403 
THE 4 0 LI AGE GARDENER AMD COiJNTRf GENTLEMAN, March 27, 1860. 
and for Tacoma, spectabiiis from a higher region. But the whole 
of that section come so near the obstinate Spathodeas of Western 
Africa on the one hand, and the fairy feathery plumes of the 
lovely Jacarandas on the opposite continent to the right, that 
our old gardeners have no faith in the blooming of that style of ! 
Bignonian plants. Our plant of vglutina will go to the dogs the 
first potting day—it will never bloom in a regular stove under an 
English sun, nor will spectabiiis either; but both would soon | 
Bhow their extraordinary gorgeousness trained against an open I 
wall over at Lisbon, with the Bouganvilleas which “ Queen , 
Mab ” told us of a year or two back. There velutina would 
bloom from March to November, and vie with any of the yellow 
Allamandas.] 
HEATING THE WALTON IAN PROPAGATING 
CASE SUCCESSFULLY. 
I, like many others, have found it impossible to keep up a i 
sufficiently high temperature in Mr. West’s very ingenious 
propagating contrivance, “ the Waltonian Case,” by means of 
the oil-lamp which is provided by him. In ray difficulty I wrote 
to “ head quarters ” for further instructions ;, but obtaining 
none, or next to none, I was thrown back upon my own re¬ 
sources, and I. am glad to say with most satisfactory results. I 
have now no disappointments—no more trouble with my Case, j 
I can keep up a temperature as high as 90° all shut up, or 84° | 
to 85° with both lights tilted one inch. The solution of the j 
difficulty was most simple. The lamp which I now use with 
so much success is in shape and size precisely the same as Mr. ' 
West’s, but the burner is just double the size of his, and of 
course produces a flame as large again as his does, and imparts 
a proportionably greater heat. It consumes more oil than Mr. 
West's does when a temperature of 90° is required, but I find 
that a temperature ranging from 70° to 85° is sufficient to raise 
any seeds, and to cause almost any cuttings to strike root; so, 
instead of lowering the platform on which the lamp rests to 
obtain the requisite temperature, I keep it screwed up as high j 
as it will go, placing a piece of tin plate, bent to tit, across a j 
portion of the burner of the lamp. It is obvious enough that ! 
this will reduce the flame and the temperature, as well as the ! 
consumption of oil. 
I have thus devised a plan of obtaining a high temperature, i 
which was the desideratum, in a very simple way, the difficulty j 
of which with Mr. West’s lamp caused so much dissatisfaction | 
and annoyance. I would recommend Mr. West at least to try 
a burner of the dimensions I have described, and I feel sure he 
will then at once substitute it in the place of his own small one, 
and so make his Case answer perfectly the end for which it is 
intended, and will give his customers greater satisfaction.— ; 
E. G., Waltham SI. Lawrence. 
NEW BOOKS. 
The Orchard-house.* —If orchard-houses are multiplied 
with the same rapidity as the editions of Mr. Rivers’ “ Orchard- 
house” are, they will soon become more numerous than village 
schools and churches. It seems but the other day that we 
noticed the sixth edition of this admirable little work, and now 
we have before us another and a seventh, with a quantity of new J 
additional matter. The new matter consists of a chapter on 
“ A Vineyard under Glass,” in which Mr. Rivers clearly shows 
how in a span-roofed Louse, 14 feet wide, and 30 feet long, twelve 
Vines may be planted, each producing twenty bunches, or, alto¬ 
gether, 240 bunches. By another arrangement of planting, two 
rows of Vines on each side of the centre walk, in the inside 
borders, and training them to upright pillars, a house of the same 
dimensions may be made to contain forty-eight Vines, each bear¬ 
ing at “ a low estimate,” twelve bunches, making in all 576 
bunches. Another feature in this edition is, extended direct ions 
for the cultivation of the Tangerin Orange, which Mr. Rivers 
seems to have reduced to a- practical system. Of the other 
portion of the work we have so frequently spoken, it is unnecessary 
for us to say anything further than that those who arc un¬ 
acquainted with it, and who are desirous of understanding this 
entertaining system of fruit culture, should make themselves 
masters of the sound advice it gives. 
; The Orchard-house, or the Cultivation of Fruit Tri es in Pols under 
Class . By Thomas Rivers, of the Nurseries, Sawbridgewortb, Ilcrts. 
