182 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER 
(jyand'ijlorn and Cerent spccinsisshntis are also effectually used 
as central dowers. 
Immediately after the distribution of the rewards at the 
Palais de rindustrie, placards were posted up, in which, 
among other items ndating to the continuation of the Ex¬ 
hibition, it was announced that the “ Garden ” would be 
open as hitherto till the end nf the month. What the Com¬ 
missioners meant by the ‘‘ Garden,” I am at a loss to 
understand; fur, besides that of the Plorticultural Society, 
nothing else, in the vicinity, was worthy of the name, and 
nothing else was open as an exhibition. Now, at the very 
! time in question this garden was completely broken up : 
all the plants had been taken away, and, with the exception 
of the aquarium, the various houses and tents had been 
taken down. The clearing away has been continued; it is, 
therefore, probable that the paragraph was inserted by mis¬ 
take. There was, to be sure, a small plot of gi'ound at the 
back of the princqial building, and which, in the absence of 
other things, was tastefully filled with garden ornaments 
and Coniferre; but this was rather an agreeable resting- 
place than a garden. 
L(i Pirsse, and other journals, have just announced the 
sudden death of Count Mole, whose name has long been 
associated with science, and the progress of agriculture in 
particular. 
The marked distinction bestowed on McCormack’s reap¬ 
ing machine by the Jury of the Exhibition has, of course, 
given great satisfaction to the Americans here; but the 
paragraph inserted in the official announcement, that this 
machine “ is the model oir which all the others are con¬ 
structed ” is rather bold. It would be curious to know by 
what process the Jury arrived at this conclusion, stated with 
so much authority.—P. F. Ketr. 
IIOKTICUl/rURAL SOCIETY’S GROUNDS. 
The idea thrown out by a corrcs 2 iondent is certainly 
quite original, but there is a great deal of had taste about it. 
Imagine a deputation waiting upon the noble proprietor, 
for the ijurpose of informing him that the Horticultural 
Society’s Exhibitions have died an ?(/niatural death. Con¬ 
sequently, the grounds are of no further use to the Society, 
imploring him to allow tiie aforesaid grounds to be turned 
into a “ cemetery,” and concluding with the request, that the 
benevolent proprietor himself would oblige them by marking 
out the spot for liis own interment! There is one step from 
the sublime to the ridiculous, and in this case the adage is 
verified. 
Your correspondent goes on to say, “I differ from you as 
regards one individnnf; the whole horticultural world is 
indebted to him.” Unquestionably it is, for a vast amount 
of scientific Imowledge. But is the liortioultural world 
indebted to him for the dismemberment of one of the 
noblest institutions in the kingdom ? His liaving lield the 
chief management of affairs for a iieriod of twenty-five 
years, is no argmuent in favour of his continuance in office 
now; in fact, recent disclosures has ^iroved quite the 
I contrary. The state of the finances alone liave betrayed a 
j want of foresight and judgment amounting almost to reclc- 
I lessness, and, unfortunately for your correspondent, mere 
I assertion of opinion is not jiroof of facts. Tt should be 
j remembered, the individual in question has been the 
I mouthpiece of most of the scientific gardeners of the day, 
; and in jiossession of tlie results of their experience in 
I horticulture; is it, therefore, too much to expect courtesy 
I in return ? Assuredly not. 
I As for many of us requiring a “ touch up ” occasionally, 
I admit it is the case; but there are a fitting time and 
jilace for it, and tlie observation addressed to a certain 
nobleman’s gardener was rude, if not insulting. I know of 
many similar instances of uucourteous behavour towards 
exhibitors, wliich is niucli to be lamented, since the success 
of the Society depends upon the encouragement given to 
gentlemen’s gardeners.—J. E. T. 11. 
December 11. ! 
ORCHARD HOUSES. ' 
Mr. Eivt.rs, at page 92, takes up the gauntlet, buckles ^ 
on his armour, and ajipears as apparently secure under its * 
protection as if hammered by Scott’s “ Henry the Smith.” ‘ 
Now, though I have not the least idea that I shall be able 
to make liim tremble in his case, not having the power a * 
Napoleon had over the inventor of the armour for his pet i 
Guards, when so self-confident of its ball-proof qualities, he I 
ordered him to stand up, and undergo the first trial; still, ! 
