212 tllE COTTAGE GARDENER. January 1. 
Ix'eii accustoliiecl to see lliein iu tlie Duke of A’s, or Lord 
tk’s gardens. Many eniplojers are alarmed at this, and do 
not enjoy half the produce in fruit they might do, if so much 
money was not c.xpendcd in these massive structures. A 
lean-to Vinery, with a lixed roof formed with light rafters four- 
and-a-half-inclics hy one-inch-and-a-half, and Avails of brick, 
i>r boards, according to taste, with sliding shutters, back and 
fi'ont, will give, as 1 can testify, as line Grapes as any one 
can Avish for. The history of my lirst Vinery Avill, I have no 
doubt, be very interesting to Mr. Lerguson, and so here it is. 
dust ten years ago, 1 found that a sand-pit, from Avhich 1 
had for many years dug sand, hail becoiAie inconveniently 
large; 1 therefore made a fresh one, and then jiondered 
on what 1 should crop my old pit Avith; it had a southern 
exposure, and Avas, of .course, very hot. The sand is cal¬ 
careous, and very favourable to the groAvth of Vines, for 
llambro’ Grapes, in hot seasons, had ripened on young 
Vines trailing on the ground, so 1 decided on making 
my ])it into a Vinery. Sly bricklayer Avas consulted; 
he shook his head, and talkcil about “foundations on 
sand,” and concrete being recpiired. I began to think 
aljout his bill. 1 had seven children, and merely Avauted 
Grapes for my family. I thought, ought 1 to spare 
so much money to please my fancy ? and so I sent my 
bricklayer aAvay. 1 happened at that time to have a large 
number of Larch iioles Availing to be used ; 1 thought I Avould 
Iry and huihl a Vineiy after a ncAv fashion. IMy Larch ))oles 
Avcrc saAvn once down, their loAver end charred, and a coating 
of coal-tar given to them; they Avere then let into the ground 
(their tlat sides outwards) iu tAvo roAvs, one for the back 
Avail, the other for the front; 1 then nailed on to them 
asphalte felt, double, to giA’c increased thickness; a plate i 
and light rafters Averc then placed on them ; the roof glazed 1 
Avith sheetglass, at dd. per h)ot; apertures for sliding shutters I 
Avere cut in the front and back loulls, and, behold, my first j 
\ inery; i)crfectly original, and a regular outlaw of a house. | 
Lor eight years 1 have had abundance of Grapes from it for i 
my family, from the middle of August till the eud of October, 
t have had the felt painted over tAvice Avitli coal-tar and 
lime; it looks neat ami tidy, Avith its black Avails and Avhite 
rafters, but not picturescpie, like our friend’s sketches of 
old I’each-trees; but, like them, it has done good service 
and seems likely to do much more. 
In great contrast to this is the new Orchard-house at 
Audley hind. Lord llraybrook has I’each-houses and l^each- 
Avalls iji abundance, but he Avished for the luxury of Avalking 
(iin<»i(/ his Peach-trees rather than Kiider them; accordingly, 
a house has been built, ninety feet long and twenty i'eet 
Avide; the sides, two feet two inches brick, aud glass tAvo feet 
six inches, the lights swinging on pivots; inside there are 
three beds slightly raised ; one in the centre, six feet Avidc, 
and tAvo side-beds, eacli three feet three inches Avide; the 
[laths threc-feet and a-half Avide; the roof is to be kept 
perfectly clear. Noav, this is an aristocratic Orchard house, 
in Avhicli there is no occasion for hot-Avater [lipcs ; for, as I 
have before stated, trees, as boshes, in Orchard-houses, do 
not suli'er from spring frosts. 1 have also proved it, which 
is better; for, iu 1852, April Iflth, Ave had a severe frost 
of 12°, the trees all setting their fruit; 185:1, March 2511), 
I lie trees in full bloom, also a severe frost of 14.o; 185T, 
April 25th, 8^ ol frost; 1855, May doth, the fruit set and 
swelling last, 12'’ of frost. Now, in all these terrible 
visitations, my Orchard-house bush-trees escaped ; but )uy 
trees trained to a trellis, under the glass, sulfered so much, 
that scarcely a fruit escaped. 1 have, therefore, a right to 
say, that a Avell-built Orchard-house, Avithout artilicial heat, 
is s})ring.frost-iiroof. 
io return to the sketches given by Mr. Lerguson, 1 regret 
t hat he omitted to give No. :3. No. 4 is good, for the lixed 
root is recommended; hut the holloAv Avail iu front is a 
clumsy inyoition; aiid ventilators should be in the back 
Avail, or spider AviU soon make its appeat’ance. No shelves 
should ho over head; they are very Avell in the houses used 
by market-gardoners, and, perlui|)s, “ pay,” but they ai’e not 
agi'ceablc. In sketch No. 5, —Oli, hoAv lieavy headed I am ! 
