We should like to show the incredulous a box of fruit now before us from an Orchard House Cultivator of some years' standing - excellently flavored, well colored Peaches and Nectarines, among the former of which is one specimen 9 1/2 inches in circumference. The clamor that has been raised on the part of a few wrongheaded persons who have fine old trees on fine old walls against cultivation in Orchard Houses by those who have neither fine old trees nor fine old walls, has so nearly died out that we should hardly have returned to the subject had not the fruit before us shown more conclusively than ever what maybe done by practical skill operating upon very rude materials. - Gardener's Chronicle.

We have just received the 9th part of Weddell's excellent Chloris Andina, reaching as fax as plate 57, with some omissions. The letterpress breaks off in the midst of Loganiaceae. It is to be hoped that the removal of the learned and hard-working author to the Pyrenees for some years will not interrupt the regular appearance of this very valuable scientific work.

In Regent's Park, Loudon, there was formerly a green-house window filled with a fine collection of Cacti and similar plants. The window, or windows, for I believe there were two so formed, were pushed out, supported by three strong stone brackets, and extended a little on each side. Shelves were put up on each side, and on them plants were placed, consisting chiefly of the most beautiful Cacti of the Echinocactus, Mammillaria, and Melocactus subgenera. Some of the Epiphyllums were grown in ornamental baskets, and suspended from the roof. A more interesting sight I seldom saw. The plants grew finely, and flowered well, and were the admiration of every beholder, much more so than the usual occupants of a town window.

Among birds of prey, the male provides the food for the young, but the female feeds them. A sportsman in Scotland, shot the female of a pair of falcons. For a time he heard continual cries from the young ones, and the male was indefatigable in bringing food. After two days all was quiet. He clambered up the rock, and found the young all dead - starved to death - but absolutely walled in with food of every description that the male bird had brought.

Among new philosophical instruments we report, a Garden Thermometer, mounted on a porcelain scale, which is unaffected by the weather, and which may be said to be everlasting. The figures and divisions are not painted on the surface, but eaten into the substance of the scale by the action of fluoric acid, rendering them perfectly indelible - an object much to be desired by gardeners, who have to use these instruments in stoves and forcing-houses, where the humidity acts on them with injurious effects. The scale being of pure white porcelain, and the figures and divisions black, the reading is at all times clear and distinct.

Orchard Houses #1

The culture of fruit trees in plots has recently been on the increase, and there is reason to believe that it will become a favorite and remunerative system. Taking into consideration the climate, and other casualties, which render out-door culture of fruit a matter of considerable uncertainty - such as the mildew on the grape and gooseberry; the cracking of the pear, and frequent destruction of its blossoms; the curculio on the plum, nectarine, and apricot; the yellows, borer, and leaf blister on the peach - any means by which a moderate but certain continuation of crops can be secured, will demand attention.

Growing fruit in pots is no new idea, but it has only recently been reduced to a system. The orchard houses introduced by Mr. Rivers in England have been the means of concentrating attention to this subject, and these structures have there been rapidly increasing, and from all accounts are proving entirely satisfactory when properly managed.

The difference between these orchard houses and common green-houses, is, that in the latter the pots or tubs containing the plants are set on shelves and stagings; whereas in the fruit house they are set on a bed of soil. Much of the success attending the system depends upon this management. It is well known that barrenness in fruit trees is very frequently occasioned by excessive vigor of growth; consequently the expedient of grafting upon stocks of weaker growth has been successfully resorted to, - the pear on the quince, and the cherry on the mahaleb. are examples. In pot culture, the same object is gained by curtailing root extension; which, of course, exerts a similar influence on the growth of the branches, favorable to the production of fruit buds. Having secured flower buds, there is no difficulty, under a glass roof, of expanding the blossoms, and under the protection thus afforded, almost every flower will set a fruit.

In pots, a heavy crop cannot be maintained without extra nourishment, and here the practice of placing the pot on a bed of enriched soil meets the difficulty; ample means being allowed for the roots to protrude through the bottom of the pot, they will extend into, and derive nourishment from the soil below, and the plant will mature a comparatively heavy crop.

To ensure maturation of the wood and a continuation of fruitfulness, growth may be checked by simply twisting the pot so as to disarrange the roots. They may be all cut away and the pot removed, if the growth is sufficiently advanced; but a gradual stopage of root growth will, in general, be the safest mode of proceeding.

The most economical form of house for the above purpose, is that which allows the greatest surface area. Low roofs are indispensable, and possibly the horizontal ridge and furrow method may ultimately become prevalent.

Much, however, can be done in a green-house. After the plants are turned out for the summer, it may then be turned into a fruit house, and rendered both profitable and attractive.

A stock of trees in pots may be kept on hand, wintered in a cellar, or any equally suitable place, removed to the open air early in Spring, and introduced to the greenhouse after the flowering plants are taken out. We have seen fine crops in this way. They may be assisted by the application of liquid manure when ripening. Fruits from pots are generally superior in quality to those from open air culture.

At the close of a volume, seems a fitting occasion to make a few remarks upon the necessity of combining science with our practical operations, and urgently enforcing the necessity of studying the principles of vegetable philosophy - the relation that the agents of vegetation bear to each other, ana in combination to plants. We can seldom look into the pages of any horticultural or agricultural periodical, without perceiving many discrepancies, contradictory assertions, false conclusions, and absurd reasonings, which the writers would never have penned had they been, in the slightest degree, conversant with the simple chemical rules which regulate the growth of plants.

The difficulty in establishing rules of practice that would be uniformly successful, arises from the varied action of the agents in vegetation, and their individual modification under different circumstances. Hence the paramount necessity of cultivators informing themselves of the theory of action among these agents, so that they may decide upon a course of practice suited to the circumstances by which they are surrounded.

The most instructive elementary works on these subjects are Lindley's "Theory of Horticulture," Carpenters "Vegetable Physiology," Liebig's "Agricultural Chemistry," Johnson's *' Lectures on Agricultural Chemistry," and Chaptal's " Chemistry applied to Agriculture".

The Orchard House #1

It would be almost impossible to find a lover of horticulture who would not derive pleasure and instruction from reading the work of Mr. Rivers on Orchard Houses, which we continue in the present number. The owner of the smallest garden pit will find principles laid down which he can apply in practice. Our late extensive experience with heavy frost in June is also an argument for the orchard house, which it is well to remember. With such a shelter fruit will no longer be a "pursuit under difficulties".

Perhaps, after all, one of the greatest advantages to be derived from the Orchard House will be found in its conquest over the curculio. The fruit is set and quite forward before the pest makes his appearance from his winter quarters, and then the fruit is too robust to be injured.