353 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, March 12, 1861. 
them genily , as on this last word the success depends. These 
pits are furnished with short sashes, reaching from the sides of 
the house to the pathway, so that the plants beneath them may 
be shaded, kept close, or a little air given by elevating the end 
of the sash next the pathway just as may be desirable. In 
summer when the plants have all taken, the sashes over the pits 
are removed, and the house devoted to Cucumbers and Melons. 
"Whole houses heated by these stoves and boilers are filled 
with Tangier and St. Michael Orange plants, chiefly the former, 
resembling in foliage the Mandarin ; Mr. Rivers contending 
that in a light temperate house in winter, and in a high tempera¬ 
ture in summer, these fruits may be obtained as good in this 
country as at Lisbon. The general mode of keeping these plants 
in dai’k houses in winter, and the turning them out of doors in 
our summers, is not only something barbarous, but will never give 
us fruit worth eating. We are constantly having dunned in our 
ears the political axiom that the demand will ever regulate the 
amount of supply ; but Mr. Rivers knows full well that there 
are many things for which there would never be a demand at 
all but for the knowledge that the supply was already provided. 
It is preferred that these span-roofed houses should stand not 
direct north and south, but north-east and south-east; Whether 
if so arranged in groups that the heated ones could have been 
heated as economically by one large boiler, I am not prepared 
to say. Within these few weeks I have had confirmation strong 
of the propriety of the recommendation; that when so heated, a 
reserve-boiler should be secured for safety. Several large esta¬ 
blishments, from the bursting of the large boiler, and having no 
reserve, were wholly at the mercy of the frost. When the houses 
are heated separately, as at Sawbridgoworth, if such a thing as 
one boiler had given way, the stove Btill remained; and if that 
was not enough, the plants could have been moved or covered. 
In these heated houses, even the span-roofed ones were at 
first provided with some means of ventilation at the apex of the 
roofs. In early forcing, even of span-roofed houses, I should 
like these openings still. For lean-to houses, cool or warm, I 
should consider ventilation there indispensable. That, I believe, 
is still the opinion of Mr. Rivers ; but for all span-roofed houses 
he now depends entirely on side ventilation, and none at all in 
the roof, having only an opening over the door at each end—the 
triangular piece, in fact, below the ridge-board. The other week 
I stated that I believed this would answer well in houses not 
more than 30 feet or 40 feet long, and of a good width—say 
20 feet, and where the plants were dwarf rather than tall; but 
Mr. Rivers makes no distinction as to width or length of house, 
or height of plants, as I have noticed in the case of the Vines 
rising up to the apex of the roof. This is not only one of the 
greatest novelties , but adds greatly to the simplicity and economy 
in the construction and management of glass houses for plants. 
The system, it is true, is opposed to our preconceived notions of 
the ascent of heated air, and the undesirableness in early spring 
of allowing a stream of cold air to enter among the plants near 
the base of the building, or 18 inches or 24 inches from the 
ground. That is prevented in houses having heat given early 
by hanging thick woollen netting over the openings made by 
the hinged boards, which so far sifts and mellows the air before 
it gets free play to rise and descend again inside as it likes. Mr. 
Rivers, perhaps wisely, eschews all theory on the subject, but 
bases his system on his own continued successful practice, leaving 
to others to explain how the air circulates, and how plants at 
the very ridge of the house are not injured. Every day tells us 
that in these matters we have much to learn, and, perhaps, a 
good deal to unlearn. 
At page 93, and also at page 158 of the present volume, will 
be found plans and directions for forming the curate’s single and 
double vinery. The trench is now dispensed with. The surface 
of the ground is covered with slates ; and the little moveable 
structure of wood and glass is set on a row of loose bricks, with 
openings left between them for air. The temperature at the 
ridge-point must be high when the sun shines; and yet the 
fresh air from the bottom openings must rise and get there, as 
the bearing-spurs which rise towards the top are never injured. 
The principle of giving air to these little ridged structures— 
2J feet nude, 15 inches high to the apex, and a sloping glass 
roof on each side of 20 inches—is much the same as that resorted 
to by the hinged boards on the sides of large span-roofed houses, 
20 feet wide and 100 feet in length. 