1 cannot understand the highly figurative description; but 
it m.ay, 1 think, be called the “ CorkscroAV Cavern Orchard- 
house.” No. 0 is a common lean-to Vinery; but, as to the 
recommendation to grow Strawberries, French Beaus, and, 
a )oAe all, ( ucunibers, under the shade of \ ines, Avhich 
j ought completely to cover the roof, it is, like the CorkscreAv- 
1 house, an amusing flight of fancy. No. 7 is, really, a good 
sketch ol a forcing Peach-house, such a house as may be 
seen in most of our good gardens. A great imiirovement 
on this is a house noAv building by one of my friends, near 
Brighton; a lean-to, resting against a brick-Avall; height in 
back, tAvelve feet; Avidth, lifteen feet; Peach-trees are to be 
trained to tlie back Avail; ami three feet span in front of 
the Avail left for a border to be covered with iron grating, to 
serve as a Avalk; then a slightly raised border, seven feet 
Avide, on Avhich Peach-trees in pots are to be [ilaced; then 
, in front, Avitbin tAvo feet of the front sashes, Peach and 
! Nectarine-trees are to be trained, as espaliers, to neat iron 
I rails; thus there is a three feet Avalk at back; the same in 
' front, and there AA'ill be a nice succession of fruit. Those 
! on the Avail Avill ripen first, those on the trees iu jiots next, 
I and those on the espaliers in front last. This house, iii- 
I vented by a non [irofessional, combines all that can be Avished 
' for iu a fruit-hourse, and beats out-and-out all the sketches 
j given by Mr. Ferguson, from one to nine; sketches Nos. 8 
i and y are obsolete, unclean, aud uiiAvorthy of the present 
day. I am surjirised that a sketcher at StoAve could think 
of giving them; he surely cannot have seen the new fruit- 
houses at Trentham, or the Raspberries forced at Arundel 
and Frogmore. 
1 Avill conclude by noticing the conclusion of Mr. Fer¬ 
guson’s articles. If he ever came to look at my Orchard- 
houses here Avithin these three years, he either came on a 
Sunday, Avhen 1 and all my [leojde Avere at church, or at some 
other time iinlcnuwn io <niij one here. Why did he not ask to 
see meThe Peach-Avall at CliisAvick Avas really superb 
last autumn. There Avere not, hoAvever, 500 dozen gathered; 
but if there Avere, aud they Avere sold at three shillings, or 
four shillings, per dozen, it would not, to quote Mr. Fer¬ 
guson, “ pay.” The Avail, 1 should calculate, cost .iT500; 
interest on this, at the usual rate cliarged on buildings, viz., 
seven per cent, Tl05; labour say TdO. 
This question is asked, “ Hoav is it that Orchard-houses 
retard in place of ripening ? ” You arc a good and clev'er gar¬ 
dener, Mr. Ferguson, and a scientific propagator of Laurels— 
they do require much science—but you know nothing what¬ 
ever of the growth of fruit in an Orchard-house. Let me 
tell you how and Avhen Peaches ripen Avilhout tire-heat, un¬ 
der glass, in a lean-to house facing the south. Noblesse, 
Violelle lldlive, and Royal Georye Peaches ripened In 1854, 
August 12th, or a fortnight before those on Avails. In 1855, 
in the same house, they did not ripen till August 20th, but 
still they Avere a fortnight before those on Avails in the same 
district; aud this is the usual diU'ereuce. In a spian-roofed 
house it is quite interesting to note how the time of ri^Aening 
may be iullueuced by situation in the same house. My 
Orchard-house, iu Avhich 1 groAV fruit for iny family, is 
about twenty feet wide, abutting S. E. and N. W., the border, 
therefore, Avliich runs along the uorlh-east side is partially 
shaded by the trees in the central border, or, at least, if not 
so, it ahvays feels the cool Avinds from that qtiartei', so that 
the fruit is retarded. My Royal Georye and Noblesse 
I’eaches standing there did not ripen iu the past season till 
the lirst Aveek in Uctober, Avhereas, those on the south-Avest 
side of the central border, and on the south-west border, 
ripened early in Se[itember; so that, although 1 have gene¬ 
rally recommended my friends to build span-roofed houses, 
abutting N. E. and S. \V.,it Avillhe seen that a house like mine 
Avill give a long succession of fruit. Ijcan-to Orchard-houses, 
particularly if the back Avail is of brick, rijieu their fruit earliei- 
than those Avith spau-roofs, but they are not so agreeable 
for a promeuade. As to the colour and flavour of Peaches 
from ail Orchid-house, as they have never been seen or 
tasted by Mr. Ferguson, Ave must excuse his assertion. 1 
can only testify that, although the past season Avas notorious 
for poorly-flavoured Peaches from Avails, 1 had some from 
my [lotted trees liner than 1 have ever eaten, and their 
colour of a more brilliant crimson than 1 have ever seen 
from Avails. But some kinds, on trees too much crowded 
with fruit Avere, like the Avail Peaches, very deficient iu 
flavour. 
As to the bit of “ soft-saAvder,” at the end of Mr. Fer¬ 
guson’s article, 1 thank him for it; but must tell him, 
that potted-trees were (and, I suppose, are) never intended 
to take the [dace of established trees against Avails. How 
