23(5 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[January 10. 
■will thus he seen that this, the hack line of studs, will stand 
seven feet in height clear from the surface. For the front 
wall ten studs, four feet long, must he inserted in the ground 
one and a half feet, so that they stand two feet six inches 
clear from the surface;* on these studs, hoth at front and 
hack, must be nailed a plate four inches by two and a half, 
on which the rafters are to rest: the studs are thus far 
arranged in two lines. Now then for the rafters: these 
must be fourteen feet long, and four inches by two in thick¬ 
ness, placed with the narrow surface upwards, to spare the 
trouble of “ ploughing,” to make the rebate for the glass, 
which is great labour and waste of material. On the upper 
side of each rafter, exactly in the centre, must be nailed a 
slip of half-inch board, three-quarters of an inch wide ; this 
will leave half an inch and one-eightli on each side for the 
glass to rest on,—not too much when the width of the glass 
is given. We have thus the rafters so far prepared for 
glazing, but not yet fitted on the plates at top and bottom : 
they must never be morticed, but let in at top by cutting out 
a piece, and sloped off at bottom. 
To receive the glass at the top of the rafters, a piece of 
three-quarter inch deal board, six inches wide, must be 
nailed along the top to the end of each rafter, so as to be 
even with the surface, and in this should be a groove to 
receive the upper end of each piece of glass ; at the bottom, 
a piece of board, one inch thick and six inches wide, must be 
let in for the glass to rest on, and to carry off the water. We 
have thus so far a sloping roof, seven feet three inches (with 
the plate) high at back, and two feet nine inches high in 
front; but the glass is not yet in. The most economical 
glass is 10-oz. British sheet, which can be bought at 2^d. or 
3d. per foot, and the best size, twenty inches by twelve; 
puttying the laps, as it prevents breakage by frost; placing 
it cross-wise, so that the rafters must be about twenty inches 
asunder. On and outside the back studs, half-inch boards 
must be nailed, well seasoned, so that they do not shrink too 
much; these must he painted white. In the back wall, 
sliding shutters, two feet six inches by one foot, in grooves, 
must be fixed, for complete ventilation; two close to the 
roof, and two about eighteen inches from it. 
The front must have also half-inch boards, nailed on out¬ 
side the studs; one of them, the upper one, to be on hinges, 
so as to let down the whole length of the house; these, 
when all open in hot weather, ventilate thoroughly. To add 
to this, and it is all required in summer, the boards will 
shrink and let in air : a fierce sunlight is thus admitted by 
the large glass, and abundance of air, in which all fruit- 
trees thrive to admiration. So much for the timber and 
glass; but when one sees that to walk along the centre of 
the building, which is about four feet nine inches in height, 
a person must be of very diminutive stature, the inquiry 
aiises, how is head-room to be made? How simple is the 
answer: make a trench two feet six inches wide, and two 
feet deep, in the centre of the ground plan; this will leave a 
border on each side four feet nine inches wide. The bottom 
of this trench forms the foot-path ; its sides must be sup¬ 
ported with boards, or with four-inch brickwork. Now, as 
j everything depends on these borders,—for there must be no 
benches and no shelves—care must be taken to make their 
surface loose and open: loose materials, such as coarse cin¬ 
ders, lime—rubbish from old walls, or bricks broken into 
pieces in size from a nut to a walnut, may be laid on them 
about four inches deep ; they may then be forked over to 
about nine inches in depth, well mixing the above materials 
with the soil; you thus have two borders not too far from 
j the glass, and on which your orchard will thrive admirably. 
It will appear odd to read about trees thriving on instead of 
j in a border; but when I explain that this is to he an orchard 
i in pots, it will not seem so contrary to our usual garden 
culture. 
BUILDER’S ESTIMATE. 
To -. An Estimate for Erecting a Forcing House, 21 feet long, 12 
feet 6 inches wide, 2 feet 9 inches high in front, and ^ feel 6 inches 
at back. t 
d. £ s. d. 
3 feet of oak door sill, 3 by 4, including labour . 6 0 1 6 
184 feet of memel fir, for posts, plates, rafters, door-frame, 
&c., including labour, 3 by 4 . 3j 2 13 8 
26 feet ditto, for 4 corner posts, 4 by 4. 4£ 0 9 9 
* These respective heights of front and back are a matter of choice; 
j my builder gives six inches more in his estimate. 
j f The best kind of paint for these structures is Carson’s anti-corrosive. 
d. £ s. d. 
