THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
January 24.] 
below the bed, and that again covered with open 
rubble beneath the soil, such as that described by 
Mr. Eish, in page 337 of last volume, would answer 
admirably; only that the sides of the pit would pre¬ 
vent the necessity for having the strong wooden 
box, though the slender inner one had better be 
retained, so that it might have a dry, or moist atmo¬ 
spheric heat at pleasure. The tank, too, would be 
large enough if 2^ feet wide, and 0 inches deep ; and, 
instead of wood, might be made of brick and cement, 
the bottom consisting of a layer of bricks, and then 
thin tiles laid in the best cement; the sides of two 
courses of bricks, laid flat, in cement; the division of 
a brick edgeways; and then covered, if not with 
slabs, with the best rough rooling-slato. Such a 
boiler would probably cost about two pounds; the 
lead piping, to connect it with the tank, something 
more than that sum; and the bricks, and cement, 
and slates, the bricklayer would at once tell the cost 
of in any locality. 
A second plan would be to form a chamber, by 
placing a bottom, with slabs of slate, across the 
bed, and running some hot-water-pipes through the 
chamber below, covering the slate with rubble, and 
leaving part exposed, at the back and the front, for 
atmospheric heat. Two four-inch pipes would be 
sufficient for this purpose; the cost of which, with¬ 
out fixing, would be fully two pounds more; and 
then the slate would have to be calculated. 
A third plan—and, perhaps, the cheapest—would 
be to have two three-inch, or even two two-inch, 
pipes for bottom-heat, and the same for top-tempe¬ 
rature, with the means, by stop-cocks, of using either 
only two pipes, or all of them, at pleasure, those 
pipes, intended for supplying bottom-heat, being sur¬ 
rounded to a depth of at least fifteen or eighteen 
inches, with clickers, stones, brickbats, &c., below 
the soil in which the cucumbers are to be grown, 
with tubes left so, that by pouring down water 
moisture, may always bo secured. The same plan 
may be adopted with the second system, instead of a 
chamber. Here there would be no expense but the 
boiler and pipes; and the latter may be procured, 
according to their size, from 8d. to Is. per foot. 
THE ERUJLT-GAlvDEN. 
Horizontal and Fan Training. — We are ic- 
minded, by a correspondent or two, that a few re¬ 
marks on the above were promised so long ago as 
June—it is getting high time the promise was made 
good. Our observations must, however, be brief; 
for other matters press, on account of the advancing 
season; and, indeed, we would not willingly give 
any undue amount of importance to modes of train¬ 
ing on which so little of the fruitfulness of trees 
depend, as compared with summer pruning, the due 
preparation of soil, &c. We will dismiss all consi¬ 
derations of the comparative or ornamental appear¬ 
ance of the two modes, and coniine ourselves merely 
to eligibility, based on a permanent fruitfulness. 
The chief advantage of the horizontal mode would 
219 
seem to lie in the fact of its having a tendency to 
equalise the light in a superior degree. This it does, 
tor every portion of the shoots possess an equal 
chance in this respect. A main loader is carried up 
perpendicularly, from whence the side branches are 
carried at right angles to the main stem. These, of 
course, must be equi-distant at all points; and 
whether clothed with spurs, or young shoots, all 
possess an equal chance of light. Not so the fan 
system; the shoots here, in the main, by radiating 
from one common centre, arc of necessity much 
more crowded in the centre than at the extremities— 
hence the great tendency in peach and nectarine trees, 
badly managed, to become naked; and hence the 
tendency, also, in the lower wood to be more infested 
with the earliest aphides of the season, which here 
meet with a snug liatching-place; whilst, farther on 
in the season, they will as readily invest the ex¬ 
tremities. 
Thus far, then, the balance would appear to be in 
favour of the horizontal mode. We must, however, 
suspend our judgment awhile, and see what other 
bearings the question has. First, then, any damage 
that occurs, or decay of any portion of the tree, is 
much easier, and more speedily repaired, under the 
fan system than the horizontal. Indeed, in the 
latter case, if one of the side shoots of an established 
tree should canker or die, two or three years will 
pass before the blemish can be made good, and the 
defect will attract double the notice of any such in 
the fan mode, inasmuch as tlm whole tree hears a 
much more methodical imprest For peaches, nec¬ 
tarines, and apricots, therefore, we consider the ordi¬ 
nary fan mode far superior, inasmuch as they are 
peculiarly liable to accidents in the principal shoots; 
and the objections which we, in candour, urged 
against the fan mode, arc anything but insuper¬ 
able : good management will, at all times, overcome 
them with case. 
The plum might be subjected, perhaps, to a hori¬ 
zontal system, for the wood of plums is of a toler¬ 
ably permanent character; but it would be difficult 
to point out the advantages. Cherries are rather 
too unruly in their wood to apply the horizontal 
mode to; and, therefore, we apprehend it is more 
at home with the apple, and the pear, than with 
our other fruits: for the latter, indeed, we should 
not hesitate to recommend it, more especially as 
it offers unusual facilities to the amateur of con¬ 
tinually introducing new kinds, even on a single 
tree; for nothing is requisite but to graft on any 
portion of any one of the horizontal branches, and 
when the graft grows, to tie it down on the main 
shoot, instead of attempting the old and fallacious 
mode of pruning for spurs. The graft in the latter 
position merely occupies the place of the young 
spray of the shoot; and, in this way, a score of 
grafts, if necessary, may be introduced on a single 
bough. 
On the whole, therefore, our advice is, be con- 
1 tent with the old fan mode, or some modification 
| of it, for general purposes; and to those who are 
about establishing the pear on walls or gables, 
choose the horizontal, in order to be able to intro- 
j duce grafts of new kinds with facility; for, in our 
opinion, before many years have passed away, many 
of our pears, now considered worthy of cultivation, 
will be discarded altogether, and either another 
race, or pears hitherto placed in an inferior grade— 
because ill understood—will assume a higher posi¬ 
tion. The immense quantity of pears on the quince 
i which have been sent through the country ol'late 
