159 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, December 13, 1859. 
ORCHARD-HOUSE OF AN AMATEUR. 
Having been frequently called upon to offer advice in cases of 
difficulty, I feel myself in a position to offer a few remarks. 
Many and grievous are the complaints that I have heard, not 
so much against the principle, as of certain anomalous results 
which distress the ardent amateur. Being out at a certain ex¬ 
hibition during the past summer, I was called in by a gentleman 
to consult about these puzzling results. This gentleman had 
purchased half a dozen or more Peach trees prepared for forcing ; 
he took what he called every pains with them, but every Peach 
fruit tumbled prematurely. He had several Vines in large pots ; 
but here, again, the bunches ran into wire, or tendrils. As for 
Pears in pots, I forget how many he had ; but now, in the third 
year, he has obtained one fruit. There were sundry other fruits 
in the house, as Raspberries, Quinces, &c.; and, as far as I could 
learn, the whole had been very unsatisfactory. 
Now, the house was span-roofed, running north and south; 
and a capital structure it would have been but for some grave 
omissions in the erection. In the first place there was no venti¬ 
lation at the apex,—a serious affair. In the next place, what 
side-sashes did slide or open, opened below the ground level— 
there being an embankment of soil for a special purpose. Such 
a structure must necessarily rise to great extremes of temperature 
during the summer months ; and although the worthy proprietor 
told me that few things burned in it, yet I would have folks 
consider that things may be robbed of their juices to a most 
prejudicial extent without showing what is called burning. A 
house like this without shading is sure to produce unfortunate 
results. 
But the structure is not all. Few, except experienced amateur?) 
know how to water in a proper degree, and at proper times. I 
am of opinion that it is in the matter of watering, amongst 
other errors, that so much dissatisfaction exists. I have fre¬ 
quently been asked the question, “ How much water must I 
give, and how often? ” Now, it is quite impossible for the most 
practical man to answer this question in a workable way, for in 
trying to lead he may easily mislead. 
The fact is, the time to water a bush of any kind is when it is 
rather dry—not too dry ; and the quantity to be given depends 
entirely on the requirements of the bush; requirements modi¬ 
fied by the heat and light of the period, and the stage of growth 
the plant is in. But besides all this, there is the time the 
bush has been in the pot, and how full of roots the pots may be; 
for depend on it, whatever the warm advocates of pot-culture 
may say, the soil will speedily become exhausted ; and exhausted 
in that way, that top dressings and liquid manure cannot fairly 
supply the requirements. If I had to pot trees for an orchard- 
house, I would assuredly adopt the plan which I have followed 
with much success for many years with the Camellia. 
I have before described it in the pages of The Cottage Gar¬ 
dener ; but as it is long since, I will repeat it. The matter we 
are about resolves itself into the question, how to prepare a soil 
which shall possess the greatest durability. Richness through 
manurial matters we can add afterwards, either as liquid manure, 
which is by far the most convenient form, or by surface dressings. 
Now, I have lots of Camellias, eight feet high, in pots of eleven 
inches diameter; and in these they have been without disturb¬ 
ance for eight or ten years, aud they are as fine and as full of 
buds just opening as they were seven years since. This I say 
to show that these results are entirely owing to the durability of 
the soil, and I do think the idea can be pushed no further. 
In preparing the soil I selected a very strong loam—that is to 
say, one inclining to clay ; but it was from an old ley which had 
not smelled the plough for some twenty years ; the turf as thick 
as three blankets. This was skimmed about four inches in thick¬ 
ness ; and being obtained in September in a dry state, was in¬ 
stantly chopped into lumps of one to two inches square. These 
were housed, or otherwise so managed as to get them quite dry. 
When dry they wore tossed in a riddle until one half of the mere 
soil was ejected, and the pores of the lumps thoroughly opened. 
This turfy matter when handled was a good deal like little balls 
of worsted, so elastic, and more than one half the mass fibrous 
matter. These were, in a dry state, rammed into the pots as 
hard as was possible, and it is astonishing how many years such a 
nidus for fibres endures. The organised matter is years before it 
entirely loses its texture; and is the medium, above all, for 
doing justice to liquid manures. This is what I recommend for 
orchard-house fruit trees. 
