THE* COTTAGE GARDENEE. 
2&9 
January 20. 
i infinitely superior. Tliere may be some excuse for this, 
there lia^ung been, of late years, so much disappoint- 
: ment experienced by false characters and recommenda¬ 
tions accompanying new varieties, as to render culti- 
i vators credulous, and giving them reason to pause 
before they plant any varieties of which they have not 
some personal knowledge. 
Next week we shall speak of such fruits as are adapted 
for planting against walls on different aspects and situa¬ 
tions, and, in doing so, we shall treat more particularly 
of Pears. We have seen many instances where—in 
the north particularly—these can be cultivated with 
much greater advantage against walls than Peaches, 
Nectarines, or Apricots, and without one-half of the 
trouble or risk which attend these sorts of fruits. 
During the week the trade of Covent Garden has 
been unusually dull, more so than it has been at tliis 
season before; and this is atti'ibutable entirely to the 
state of the weather. Vegetables have been very 
I abundant. Cabbages and Savoys make from lOd. to Is. 
per dozen. Greens, 2s. per dozen bunches Celery, 6d. 
to !)d. per bundle. Brocoli, Os. per dozen bunches. 
Onions, 2s. Od. to 3s. per bushel. There is a good 
supply of forced Rhubarb, at 2s. per bundle. Sea-hale, 
Is. to Is. od. per basket of about ten stalks. Several 
parcels of Asparagus have also been offered, but it is 
very small and weak. Potatoes are a dull sale, but still 
maintain good prices—say from £o to per ton. In 
fruit we have nothing new, and the price continues the 
same—4s. to Os. per bushel for kitchen Abplf.s, and 
Os. to 10s. for dessert sorts. Of Pears there is nothing 
new besides what were enumerated last week. Blowers 
and Plants are also of the same descriptions as we 
mentioned in our last report. H. 
GOSSIP. 
A SECOND edition of Mr. Rivers’ pamphlet on The 
Orchard House, or the Cultivation of Fruit Trees in Pots 
xmder Glass, is just published. It contains an appendix, 
entitled “ The Experience of 1832.” In this appendix 
Mr. Rivers states that his orchard-house has fulfflled all 
his expectations. He warns those employing such a 
structure not to have vines trained against the roof, as 
the full unshaded light is one of the requisites for ob¬ 
taining well-flavoured fruit; and we will conclude our 
notice of this work, which is so promotive of “glass for 
the million,” with this extract;— 
“ With regard to air; as soon as peaches begin to colour, 
if the weather be hot and sultry, all the shutters should be 
kept open night and day; and if it be even cold and windy, 
tliey should be always partially open. I believe but few, 
very few, even good gardeners have the courage to give suf¬ 
ficient air to vineries and other glass erections; so that 
grapes are often colourless and flavourless, owing more to 
the want of air than anything else. In one of my vineries, 
the past season, I had a nice crop of Hambro’ grapes. IMien 
they commenced to colour, mildew, as with many of my 
neighbours, made its appearance on a few bunches. All 
the shutters, back and front—it must be recollected that I 
have no sliding lights ; all my roofs are fixed, and air given, 
back and front; the old-fashioned lights, slid down as usual, 
would admit rain—were immediately opened, and kept open, 
night and day, till the grapes were ripe. They were then 
closed at night, and opened in hot sunshine, so as to keep 
the house airy, wann, and dry. The grapes were perfect in 
colour and flavour, and their skins were so tender as to 
nearly melt in the mouth. No fire-heat was employed; all 
was done by sun and air. 
“ In the orchard-house culture of peaches and nectarines 
syringing must play an important part; for the red spider 
is so fond of their leaves, that, like Sindbad’s Old Man of 
the Sea, he will stick closely, and cannot be dislodged with¬ 
out applying the syringe close to the mider surface of the 
leaves. If this pest be suffered to make the least progress, 
the flavour of the fruit will be entirely destroyed. A small 
microscope, in the hands of the amateur, will be the best 
instrument to discern it; looking closely at the undersur¬ 
face of the leaves, if it be there, a small bright red speck, 
like a red grain of sand, will be seen. The experienced 
gardener does not look for them. One glance at the upper 
surface of those leaves, which show some minute yellowish 
specks, is quite enough for him. If, therefore, the least sign 
be apparent, continue the regular syringing, even till the 
fruit is ripe; othei-wise, syringing may be discontinued 
when the peaches and nectarines commence to soften, pre¬ 
paratory to ripening. 
“ Trees that have been from four to seven years in pots wiU 
require water daily in summer, as the pots become full of 
roots, and absorb a large quantity of water. Lifting the trees 
more than once during the summer, as mentioned in the 
treatment of those at Hyde Hall, will be found quite neces¬ 
sary. They become by this treatment sturdy as oaks. Those 
at Hyde Hall, adverted to below, are at this moment 
(Novemher, 1832) the most robust and fruitful bushes I 
ever saw. 
“ I was reminded of my orchard-house trees in a recent 
visit to Versailles. I there saw, as I daresay many of my 
readers also have seen, hundreds of orange trees centuries 
old, kept in tubs, and confined to a very small quantity of 
earth as compared with their bulk, and not shifted for many 
many years; they are all in full health and vigour. How 
are they nourished ? Simply by top-dressings annually of 
manure, and occasionally liquid manure. If, then, an 
orange tree can be thus kept in health and vigour in a tub 
for centuries, surely a peach tree, in a pot, receiving nourish¬ 
ment above and below, can be sustained so as to give fruit 
for ten or twelve years. This is mentioned because I once 
heard a really clever gardener say, “ Ob, it is impossible to 
keep trees in health in pots ! ” 
“ I have found from the experience of the past season 
that peaches, nectaiines, figs, and grapes, will not ripen in 
those houses, with hedges for walls, referred to in page 9. 
Apricots, plums, cherries, and pears will succeed well; the 
three latter even better than in houses with walls either of 
wood or brick.” 
The first week of the month included two sales of very 
sujterior Shanghae fouls. On the 4th, Mr. Stevens dis¬ 
posed of Mr. Punchard's superfluous cockerels and pul¬ 
lets, amounting to 183 birds, which were sold in 170 
lots, realising just over T'4S8. The highest price given 
for a cockerel was TlO 10s.; and the highest for a pullet 
£7 7s. The sale was very numerously attended by ama¬ 
teurs as well as dealers, from Bristol, Birmingham, Yar¬ 
mouth, and elsewhere. The healthy and good condition 
of the birds was the subject of general remark. 
The other sale, January .3th, was of Mrs. Herbert's 
White, Buff, and Blach Shanghaes. These were sold 
by Mr. Strafford. 
Mrs. Herbert has sold privately, before she thought 
of a sale, nearly T-300 of birds. One pullet she sold 
for £20, or guineas. Had she fortunately kept thoise, 
and not put so low a figure on her other pen at Bir¬ 
mingham, which was immediately sold for 20 guineas, 
the sale would have been still more extraordinary. 
There were 110 birds, and they realized i'SOO Is. lid. 
