More men may be seen out in the grounds busily nipping off the points of young plants which are growing on in cold pits for the next year's blooming; and so the production of young Heaths goes on from year to year. About Christmas time the markets are crammed with little bushy plants of the rosy-coloured Erica gracilis and the pearly, rose-tinted, waxy-blossomed E. hiemalis, two of the principal varieties grown for winter and spring blooming. These are succeeded by E. Willmoreana and E. candidissima, and after these come the beautiful E. ventricosa and the yellow E. Cavendishii. Cuttings of these Ericas are struck on a very slight bottom-heat during the winter months, or as soon as cuttings of them can be obtained. When rooted, they are potted off, three in a 3-inch pot, and placed in light, airy situations, such as on shelves of houses or in lean-to pits close to the glass. During March they are shifted singly into 3-inch pots, and, when well-rooted, they are placed in cold pits and subjected to as much light, air, and sun as possible; in this state they remain throughout the summer, receiving abundance of water both overhead and at the roots.

In the following winter they are cut back, and as soon as they again break into fresh growth they receive their final shift into 5-inch pots, extra large plants being potted in 6-inch ones. Pure peat and sand constitute the kind of soil used for them; and they appear to enjoy it, for Heaths may be seen in some nurseries growing as freely as scarlet Pelargoniums. Fire-heat is as much as possible at all times avoided; and in very severe weather, mats, etc, are used to keep the plants at a proper temperature in preference to heat from hot-water pipes".

The 'Gardeners' Chronicle' is anxious that none of its leading or other articles be borrowed or stolen "without acknowledgment," to perpetrate an Irishism. We hasten, therefore, to say that the following original hypothesis is from its pages, and is shared by no one else, we believe. Your contemporary is concerned to prove that bottom-heat is unnecessary in plant-culture - why it does not matter, and it proves its case thus: " The earth absorbs heat slowly through the greater or less amount of stagnant air in its open surface, its warming powers being still further retarded by the natural disinclination of heat to descend, consequently it does not regain the heat it has lost during the period of the lowering of the temperature of the air nearly so quickly as the air is warmed by the sun's increasing force; therefore the above-ground parts of plants are placed under the growth-exciting influence of heat continually in advance and excess of the roots, until the turning period has arrived in the pot season, when the force of the sun begins to come, &c; " and, continues the writer, "I would recommend those who look upon bottom-heat as indispensable to the successful cultivation of plants from hot countries, to consider this fact; and, I think, they cannot fail to see that applying it (bottom-heat) as is ordinarily done at the commencement of the forcing season, in a volume equal to or often considerably above that in which the heads of the plants are placed, is diametrically opposed to the conditions under which they are found in a state of Proteus, when the earth's heat is in excess of that of the air, only at that time the season's growth is being matured." "Fail to see!" We should think not, after such a perfectly lucid and convincing argument as this.

The "stagnant air" in the "upper surface" of the earth is an obstruction we did not calculate upon before; and the said upper surface argues an "under" surface somewhere, which is just a little puzzling, but all the rest is perfectly clear. We know you do not believe the statements here made about the temperature of the earth, Mr Editor, and no doubt you could tell us to keep our eyes open, and look at the thermometer, &c; but, sir, you have preconceived opinions, and are unreasonable. Such problems, we would respectfully inform you, are not now settled by the thermometer, nor yet by the eyes, nor any of the senses; they are decided, sir, upon the ratiocinative principle alone, and of which we have just furnished you with such a beautiful example in the above extract. By this method you do not need to trouble yourself with experiments and observations; you can demonstrate any problem n nature without leaving your easy-chair, as we are about to demonstrate now, that your contemporary is not only quite correct respecting the temperature of the earth, etc, but that the heat of the sun never reaches this earth at all. The "stagnant" air and other obstacles which obstruct the sun's heat, are nothing to some others that the writer in 'The Chronicle' might have cited.

For example, there is the stagnant air in the surface of the sun itself - we like to start with a good solid assumption; next, there is the 90,000 odd miles of luminous atmosphere; outside of that the "sun spots," which have been troublesome lately; and beyond all, the 95,000,000 of miles to be traversed before the sun's heat could reach this earth, not to speak of the "stagnant air " and other things. Now, sir, here are four great sources of obstruction sufficient to stop all the heat that ever was evolved out of matter since the beginning. " It follows, therefore," as your contemporary puts it, and as we have satisfactorily demonstrated, that there is no such thing as sun heat; and if plant cultivators would only "consider this fact," they would adapt their practices accordingly.

It was to be expected that the introduction of the St Michael's Pine-apples to our market would have a sensible effect upon prices of home-grown Pines and Pine culture in this country; but another and rather unlooked-for effect of the plentiful supply of the St Michael's fruits is a reduction of the price of Grapes also, and just at a season when these are most remunerative to the English growers. Fruit-sellers, it appears, are discovering that their middle-class and most numerous customers, finding the imported Pines excellent and acceptable dessert fruits, and at the same time cheap, are buying Pines in preference to Grapes. Probably the bad times have something to do with it as well; but when talking the matter over lately with a fruit-dealer in a large way, he told us that while his sale of Pine-apples had doubled or trebled, the sale of Grapes had fallen off proportionally, and that fruit-sellers were cautious in buying the latter, except to meet special orders.