I 
But to revert to the disappointments alluded to. again say 
that I think the matter of watering' the most serious: unless 
plants in pots in-doors receive every attention in this way, it is 
vain to expect success. They cannot, like their out-door con¬ 
geners, profit by the shower; they depend entirely on the hand 
of a kind master. But the great puzzle with those who are not 
practicals is to know how to water. I would advise those who 
are in a fix this way to seek the advice of a good, practical gar¬ 
dener, who will teach them what books cannot do. But let them 
repeat the matter through the various seasons, for watering 
especially, is so much modified by the period. In the spring— 
say February to March, the plants will be just forming their 
first fibres; and at first there is a' moderate demand for root 
moisture. But as the season advances, so do the needs for 
watering; and this demand continues to increase until the fruit 
is nearly ripe, when it is deemed expedient, for the sake of high 
flavour, to use a somewhat lighter hand. But this must be no 
sudden check, but gradual and gentle. What is called being pot- 
bound is a thing to be taken into full consideration. After the 
lapse of two or three years such will be frequently found to be 
so, and a shift may become necessary. In such cases, as it is 
inconvenient to use much larger pots, some liberation of the 
soil attached to the old ball is generally needed. This must 
be done with care, and certainly a good deal of exhausted soil 
may be liberated without deranging the fibres. Of course it 
will reduce the volume of the ball; and it is possible it may go 
into the same size pot, or, at most, one size larger. 
And, here, by using such loamy turf as I before described, 
crammed into the interstices and pressed tight, the life of the 
tree will be renewed, and liquid manure had recourse to with a 
liberal hand. 
Amongst other matters, especially where liquid manure is 
frequently used, attention must be paid to a sound drainage; 
and it must be sound. The hole, or holes, in the bottom of the 
pot should be first well secured to produce several apertures, by 
using over-lapping crocks ; but these again must be protected 
from that silt-and-water deposit which must take place. Pounded 
charcoal with the mere dust removed is a good cover, and on 
this a layer of the riddled turf; the pot then is fit to receive any¬ 
thing with the other concomitants. 
Let me advise, then, our amateur beginners in orchard-houses 
to look over these points, and to consider the real needs of trees 
according to their habits and the periods in question. A little 
solid consideration, keeping the matter simplified as much as 
possible, will guide the inexperienced much. The worst of it is, 
that gardening books alone can never make a complete gardener, 
or every amateur would be as complete as the professional. How¬ 
ever, they are a mighty assistance; and in this way The Cottage 
Gardener has rendered more real assistance of a practical 
character than all the others put together. It has been the 
business of the writers to brush away the cobwebs, or mysticisms, 
which at the period of its commencement fairly swamped the 
noble science of gardening. We were inundated with what they 
called i'acts ; but they were so isolated, that the pearls were in 
danger of being lost for want of stringing. Now we have things 
in a more condensed and concentrated form, and we know how 
to render the vast accumulation of facts available. But sheer 
practice, allowed now and then a glimpse of science, has accom¬ 
plished this. R. Errington. 
Pyrularia oi.eieera. —Among several shrubs which we ob¬ 
tained for cultivation, the Pyrularia oleifera, or oil-nut, is 
peculiarly interesting. It grows to the height of from five to 
ten feet, and bears a Pear-shaped fruit little more than an 
inch in diameter, which is so oily that it will burn like a candle 
if a wick be drawn through it. Squirrels are fond of it, and 
cattle have a great liking for the young branches and leaves of 
the Pyrularia. Last spring we saw an abundance of it in the 
edge of some woods fenced into a Wheat-field, and in October 
we again went there after the fruit; but the harvest was past, 
the field had been pastured with cattle, which had destroyed 
nearly all the Pyrularia. Hence it has already become rare, 
and the general occupancy of the mountains with herds of 
cattle, and flocks of sheep, would soon destroy it entirely. Mr. 
Durand, of Philadelphia, thinks that the oil expressed from it 
is superior to the best olive oil. Our specimens of the Pyrularia 
have been planted at Philadelphia, New York, at the Botanic 
Garden at Cambridge near Boston, and also some of them have 
been sent to Paris to the Acclimating Society of France, whose 
object is to acclimate useful trees, shrubs, and plants.— (S. B. 
Buckley, in Silliman's Journal.) 
