTH. 
Auriculas .—The very sudden change to a summer sun has brought 
the Auricula into bloom very suddenly. Shading during the heat of 
the day must be adopted to prolong the bloom, and water freely. We 
hope to see the Auricula well represented at St. James’s Hall on the 
21st of the month. 
Azaleas .—The young plants will now be growing rapidly, and must 
be well attended to ; syringe daily, water when necessary, stop and tie 
shoots, and turn the plants occasionally, and do not let them stand too 
close together ; give air freely in mild weather ; and fumigate with 