T hope to show, before I have done with the subject, that 
iMr. Rivers’s structui’es, though useful, are not always in 
place. Even the useful Nile was a greater benefactor to the 
human race than it is now, when kept by its ancient great 
rulers under more stringent subjection. But I think I hear 
Mr. Rivers calling out, 1 am a liard matter-of-fact man, and 
I must now meet him with a similar material. Let us see 
how he went to work to create and jiroduce what he calls his 
Orchard-houses to protect his pets. 
His first Orchard-house was, I have no doubt, suggested 
by the hedges wdiich, in his father’s time, were used as a 
Xirotection for I'hints, as we find his first step was to cover a 
space betwixt two hedges Avith glass, which I will call 
0. No. 1, in Avhicli he placed Bear-trees, iStc., in pots, which, 
by-the-by, he had seen in France. As it was a ncAv affair 
for him, it could hardly be expected Mr. Rivei'S would arrive 
at perfection at once, so, by-and-by, when attending to tlie 
Avants of his favourites, he finds that he has began at the 
top in jdace of the foundation ; that his feet are in cold 
Avater, and his head in hot. He is convinced that this Avill 
not do, yet no remedy suggests itself. HoAvever, lieing a 
great traveller," Ave shall sup^iose him so journeying either 
in a neighbouring county celebrated for calves, or elseAvhere, 
it matters not, for the benefit of mankind. Fortunately, he 
is shown one of the recejitaclesfor the aboA'o useful animals, 
and being naturally of a bright turn of mind, it suggests at 
once—“This is what I want. Dear me! I have only to 
substitute my glass roof for the thatch ; for even to the 
airing I cannot see how it can be improved.” This is 
Mr. Rivers’s No. 2 Orchard-house. Had lie travelled a 
little further, he Avould have found the old farmers even in 
possession of the same system of airing practised in the 
Royal Gardens at Frogmore. iMr. Rivers, perhaps, believed 
that he Avould have the Avhole horticultural Avorld adopting 
his views, and that he should even get farmers to drive out 
their coavs, coA’er their sheds with glass, and substitute his 
dear pets. Hoav far John Bull has agreed in this pro¬ 
gressive direction, I am unable to detei’inine ; but this I do 
knoAV, Mr. Rivei's has got many of the supporters of the 
Church to join him, as nothing in gardening goesdoAvn Avitli 
many of them so well as the Orchard-houses. As an instance, 
one of my friends erected one this season, puirhased trees, 
which, 1 believe, he expected Avould produce fruit in time 
for his nuptials, having, at the same time, his bride looming 
in the distance, and, like more of us, believing beforehand 1 
that Beaches Avould be a greater treat if produced by his 
own fostering care. His gardener, therefore, hardly dared I 
look at them. I saAV these trees a week or two before the !. 
expected event, groAA’ing extremely luxui’iantly, Avithout a fruit I 
on them, and having three to four inches of manure heaped I 
on the top of the pots, and, I expect, Avatered three or four ! 
times weekly Avith liquid-manure, and, like the most of ' 
amateurs J have couAmrsed Avith on tlie subject, in the full 
belief that they should be stopped every tAA'o or three : 
inches ; the consequence is, he has bushes Avith fifty small 
shoots in place of nice trees Avith a dozen. HoAvever, per¬ 
severance may enable him to’ get fruit in time for his j 
children. What interest his bride takes Avith his pet trees ‘ 
in such an atmosphere I have yet to learn. Be it remem¬ 
bered, I told you our fi’iend began at the top, and as he has 
noAV got to No. J, and only substitutes glass and bricks for 
boards, confirms my assertion, 
Noav, Avhat is this No. ■') ? New? “ No, no.” I could 
show you one Avithin a little distance of Mr. Rivers’s of many 
years standing. What is No. 4 to be? Why, glass to be ’ 
sure. This, of course, Avill be neAv. No such thing; they 
have been in existence quite as long as No. 3. But I am 
almost afraid to tell the ladies hoAv long it is since I Avalked i 
in a house of this description—not in paths or alleys too i 
narroAv for a modern dressed lady to get through, but ! 