A long flat trellis of Pear trees on Mr. Kerr’s system was 
looking well as respects fruit-buds, and was protected with 
sashes 8 feet long laid across above them, resting on a rail sup- [ 
ported by posts on each side, all below the posts and rail being 
open to the ground. These sashes are removed at the end of 
June. 
But I must stop these desultory reminiscences by stating my 
conviction that everywhere there seemed evidence of thorough 
system, forethought, and great attention to minutiae, as respects 
simplicity, economy, and yet thorough effectiveness for the object 
contemplated ; and also by recording my impression that much 
of these beneficial results is owing to a thorough carrying out of 
the division-in-labour principle, as, leaving other branches to 
other establishments, the nursery may just be considered a huge 
manufactory for forming Rose plants, and more especially all 
kinds of fruit trees. R. Eisn, 
BRIAR STOCKS FOR ROSES-CIJTTINGS 
OF IVY. 
Having collected a number of Briars for Rose stocks, I shall 
be much obliged if you will inform me how I am to prune them. 
If cut at present to the required height, will they break freely ? 
[Yes, cut them to the required height and they will break 
freely ; but you are late.] 
Being about to plant some Irish Ivy, and not having any 
plants previously prepared, if I were to select shoots taken care¬ 
fully from the wall with plenty of fibre and plant them, would 
they grow, or which is the best mode of propagating them ?— 
A Subscriber. 
[Ivy does just as well, and often very much better, to bo 
planted without roots; that is, roots in the open air, as those 
now clinging to the wall. Cutting off the same Ivy without 
roots now, will, in three years, be as far forward as the best 
shoots you could now select for planting. But do it your own 
way and tell us in the autumn how it has succeeded, or try some 
both ways.] 
THE ROOTS OF FRUIT TREES, 
I have in the course of my experience for half a century 
seen such grave errors made, both in planting and after-manage¬ 
ment of the roots of fruit trees, that I have for a long time had 
it in idea to write a warning against mistakes, and give plain 
directions how to avoid them. In different parts of the king¬ 
dom I have noticed large orchards with the stems and branches 
of the trees thickly covered with lichens and moss. In con¬ 
sequence of the closing up of the pores thereby, the trees were 
dwarfed and weak, and the fruit scarce in quantity, and ex¬ 
ceedingly poor in size and quality. This is a state of extreme in 
bad management on the starving principle. Then, on the other 
hand, I have observed many large collections of fruit trees that 
have grown so luxuriantly that they produced scarcely anything 
but wood—more like forest trees than trees intended to bear 
plentiful crops of large, well-coloured and richly flavoured fruit. 
This is the other extreme of the too high and gross-feeding prin¬ 
ciple. Now, as it is probable that some of our readers may have 
orchards or gardens in either one or the other of these unprofit¬ 
able states, I shall endeavour to point out the methods they 
should adopt to remedy both evils. 
I will suppose first, that an orchard of fruit trees in the starved 
lichen-covered condition was put under my care to be improved 
and brought round into a healthy bearing condition. I should 
expect to find on examination that the trees were not too old or 
too far gone as to be past recovery. I should first examine the 
soil and subsoil: most likely I should find the first not very 
deep, and the second either wet gravel or wet clay. I should 
then, in August or September, cut drains 4 feet deep, or at 
all events as deep as I could get an outlet for the water. If the 
land was very wet, I should conclude it necessary to have a drain 
every 15 feet—that is, 15 feet apart; but if not so very wet, 
then one every 25 feet would be sufficient. At the bottom of 
each drain I would lay flat tiles, and upon them draining tiles in 
this form (1. They are easily procured at any tile manufactory. 
These I would pack firm in their place with small stones or brick 
ends, covering them quite over. If such material were plentiful 
I would fill the drain up to within a foot of the surface; but if 
not, then I would fill up with small, tight-tied bundles of 
brushwood. Whilst this draining was being done, I would 
have all the stems and branches of the trees scraped in order to 
get rid of the lichens and moss ; and then when the leaves had 
