1872. ] 
REST : AS IT CONCERNS FRUIT-TREES. 
271 
tlie cultivation of our exotic fruit-trees closely follow lier example ? Take tlie 
Peach tree as an instance. The Peach is said to be a native of Persia. The 
climate of a mountainous country like Persia is necessarily varied, still a few of 
the valleys and low plains (the home of fruit-trees) are very like each other, and 
are said to be particularly fertile, producing fruit in great variety and abundance. 
The climate of these valleys is said to resemble closely that of the tropics, having 
a dry and a rainy season, and although they are occasionally inundated by the 
overflowing of the lakes during the season of growth, they are afterwards sub¬ 
jected to great heat and dryness. The mean temperature is said to be 51° during 
the season of rest, 65° during growth, and 80° during the season of ripening, 
the ground temperature during those seasons being 55°, 65°, and 78° respec¬ 
tively. The temperature of England during the same seasons is : of the air, 40°, 
51°, and 58°, and of the earth, 42°, 55°, and 60°. If we accept these state¬ 
ments as being nearly correct, it can no longer be a cause of surprise, even if the 
difference of temperature alone be regarded, if we fail to secure an annual crop 
of out-door Peaches. We are, perhaps, indeed, scarcely justified in expecting a fair 
return for the labour and expense attendant upon the cultivation of the Peach, 
in this unfavourable climate, except under glass, but ought rather to follow the 
advice of our veteran father in fruit-tree culture, and plant the peach in the 
orchard-house only. 
But if such must be the case, what are those persons to do who cannot afford 
the luxury of a peach-house, or even of an unheated orchard-house ? Is there 
nothing further which can be done in order to secure an out-door crop of fruit ? 
Is there no other untried remedy ? or has every scheme which ingenuity can 
devise been tried and found wanting ? Is there not yet another enemy which 
has been either forgotten or disregarded while we have been so fiercely combat¬ 
ing the two great recognised enemies,—spring frosts and cold summers ? 
But what are the special advantages of the unheated orchard-house ? Some 
say they consist in the climate therein more nearly resembling that of the South 
of Europe, which is undoubtedly true ; but is it in heat, light, fresh air, or in 
what is it that the superiority consists ? The mean temperature of the orchard- 
house may be somewhat higher than the uncovered south wall, but that 
alone is scarcely sufficient to account for its superiority. Besides we have, 
even in the coldest summers, sufficient heat on the open wall to ripen the peach 
to, at least, a moderate degree of perfection ; and as to light and freedom of 
access to fresh air, the uncovered wall has a manifest advantage ; while, as a 
protection from spring frost, the ordinary coping and woollen blind is found 
nearly as efficient as the glass covering. 
Where, then, is the advantage ? Is it because in the orchard-house we can 
more easily administer or withhold food at the proper time ? Is it because we 
have the means to prevent 7 in. of rainfall deluging the borders in January, as it 
did this year, when the trees should have been at rest ? In short, is it because 
in the orchard-house we have entire control over the roots, but in the open air 
