April 8. 
COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION. 
17 
I 
better than Edward Dufusses, Mculume Margat, and Bouquet de 
Flom. For deeper rose or carmine the very best are the old 
Marquis de Moyria, Justine, and Henri Lecoq. The next shade 
in light crimson, and of them the best, are Comte du Rum- 
bateau , Aurore du Guide , and Comice de Seine et Marne. 
The dark fiery crimsons are the richest of them all, and 
La Quintiuie is the richest of them. Scipion, Charles 
Souchet, and Paul Joseph, are, perhaps, the next best of the 
dark crimson; Dupetit Thouars is yet almost as good as any. 
The Exhibition Rose (Souvenir de /’ Exposition), Reveil, and 
Adelaide liouchere, are three of the first water in this class 
of dark Roses. As Roses are the better for being trans¬ 
planted “ afresh ” every second year, yon will soon rectify 
the heights and colours according to your own eye, and as 
your soil will tell on your plants. If your soil suits the 
Manetti, have them on that stock, and as low as you can get 
them ; if not, prefer those which are budded on the Dog 
Rose. Like the rest of the world, you may probably want a 
blaze the first year, although the plants might die the next, 
and if you do, these delicate Roses on their own roots 
are not the best to begin with. You can raise Rose- 
cuttings for yourself, and plant them out when they are big 
enough.] 
— 
TOMATOES IN POTS UNDER GLASS. 
“ I wish to grow a few Tomatoes in pots, and I wish to 
grow them in the vinery if possible.—T. IV.” 
[You will see an article, by Mr. Robson, on Tomatoes, in 
the present number of The Cottage Gardener; but if 
you think of trying to grow them in pots, you had better 
let these be tolerably large ones, and stop and thin the 
shoots as they advance; and do not by any means allow too 
much fruit to be left on a plant; for being cramped up in a 
pot it cannot be expected to support so many as when 
planted out in the border. Water very freely during the 
summer; but towards the Autumn, when the fruit ripens, 
let it be more sparingly given, as it is important to check 
the growth of the plant at this time ; and the maturing of 
the fruit requires but little moisture, unless the house they 
are in be very dry; this you will be able to judge of at the 
time; manure-water may be given, when the fruit is growing, 
but not at the first when the plant is doing so, as there is little 
fear of that not rambling away fast enongli.] 
inches by two inches, and are placed at a distance of twenty 
inches apart. They have a sunken path in the centre to 
afford head room, and these are called orchard-houses. Such 
a house forty feet long might be erected at a cost of T50, 
and would hold forty trees in pots placed on the borders 
thus 
• • • • • 
•••••]• 
4. “ Would the above sorts of fruit-trees, together with 
the Lemon and Orange, do together in one house ?” 
[Yes. But what do you want with the Lemon and Orange ? 
You must not expect to derive any commercial advantage 
from them, unless there are a good many “ hymeneal altars” j 
in your neighbourhood, and then the “blossoms" may be ! 
wanted; but if you live among plain, matter-of-fact people, j 
who only go to church to be married, without sacrificing, we 
fear the cultivation of Oranges will be unprofitable.] 
“ 5. In McIntosh’s Practical Gardener, vol. i., he speaks 
of the possibility of constructing cheap walls, made of j 
Russia matting, or reeds, or wooden supports, covered with i 
felt, which would serve very well for the cultivation of Pears, 
Peaches, &c.; such walls not being more than six or seven 
feet high. Do you think that fruit-walls could be raised on 
a cheaper principle than by brickwork ?" 
[We suspect this is more beautiful in theory than in 
practice. From what we know of felt and Russia matting, 
we do not think they would last long enough to see the 
trees in a bearing state; and even if they did, there would 
not be substance enough in either of them to absorb suffi¬ 
cient heat to assist in ripening such fruits as Peaches, &c. 
We have seen walls formed on the principle of hurdles, such 
as are used for sheep-pens, and plastered over with a mixture 
of strong clay, and chopped straw, which would answer much 
better than either of the above for ripening fruit. We have 
also seen, in some districts, where chalk or stiff clay abound, 
capital walls formed by forming these substances into a 
“ pug,” mixed with chopped straw. In such cases, the cost 
is merely in labour, the material being dug on the premises. 
Such walls are very durable; and if we mistake not, the 
whole of the Peach culture of Montreuil, near Paris, is 
carried on by means of such walls. We know of no other 
material which can be depended on except bricks, the cost 
of which you can ascertain in your own neighbourhood. 
We shall continue answering the queries next week.] 
PEARS ON WHITE THORN STOCKS AND 
MOUNTAIN ASH. 
“In answer to the query at page 463 of the last Volume; 
I know one tree on a White Thorn stock ; which bears most 
abundantly. It is an early summer Pear. Pear grafts, also, 
take readily on the Mountain Ash. I have seen many in 
the neighbourhood of Llandilo.—P., Neath." 
ORCHARDING. — NUMBER OF FRUIT-TREES IN 
A GIVEN SIZED HOUSE.—CHEAP WALLS. 
The next of Clericus's queries are— 
3. “How many Vines, Peaches, Apricots, &c., grown in 
pots, would a greenhouse contain, built as economically as 
possible for about TOO ?” 
[If you were to erect a greenhouse, such as is generally 
understood by that designation, you would not get much of 
one for T50, and, consequently, the number of trees you 
could cultivate would be very limited; but if you were to 
erect what is called an orchard house, you will have 
a house of greater extent, and one better adapted for the 
purpose for which you intend it. We have seen, at Mr. 
Rivers’, of Sawbridgeworth, houses twenty feet long and 
twelve feet wide, which were erected at a cost of from f'22 
to L‘25. They are, in fact, large immoveable glass frames 
raised on wooden supports, which are three feet high above 
the ground at the front and seven-feet-and-a-half at the 
back. They are enclosed witli hedges instead of walls, and 
the ends are boarded up. The rafters are four-and-a-half 
POULTRY. 
SPANISH FOWLS LOSING THEIR NECK FEATHERS 
“ I have ten Spanish hens and one cock in a yard twenty 
feet by sixteen. The roosting-place being very dry and 
warm, seven feet long, three feet wide, and four-feet-six 
high, the floor being five feet from the ground, with a laying 
place under, and dusting place under that. My fowls all 
moulted in October and November, after which they looked 
beautiful in plumage; but within the last two months they 
have most of them lost all their feathers from their necks, 
now looking ragged and miserable. Some of them have 
lost more than others, extending over part of the breast. 
Many of them are laying, but their appearance is anything 
but agreeable. They are fed regularly on good barley and 
oats, and the droppings removed from the roost removed 
frequently.—Me Donald.” 
[The diseased action of the skin, resulting in the loss of 
the feathers of the neck, may arise from the fact, that 
the fowls are crowded in a confined space; twenty feet by 
sixteen is by far too small an area for a dozen fowls. If 
five or six liens and a cock only were kept, the place cleared 
out daily, the ground turned up occasionally, and a little | 
quick lime dug in to purify it, if it has become foul, and a I 
daily supply of green food given, I have no doubt but that 
they would do well. But as the question refers rather to the 
cure than the prevention, I would suggest giving the affected 
birds an alterative, such as a five-grain Plummers pill each, 
and would supply them with green food, and, if possible, a 
few worms, or a little chopped raw meat occasionally; and, 
