318 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, Febkttaey 26, 1861. 
much advantage in carrying it through the orchard-house, as 
you would not wish to excite that in winter, though that could 
be counteracted by abundance of air. We have little faith in 
flints for the sides of a flue when you get a yard from the 
copper ; it would be much better to use earthenware pipes from 
6 to 9 inches in diameter. You must sink your boiler enough 
to get a little rise at first, or the flue may not draw well. We 
fear that heating the greenhouse will be an expensive affair from 
the large size of the boiler, or rather from its holding so much 
water. See what has been lately said upon boilers. You do 
not say what you mean to cover your tank with, but we presume 
slate—and that must be pretty well exposed to heat the house ; 
and in that case the plants standing in it would require to be 
6et on pieces of wood, or a shelf over the slate, to keep the pots 
from being too much heated. With sand, &c., over the slate, 
a good propagating-place would be formed for cuttings, but the 
heat woedd not pass freely into the house. The plan, however, 
will answer if you merely wish for a mild heat to assist the 
Vines and keep the frost out. One pipe must go from the top 
of the boiler to go into the flow-side of the tank, and another 
must come from the return-side into near the bottom of the 
boiler. A two-inch pipe in either case will do ; and if you have 
iron for a foot from the flue, the rest of the connecting-pipe 
may be lead. You will greatly increase the crop of Grapes by 
bringing the Vines down the roof every four or five feet, but do 
it gradually.] 
ROOTS DESCENDING INTO DRAINING-PIPES. 
I have a field the surface of which for about 18 inches deep 
in some parts is rather sandy, and others stony : indeed, rock 
crops out on the highest part. The subsoil is chiefly some very 
good clay fit for floor bricks. In November last I drained the 
field every 6 yards, and 3 feet 6 inches deep, with pipes and 
collars, and in one part I put in intermediate-drains 18 inches 
deep. The ground has been ridged, and I intend sowing it 
with Mangold Wurtzel; but an intelligent farmer informs me 
that last year he grew some in a field having a good deal of clay, 
and drained by tiles 3 feet 6 inches deep, and in the autumn 
some of the drains were stopped. On opening them he found 
the Mangold Wurtzel roots had reached them, and got inside 
the pipes, and produced the stoppage. This alarms me as to 
consequences; for although I apprehend that the root when 
severed will die, still, if the substance is in the drains, a lodg¬ 
ment and stoppage will ensue. I shall be obliged by your 
opinion, and any information or advice as to the effect of the 
Mangold Wurtzel on the drains, for my guidance.—I. G. 
[No longer since than last week a case was submitted to us 
in which the pipes were laid at distances from the surface vary¬ 
ing between 3 feet and 5 feet, and in which they had become 
stopped up by roots penetrating between the joints. We ad¬ 
vised a foot deep of stones to be put over and around the pipes, 
so as to cut off the temptation to descend from the roots. If 
the soil is fertile, was dressed with common salt at the time of 
sowing, the ridges thrown up as high as possible, and the Orange 
Globe Mangold Wurtzel sown, we think the pipes would not be 
choked by the roots of that variety. We shall be glad to receive 
information from any of our readers upon the subject of drainage- 
pipes being stopped by roots, and the best modes of prevent¬ 
ing it.] 
COVERING VINE-BORDERS. 
Last summer being so very wet and cold, I covered the Vine- 
borders early in September with long strawy dung just as it 
came from the stable. The covering for the earliest house was 
about a foot thick when it had settled; for the late houses about 
half that thickness. Over these coverings were placed boards 
(panels of an old fence) laid sloping from the house, so as to 
shoot the wet off. After the border was covered the front lights 
of the earliest house were never opened, and about the middle 
of November the Vines began to break without any fire heat at 
all-in fact, they had no heat until the middle of December, 
when the frost rendered it necessary. By the second week in 
January the Vines were in flower, and are now taking their 
second swelling. Yesterday (February 12th) the covering was 
removed, and the border examined, when I was gratified by 
finding that 18 inches below the surface the temperature was 
62°, which is, I thiuk, pretty fair considering that we have had 
30 of frost, and that there was no heat in the covering. 
