February 20. THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
bush by the side of Wellingtonia. Other devices were 
to show the big tree as it is, bigger than all others. 
There was once a curious computation for discovering 
the ages of trees from their diameters, and by that, the 
age of this tree ought to bo 3000 years ; but that com¬ 
putation is now thrown overboard, for the most accurate 
is that from counting the ring formed by the annual 
growth ; according to this latter plan, the age of the old 
Wellingtonia was 11 00 instead of 3000. D. Beaton. 
GROWING GRAPE VINES AND PEACH-TREES 
IN THE SAME HOUSE. 
“ I wish to have your advice relative to a house 
which 1 am about converting into one for Peaches, 
Vines, &c. It has hitherto been used as a moist stove, 
but being about to build another, I should wish to turn 
the old one to good account. The situation, dimensions, 
&c., are as follows:— 
“ A lean-to house, end wall facing west, back wall 
facing south (it is in the corner of the garden). 
“ Back wall is thirteen feet high; front wall, five 
feet, being three of brick and two of glass. Length of 
house twenty-live feet; width twelve feet. The roof is 
fixed; front lights open. There is a wooden ventilator 
at the end (about half-way from the ground), three feet 
by two. 
“ It appears to me that this would not be sufficient 
ventilation for Peaches, &c. In summer the heat is 
very great. 
“A brick flue goes round the bouse, close to the walls. 
This I would abolish, as it would interfere with the 
trees. I do not care to have the house heated, not 
being anxious for very early crops. 
“ The points upon which I want your kind advice are 
the following:— 
“ 1. How many trees could I have on the wall ? 
“2. How many Vines? 
“ 3. Should the Vines be inside the house ? 
“ 4. What soil, and depth of same, should be inside? 
“ 5. Could I liavo a few dwarf trees in pots along the 
centre ? 
“ 6. The varieties of the different trees you would 
recommend of Vines, Peaches, Nectarines?— An Irish 
Subscriber.” 
This case of our correspondent is just one of those 
cases in which explicit enquiries are made, and to which 
only a general answer can bo given. There is com¬ 
paratively little difficulty in managing a house set apart 
for a particular object; but it requires great nicety to 
manage a number of things in one house, and all to be 
done respectably. I could name at least a score of 
amateurs, who do what our correspondent intends, and 
much besides, as not content with Peaches and Grapes, 
they grow many plants for ornament. But restricting 
ourselves to Peaches and Vines, a very fair result can 
only bo obtained by a sacrifice on one side or the other. 
For instance, I have had line Peaches grown on the back 
wall of such a house, and on standard trees in its centre, 
with a heavy crop of Grapes on the rafters overhead; 
but extra colouring and fine flavour in the Peach were 
generally procured at the cost of a diminished size in the 
berry of the Grape, as the extra air admitted to flavour 
and colour the Peach acted as a stand-still to the swelling. 
On the other hand, when a higher temperature was 
required to swell and ripen the Grape, the Peaches, 
though they might be obtained large, were generally, 
though juicy enough, rather deficient in colouring and 
flavour. By not giving quite so much air as would 
give your Peaches perfection, and not quite so much 
heat as would swell Grapes to perfection, very good 
crops of a medium quality can be secured of both. 
Instances frequently occur, in which both are first-rate; 
but these are not every-day occurrences. 
1 he form of the house could not be improved for fruit to 
which little or no forcing was to be applied. Are both ends 
opaque? or is the eastern end glass? If so, that would 
help whatever was placed on the north wall. If both 
ends are opaque, I would recommend an Elruge Nec¬ 
tarine at one end, and a Homan Nectarine at the other. 
These do better under comparative shade than Peaches 
in general; and even they will do little good, if the Vines 
across the roof should be nearer the ends than four or 
fivo feet. 
If the flue is in good order, and you contemplate no 
better mode of heating, I would by no means advise the 
removing of it as you speak of, as in all such houses, 
even though you allow the fruit to come almost naturally, 
there will be days and times when a little fire-heat would 
next to secure the well-being of your fruit, such as a 
sharp frost when the Peaches were in bloom ; and dull, 
cold weather when the Grapes were in bloom ; or dull, 
wet weather when the Nectarines were ripening, and 
when extra air, without a little heat, would stunt the 
berries of your Vines. 
There are several modes- of planting such a house 
without disturbing the flues at all. For instance, a 
broad shelf might come outwards over the flue in front, 
for pot-plants ; a two or three-feet latticed-path between 
the fluo and Poach-trees trained to an upright, and then 
a semicircular trellis, extending to within three or four 
feet from the back wall, and within three feet of the 
glass, and then about eighteen inches or so from the 
fluo at the back. The Vines might be planted and 
trained with a single stem to each rafter, and then 
brought down to the rafter, which would always help to 
give a security for firm, short-jointed wood. 
Again, supposing that you resolved upon having 
Peaches against the back wall, two or three trees, ac¬ 
cording to your fancy, would be necessary, and these 
should be Noblesse, Royal George, and Violette Ilative; 
and these should be chosen half standards, three feet or 
so in height, and the trellis should proceed in a slanting 
position to the back wall over the top of the flue, and 
the stem of each tree should be laid on the three sides 
of a narrow wooden box, the south side being open. 
The wood of the box would prevent the heat of the flue 
at all affecting the stems. With the idea of having 
dwarf standards in pots in the centre of the house, 
three feet would be as near the ground as it would be 
desirable to go. In such a case, where the branches of a 
tree come rather near to the flue, a flat board, fixed be¬ 
neath the branches horizontally, would spread the heat 
out into the house, and prevent one tree being much 
hotter than the rest. Under such an arrangement, the 
Vines might be planted inside the house, in the position 
previously recommended for Peaches. If the roots of 
both are to be contained inside the house, a four-inch 
wall had better divide the middle of the house, so that 
a Peach tree may be removed without injuring the 
Vines, and vice versa. 
If the Vines were planted outside, they could come in 
at the wall-plate, bo trained to the rafters, without 
interfering at all with the flue. In this case, the whole 
interior border might be appropriated to Peaches, and 
the Vines would have their roots wholly outside. For 
such a late house, it matters little whether the Vines are 
planted outside or inside; but if the situation of the 
house was so elevated as to admit of it, the Vines might 
be planted inside, a foot from the flue, and the roots 
allowed to get outside by arches underneath the flue and 
the front wall. 
Before proceeding to the direct inquiries, allow me to 
say, that you will want such a ventilator in each end, 
and three more of equal size in the apex of the roof, 
where the glass joins the back-wall, or there is next to 
