. The Annals of Horticulture and Year-Book of Information on Practical Gardening. pine-houses in question shouldrather be called pits ; for they are sunk fromtwo to three feet below the level of the soil;being almost constantly heated by hot waterpipes, the warm air of the pit must commu-nicate some part of its heat to the surround-ing soil—to what extent we have no means ofascertaining. The soil too is by no meanspoor ; the path in which grew the vines withlarge leaves must be greatly enriched withthe soakage from the Macphail pits ; andalthough it becomes as hard as a brick, it isnot, theref
. The Annals of Horticulture and Year-Book of Information on Practical Gardening. pine-houses in question shouldrather be called pits ; for they are sunk fromtwo to three feet below the level of the soil;being almost constantly heated by hot waterpipes, the warm air of the pit must commu-nicate some part of its heat to the surround-ing soil—to what extent we have no means ofascertaining. The soil too is by no meanspoor ; the path in which grew the vines withlarge leaves must be greatly enriched withthe soakage from the Macphail pits ; andalthough it becomes as hard as a brick, it isnot, therefore, compact; on the contrary, thefragments of clinkers maintain its porosityeffectually, and permit a ready passage to anyheat that may be communicated to it. Theseobservations are intentionally limited to thefirst years growth ; that of a later period canhardly be made the subject of speculation ;for it is impossible to say where the roots ofthe vines in question may now be. In what-ever way the point is regarded, it is highlycurious and instructive. THE HARDY AZALEA. 241. Azalea alta-clerense. THE HARDY AZALEA, ITS VARIETIES AND CULTIVATION. It is a curious fact, that in ground whichsuits this hardy American plant, the seedlingsmay he seen coming up from the seeds scat-tered by the plants in such quantities as tobe like so many weeds, while in ordinarysoil it is not only a rare thing to see one,but it is difficult to get them up even whensown. The natural situation for this familyseems to have been the ordinary reclaimed ordried bogs, where the earth is one close massof half-decayed vegetables and their roots ;and if one could judge from the plan of cul-ture which succeeds best, we should be in-clined to fancy that the roots had not far togo for actual water, for certain it is, thatwhen it is making its growth it does requirea good deal of moisture. The peat earth ofour commons, such as the whole family ofErica are grown in, agrees with the Azaleawell ; and in every place
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