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6 to 8 inches high, and 1 inch thick ; in these the 

 water is said to circulate quite as freely ; and more- 

 over a great advantage is gained by the comparatively 

 short time in which -any given degree of heat may be 

 obtained, the difference being about 3 to 5 ; on the 

 contrary, however, it is lost quite as rapidly. The 

 boilers are of copper, and of a form totally unlike 

 those used in England ; none are conical, and the 

 makers appear to think that form no way superior to 

 theirs. The soils used in England and France for 

 pines are altogether different ; in almost every British 

 pinery, a strong loamy soil is predominant, but at Paris, 

 Versailles, and at almost every other place in France, 

 pines are now grown in peat ; some persons have tried 

 loam and leaf-mould, others loam and peat, or com- 

 mon earth and black sand, but none of these composts 

 have proved satisfactory ; nevertheless, many eminent 

 horticulturists, and among them M. Poiteau, the 

 editor of the "Bon Jardinier," still think that a 

 stronger soil would be better suited to the end in 

 view ; not so, however, the actual growers ; the uni- 

 versal opinion among them is, that pure peat is for 

 every variety the best adapted to ensure a rapid 

 growth, which they consider so essentially necessary 

 to obtain large fruit ; and certainly the health and 

 vigour of the plants, and the enormous fruit which 

 has been obtained in this soil, would lead you to believe 

 their opinion well founded. The treatment of the 



