82 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
May 0. 
but we fear we must not go nearer tlie German Ocean 
for success. 
Now that glass is rendered so cheap and so durable; 
now that the great principles of horticulture are ren¬ 
dered so simple and so certain, that men of eminence 
in the profession can calculate on any desired result, 
with a well-grounded confidence amounting almost to a 
certainty, humanly speaking; is it likely that the age 
can long rest on mere out-door productions ? The fact 
is, the use of glass for such purposes carries with it 
such an aristocratic sound, that the majority of those 
in the middle class of society have scarcely yet fairly 
grappled with the consideration of how far they can or 
ought to advance in this way, in order to sustain their 
position in society. That the position of such persons 
is one of advance it requires no pains on our part to 
prove; a past and prospective view of commercial 
matters, on the whole, will tend to show that; or, in¬ 
deed, a peep last year into the Crystal Palace was 
enough to drive away all stationary ideas, and to make 
the most stolid and apathetic mend his pace. Such, 
then, to all appearance, being the state of atfairs in 
their relation to gardening, we will follow the subject 
out, and in doing so, must so far shake oil' unnecessary 
trammels as to leave ourselves free to discuss any doubt¬ 
ful point in Mr. Rivers’s practice, and to offer sugges¬ 
tions,—a liberty we feel pretty well assured Mr. R., the 
ingenious originator, will readily pardon. 
it is quite evident that any advance on the old 
wall-tree system must not be sought for in the 
character of the materials alone, as to their power of 
receiving or retaining the solar heat in their own 
substances. The heat once obtained, must be enclosed — 
at least, for a considerable time, daily; and this at 
once points to the necessity of a house, or some modi¬ 
fication of one. Abundance of light is indispensable; 
and this points to a liberal use of glass, and that 
of good character. It may be asked, then, wherein 
consists the economy of such houses as Mr. Rivers 
has suggested? and, indeed, at first sight it appears 
somewhat difficult to make out a case. They may, 
however, be said to differ from the ordinary hothouse, 
in requiring no glass at the sides or ends (at least, not 
by any means of necessity), and in the total repudi¬ 
ation of any heating apparatus, as far as the wants of 
] the object sought, uncombined with any other, are con¬ 
cerned. As for the economical way of going to work, 
I in regal’d of the timber, &c., which Mr. R. has very 
properly adopted, that is alike applicable to other horti¬ 
cultural structures; nothing distinctive appears here, 
j However, economy enough to make out a case is 
1 proved in regard of the sides, and the heating ap¬ 
paratus ; and there is yet another phase of the 
question. Mr. R. adopts so simple a mode of fitting- 
up the interior, that its expense can hardly be taken 
into the account; this is as it should be, and not only 
subserves economy, but is better adapted for the fruit- 
trees. 
Now, in matters of this kind, we would fain make 
it a standing rule, not to propose or erect any struc- 
j tures for fruits alone but what a market gardener might 
j undertake with a view to profit. Judging Mr. R.’s 
\ house, without any farther modifications, we should say 
that, with sound management, such a house might be 
made to pay its way. Certainly, if any lady or gentle¬ 
man choose to erect ornamental or other structures at 
an expense that would be totally unwarrantable in the 
commercial gardener, they liavo every right so to do, 
irrespective of any advice of ours; we feel it a duty, 
however, to advise not only sound but economical 
practice. 
It will be known to most of our readers that Mr. 
Rivers has a beech hedge for a back to one of his orchard- 
houses. This, although suitable enough for some kinds, 
in some very sheltered situations, we dare not advocate; i 
those who go to the expense of making a house of this ! 
kind should by no means stop short of a proper back 
to it. We have here to express our opinion in plain 
terms; which is, that with the exception of Mr. R.’s 
beech hedge (but a closed back instead, containing 
ample means for ventilation), the house he has recom¬ 
mended—with, in the main, the mode of culture sug¬ 
gested—is capable of accomplishing most of the objects 
which gave rise to the project. Let it, however, he 
observed that, in our opinion, the idea will not rest in 
this plan alone. It is a question whether the form of 
structure is the very best for general purposes, and 
whether Hartley’s patent rough plate-glass may not be 
best for the glazing. 
There is still another position in which to view this 
question, connected with interior arrangements, and 
such is, whether planting-out may not, in part at least, j 
be adopted; for we fear much that the pot-principle— 
safe in the hands of such men as Mr. Rivers—may 
possibly fall through in the hands of the novitiate. We 
have a strong predilection in favour of span-roofs, and 
we shall therefore take some pains to examine into the 
form-of-roof question, and report thereon subsequently. 
Of one thing we are pretty well assured, that if a 
southern lean-to be adopted, a flattish pitch in the roof 
will be found the best—say one foot in three for the 
angle. We must not hear tell of shading; such things, 
although it may be right in principle, add too seriously 
to expenses to be lightly added to any invention which 
boasts its simplicity and economy. And assuredly, if 
any oue should adopt what is called a sharp pitch, and 
use British sheet of a very transparent character, so 
sure will a case arise for shading. We have great faith, 
however, that Hartley’s rough plate will do away with 
all such gimcrackery in due time. 
We may here draw attention to the floor line of such 
houses,—its relation to the outer or ordinary ground 
level. In all those cases where a house is to be self-pro¬ 
tective, that is to say, possessing no heating apparatus, 
a low level is best. We do not know how Mr. Rivers’s 
houses are in this respect, and the plan in his “ Orchard- 
house ” does not indicate a ground line, but we should 
make a point of bringing the front of the roof to within 
one foot of the ground. These, then, are some of the 
chief points to be considered as first principles, and it 
behoves every one to well consider them before making 
his first essay, for not only is there extra expense attend¬ 
ing injudicious or lightly-judged plans, but nearly always, 
in gardening matters, a corresponding amount of ill- 
success. 
We have been treating now of the orchard-house in 
its original simplicity and integrity,—that is to say, a 
glass roof, without artificial heat, for tender fruits alone. 
So far so good; it remains, however, to see whether any 
benefits may be derived to at least one portion of the 
gardening community, by combining other matters of j 
high consideration, albeit they force on us the adoption 
of artificial warmth. Of such we are assured, and 
amongst the rest, why not grape culture? Indeed, there 
arc those in society who can only indulge in the luxury 
of one glass house, and if so, why not have all their 
real needs supplied by a house of this kind ? We will 
examine this interesting question a little further on 
another occasion. R. Erringtox. 
VARIEGATED-LEAVED PLANTS. 
The ink w T as scarcely dry on my last letter, when 1 
saw two collections of plants brought up to London to 
be exhibited on the merits of their leaves only; some of 
them were in flower, it is true, but that was thought a 
secondary consideration. One of the collections was 
sent by Mr. Jackson, of Kingston, in Surrey, and con- 
