THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, Jamtabt 29, 1861. 
57 
TEEES AND SHEUBS FOE PLANTING NEAE 
THE SEA. 
I Should be much obliged for a list of trees and hardy shrubs 
which will grow on the west coast of Ireland (or in a like 
situation), by the Atlantic, where the west wind prevails and 
shears off the top of trees and hedges in general. Those com¬ 
monly recommended are Pinus maritima or Pineaster, Pinus 
austriaca, and Sycamore. The last I find grows very badly 
indeed. I am trying evergreen Oak (Ilex), and Turkey Oak; 
having heard of the first succeeding well in Cornwall, and having 
seen the latter preserving its erect growth where others lean 
away from the wind. 
By-the-by, there must have been at one time (perhaps before 
the flood), a forest of some kind of Pine here, where no tree 
grows at present, on very exposed and high ground, and these 
trees appear to have been unaffected by the wind as far as erect 
growth. I have seen several, above thirty feet long, dug up 
here, perfectly straight, and in better soil, more sheltered. A 
part of a tree, supposed to be about two-thirds of it, measured 
65 feet. The roots of these are always in their natural position, 
and still are firmly held in the ground, which, of course you 
understand, is peat. I have not seen the cones, but the bark 
is very thick. Has it been ascertained what these trees 
were ? They are like Pinus maritima; or, if another Pine, is 
it to be inferred that they were a species which would not 
grow there now, on the supposition that the west wind, at 
present so hostile to timber trees, did not prevail in their 
day ? 
I find Peaches growing and ripening hero very near the sea in 
sheltered places ? Would they grow in exposed positions and 
bear the breeze ?—M. C. D. 
The principal trees which are best known to stand against the 
sea breeze are the Pinus maritima, the Sea Buckthorn (Hippo- 
phae rhamuoides), the White Poplar (Populus alba), the White 
Beam tree (Pvrus aria), which is known to be less affected by 
exposure to high winds than any other tree. The Tamarisk 
flourishes as a shrub on our south coasts. The common Elder 
(Sambucus nigra), is the best nurse plant for plantations ex¬ 
posed to the sea breeze. The Sycamore (Acer pseudo-platanus), 
which you find not to answer, is yet a well-known tree to resist 
the sea breeze in many instances. But in many inland parts 
such trees and all others will not do in unfavourable soils. How 
much better, then, it ought to be, or be prepared nigh the coast. 
We should like information upon sea-side planting from such 
of our correspondents as reside on the west coast of the British 
Isles. 
The British forests before the flood were of very different 
trees from the present race. The large trees you have seen dug 
up from the Irish bogs, and those which we ourselves have seen 
torn up from great depths by the floods in the highlands of 
Scotland, were all of the original Pinus sylvestris ; the whole 
space of the soft or boggy land of these parts was once one mass 
of forest of this one species.] 
A NEW OECHAED-HOTJSE. 
As the subject of orchard-houses is now being discussed in 
the columns of your journal, I am induced to offer a short 
description of a simple, yet efficient, structure, the building and 
subsequent management of which came under my observation. 
It was erected at Montacute House, Somersetshire, for William 
Phelips, Esq., by Mr. Pridham, now of Sion Nursery, Croydon, 
who was then manager. 
Having been erected in 1857, it is now stocked with fine 
healthy trees and Vines, and offers a combination of advantages 
for forwarding Strawberries, wintering plants for bedding, &c., not 
often met with. It is 55 feet in length, or together with the 
pinery attached of exactly the same dimensions, 110 feet by 
28 feet wide. It has a base of nine-inch brickwork to the height 
of 2 feet, which, besides carrying plate for the uprights, affords a 
| margin inside for the support of one edge of the stone slab, 
3 feet wide, carried all round for plants, under which is a four- 
i inch flow and return pipe, leading from the pinery or forcing- 
i house. 
The side sashes, which open continuously throughout, are 
hinged on their upper sides, and are each 3 feet deep by feet 
wide, each being glazed with a single pane of sixteen-ounce sheet 
glass, and are opened by two movements by a double-action 
ecrew placed at one end, which works them on the parallel ruler 
principle. 
The roof, which is fixed, forms a double span ; the gable ends 
facing north and south, by which arrangement a very equable 
temperature is secured in summer, the sun’s mid-day rays being 
refracted by the sash-bars of the roof, whilst the advantage of an 
early and late sun heat is obtained. The roof is supported by 
light iron columns, 8 feet apart, under the apex of each span, 
and iron arched bearers support the valley. These span the 
central walk, which is 3 feet wide, margined with a neat stone 
curb 9 inches high for a row of ornamental plants, and into 
which curb the iron supports are leaded. At the springing of 
the arches are holes drilled, 5 feet from the curb, into which is 
fixed a bracket for the support of Strawberry shelves ; one for 
this purpose is also fixed on brackets near the glass at the two 
sides. 
The glazing is of twenty-one-ounce best sheet glass in three- 
feet lengths by 12 inches wide. Abundant ventilation is afforded 
by the side sashes, which open simultaneously throughout, 
together with two opening sashes at the end of each span. 
There are lights in the south, or forcing-house, end, and also 
large ones which open in the partition, giving the advantage of a 
quick circulation throughout. 
Two lines of galvanised-wire trellis for Peaches and Nectarines 
are on each side of the secondary path, which is of Sweet Chest¬ 
nut wood; the first being fixed to the iron columns that sup- 