120 feet ditto, small posts between others, 2 by 2 .. 1.1 0 15 0 
154 feet ditto, rafters, 2$ by 4 . 2^ 1 13 1 
22 feet deal, for top grooving piece, If by . 2 0 3 8 
22 feet ditto, bottom rail, If by 5$. 2f 0 4 7 
40 feet super, of 3 deal, for rebates on rafters, facings on 
ditto, corner and door fillets. 3f 011 8 
336 feet f inch deal boarding, and labour and nails . 2 2 13 0 
21 feet 3 by 9 yellow deal for llaps to front, with 3 pairs of 
8-inch joints, and buttons. 0 (I 8 6 
14 feet 3 deal ledged door, joints and latch, comp. 0 0 10 0 
80 feet 1-inch deal for boarding side of path up the centre, 
with piles, and labour and nails . 4 1 6 8 
4 sliding shutters, 2 feet long each, with slides and handles 0 0 8 0 
121 square of 16-oz. sheet glass, 20 by 15 inches, with 
putty, labour, and painting rebates. 11 5 10 8 
£\7 S 9 
By using larch poles in lieu of squared timber for the studs, a consider¬ 
able saving may be effected. 
Figs. —The fig is not a general favourite; but to those | 
who like them, as I confess I do, their cultivation in the 
orchard house is interesting and most simple. 
They may be planted in the compost already rccom- ] 
mended, and in pots of the same size, top-dressed in spring, 
syringed in summer, and put to rest in autumn ; in short, I 
exactly the same treatment as recommended for other fruits. 
Although fig-trees against walls require protection from the 
frost, which would otherwise destroy tlie young fruit which 
is the first to ripen in early summer, under glass, with the 
mould perfectly dry, and the shoots thoroughly ripened, they ! 
will be safe from injury from the most severe frost. If a 
well formed bush cannot be procured, the tree must be cut ! 
down the first season to within nine inches of its base, the 
shoots when they make their appearance thinned out to five; 
when these are about a foot in length, pinch off the end from 
four, leaving the central shoot for a fortnight or so to elon¬ 
gate, then pinch oft’its end in the same manner : your bush 
will be formed, but you must not expect any fruit the first 
season ; in succeeding seasons those must be pruned in the 
same manner that you would if a bearing tree is purchased 
and placed at once in the house ; i.e., in May or the begin¬ 
ning of June, as soon as the young shoots have made about 
six inches, pinch out the terminal bud of each; this will 
make them produce fruit which will give a second crop ; the 
first will be produced from the shoots of the previous year. 
The tree will, in a year or two, become too much crowded 
with young shoots; thin them with a sharp knife, leaving no 
spurs, but cut close to the main branch or stem. Figs 
require more heat than any other fruit yet mentioned : they 
must have the wannest corner of the house, as they do not 
require much ventilation ; a house with fire-heat is, indeed, 
the most eligible place for them, and they must have abun¬ 
dance of water or the fruit will all drop, when nearly full 
grown, without ripening. The varieties best adapted for pot 
culture are, the “White Ischia; the Saint Jean,—both most 
abundant bearers ; the White Marseilles ; the White Genoa; 
and the Brown Turkey: if more varieties are required, the 
Nerii and the Pregussata may be added. 
We have thus given specimens of the varied contents 
of Mr. Rivers’s new publication, and they are but imper¬ 
fect specimens; for there are much fuller directions for 
the culture of all other fruit-trees in pots, except vines, I 
as well as particulars relative to brick-stoves for heating 
glazed structures, &c. Indeed, the pamphlet, if not 
cheap as to size, is cheap when we consider the useful¬ 
ness of its contents ; and we recommend' each of our j 
readers to forward thirty penny postage stamps to “ The 
Churchwardens, Sawbridgeworth, Herts,” who, in return, I 
will send them a copy of the pamphlet, postage free, j 
Now, if a fourth part of our readers do this, we are 
enabled to say that Mr. Rivers’s charitable object will 
be accomplished. It appears that the parish church of 
Sawbridgeworth, “ from causes not proper to he men¬ 
tioned here,” is in a very dilapidated state, and Mr. 
Rivers dedicates the profits of this work, as a contribu¬ 
tion, towards its repair, which, to use his own words, 