During the frost I had the front and lower part of the roof 
covered with straw every night, which I found made a considerable 
difference both to the temperature and the coals.— Yebitas. 
ON THE SPRING MANAGEMENT OF THE 
AURICULA. 
Not border Auriculas—Save the mark! these are the greatest 
annoyance possible to the regular, downright Auricula-grower. 
No matter what seed he saves, and how careful he may be in 
hybridising, he is tolerably sure to get a bushel of these, which 
he (I hope “D. B.” will not think him a Goth), ignominiously 
consigns to the refuse-heap ; and, indeed, if a grower really does 
wish to save first-rate seed, he will carefully avoid growing 
any of these “Aulpeens” in his frames. Doubtless, some of 
them are very pretty, and a long border of them would look 
very charming, especially after a good drenching rain, such as we 
get in April, when they are in bloom. Decorative gardeners may 
work away at them as hard as they like ; but they will not alter 
the true florist’s opinion of them. By-the-by, between these two 
classes there is a perpetual feud. The sticks and shades, canvass 
coverings and other contrivances, are to the decorative gardener 
an abomination; and let one expatiate as he may on the beautiful 
colour, the exquisite paste, or the glowing foliage of a stage 
Auricula, you may see a quiet twinkle in the eye of your friend, 
and perhaps a gentle tap on his forehead, intimating in Scotch 
phraseology that you have “a bee in your bonnet.” “ Masses 
of colour, Sir! rich contrasts! These, Sir, are what we want; and 
rely upon it, Sir, the taste of the public is with us.” Yes, doubt¬ 
less, the j'wcultivatcd taste. Why nine persons out of ten will 
prefer a grand historical picture painted by that rising artist, 
Augustus Nameless, Esq., A.R.A., to the most exquisite pro¬ 
duction of a Teniers or Ostade. Who cares for that little tiny 
cup of “crackled china,” but the man who has gone through 
all the varied productions of the handiwork of the celestial 
potters ? Give £150 for that! Madness! Aye, but he has 
cultivated his taste, and hence he sees a value where others do 
not; and, after all, such are generally right. Take one of the 
public and go through the beauties of that little Teniers, and 
you will find, generally speaking, that he acknowledges the right 
to be on your side. So say I for the florists’ gems. They well 
deserve all the praise we can bestow on them, and all the care 
we can give them ; and of them all, none exceed in my mind 
the Auricula, of whose spring management I wish now to say a 
few words. 
When that intensely cold weather set in before Christmas, I 
took, as doubtless all growers did, especial care to cover up my 
frames with frigi domo, and dame Nature kindly undertook to add 
an additional covering of snow ; and as they stand in their winter 
quarters where the sun does not reach them, the covering re¬ 
mained on them until the frost quite went. With what trem¬ 
bling I at last took it off, and after a month’s confinement looked 
in to see how my beauties were! A fond mamma, after a few 
hours’ absence, taking off the coverlid of the cot where her little 
one lay sleeping, can sympathise with one’s parental love. It was 
with no little satisfaction that I found them as “right as a 
trivet.” Of course, at this time of the year they are reduced to, 
comparatively speaking, few leaves; but there was no black 
spot, no fly, no mildew, “no nothing,” and I saw that I might 
very soon prepare for my spring work of top dressing ; and as, 
happily, my stuff for that had been under cover, I could get 
about it at once, and, the weather being open, there did not seem 
to be much risk. 
As the Auricula rejoices in a light, rich top dressing, my 
practice is to use nothing but well-rotted cowdung, “pure and 
simple,” with a little silver sand. Some use leaf mould and 
loam with it; but Almculas seem to me to thrive best with the 
cowdung alone, and, moreover, it obviates the employment of 
liquid manure. The operation of top dressing is a very simple 
one. With a blunt stick take out all the soil as far as you can 
well reach without disturbing the roots, and then fill in as above, 
bringing the soil well round the collar of the plant, and allowing 
a sufficient quantity for the waste which will take place in the 
first watering and by the sinking of the soil. After this is 
done I replace the pots on the stage as they were before, and 
then gently give them a good watering. After they have re¬ 
mained in this position for a week or a fortnight, I then change 
the set of the frames, putting them towards the north. I prefer 
waiting to perform this change until a week or two have 