Seventh edition. London; Longmans. 
The Miniature Fruit Garden.! —This is another of Mr. 
Rivers’ works which have become established in the literature of 
gardening, of which a new edition has appeared; and it is one 
which addresses itself to all possessors of a garden ; be it one of 
100 square feet, or one of 100 yards square. It shows how, on a 
very small space of ground, a selection of the best varieties of 
fruit may be grown, without more labour and attention than is 
requisite for the indulgence of any pure enjoyment. 
A FEW WORDS FOE THE APRICOT. 
1 was very much pleased to see the able pen of our friend, 
Mr. Errington, give out a lew hints to the very much perplexed 
and disappointed friends of the poor Apricot, and I have very 
often wondered that the subject has not come under more frequent 
notice, when one goes from place to place and sees so many 
miserably poor objects suffering an annual amputation of their 
limbs, and more travelling the road to destruction ; for it is not 
at all uncommon to go to gardens and gardeners of all classes, 
and see every tree about the place giving better satisfaction than 
the Apricot. 
Well, and how is it? and what is the reason? I am sorry to 
say neither practical skill nor true science has been able to fill up 
this great blank yet. As Mr. Errington justly remarks, soil it 
cannot be, for wo find the Apricot succeeding on soils of all colours. 
It is my opinion in four eases out of six the trees never get the 
benefit of these soils, but are driven into unctuous clay and bad 
subsoils to seek for nourishment. Who would ever think of 
planting his Vine-border with Cabbages? or what novice would 
ever think of digging it up two spits deep for Carrots ? I have 
seen all this done, and even trenched out to the very subsoil nearly 
close up to the wall for Celery on Peach and Apricot-borders! 
If half the trees that were shown to us in such a delapidated 
state—if we could only see the roots and what they have crept 
into, and at the same time have the gardener’s diary-book in 
hand, with the full account of all that has been given and of all 
that has been taken off the ground for the last five, ten, or more 
years, I think we might do well to turn on our heel with a 
resolution, in justification of the tree, to hold a national congress, 
or otherwise vote for a reform. 
Now, 1 have an Apricot under my care, which, to my fancy, 
stands in rather an unfavourable aspect, but I think almost im¬ 
possible to succeed with greater satisfaction. It is rather an old 
tree. It stands due east, with an old Strawberry-bed over the 
roots, and they have been there a long time; they receive very 
little attention, except keeping them clear of runners for the sake 
of the tree, and an annual dressing of rotten manure. 
Now, last spring 1 was going to do away with these Straw¬ 
berries, and have the ground forked over in a great hurry; hut 
as I happened to be there myself when the work commenced, I 
was rather agreeably surprised to find that the soil was one mass 
of roots from the Apricot, and not from the Strawberry. 
Well, I do not intend to draw an inference that the success is 
from the aspect nor yet from the Strawberry; but simply, I 
conclude, that the top dressing and the action of the sun upon 
the surface-roots are beneficial. 
First, of all, the tree stands upon a subsoil of sand and rock— 
which, by-tlie-by, I believe in the absence of loam to be the best 
subsoil possible for fruit trees, with about two feet of kitchen 
garden soil and loam. Now, we have other Apricot trees about 
the garden standing in all aspects except north, but none are 
one-third so fruitful as the one just noticed, some even running 
tlieir roots under a range of cold frames ; but that does not seem 
to suit. them. No : because there is always something to prevent 
the free action of the sun’s rays upon the roots. 
I am sorry to trespass so much upon your valuable space ; but 
a novice, unlike a practical, cannot say so much in a nutshell, so 
one word about aspects. Mr. Errington seems to prefer a south 
wall, but 1 hold in favour a western aspect, for two reasons: 
First, I think it helps to retard the trees a little in spring. And 
again, I think it is much better against late frosts; for we all 
know the effect of a hot sun upon wall-fruit blossom the first 
thing hi a morning. 
Mr. Errington’s remarks on the well-doing of trees with their 
roots under pavements afford, I think, another proof of the bene- 
+ The Miniature Fruit Garden; or the Culture of Pyramidal and Bush 
Fruit Trees, with Instructions for JRootiprnmni/. By Thomas Rivers, of 
the Nurseries, Sawbridgeworth, Herts. Ninth edition. London : Long* 
mans. 
