May 30, 1872. ] 



JOUKNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



439 



there is no risk from this last, they should have all the air 

 possible. It is well to see that there is no overcrowding, but 

 ihat each plant stands free of its fellows. 



Treated in this way, you will hare fine, strong, succulent 

 j)lants, that will go ahead at once when put out, and leave 

 itar in the rear those planted weeks before them. The late 

 Mr. Campbell was, as a grower and exhibitor of Dahlias, one 

 of the most successful of the day, and he has often told us 

 that for years the banging of cannon in the Park, on occasion 

 •of the Waterloo anniversaries (18th of .June), and the planting 

 of his prize Dahlias at Glasnevin were synchronous. — (Irish 

 Farmers' Gazette.) 



BE.\UTY OF FOEil IN THE FLOWER G.\EDEN. 



It afforded me much pleasure , whilst reading through the 

 pages of the Journal, to find ilr. G. Abbey had something to 

 say in favour of the ornamental character of the Asparagus, 

 and I only wish he had allowed his pen to have run more 

 ireely when descanting upon the beauties of this great favourite 

 of mine. I perfectly agree with Mr. Abbey in sajnng that it 

 would be difficult to name a plant to surpass the Asparagus 

 ifor graie aud eljgance; and in spite of breaking through his 

 rule of excluding all denizens of the vegetable garden from 

 the beds and borders of the pleasure grounds, I should not 

 hesitate to employ it in the best-kept and most rfc/icrc/ie garden, 

 although I quite endorse his sentiments respecting such things 

 as Beet, Kale, &;. I have heard it remarked, that as the 

 object in gardening is to produce a picture, it is of no conse- 

 ■quenoe what is used to bring about the desired effect ; but I 

 anust object to all coarse and commonplace-looking jjlants being 

 introduced — I mean plants that have only coarseness without 

 special beauty of form. 



To return, however, to the Asparagus. My attention was 

 first dh'ected to this plant in the summer of 1859. Being 

 then a young gardener, and having by dint of great economy 

 and self-denial amassed a few pounds, I determined to expend 

 my savings on a short tour in France, to see if the style of 

 French gardening anl plant-growing diifered from that prac- 

 tised in my own country, aud if so, in what way. With this 

 object in view I launched out into what in those days seemed 

 -a gigantic undertaking aud a terrible speculition, but I had 

 ample reason to be well satisfisd with my venture. During 

 my short visit amongst the gardens of Normandy I made many 

 friends, and was introduced by one to a grand floral decoration 

 and illumination in the garden of a nobleman, where I saw 

 much to admire and much to learn, and the knowledge thus 

 •obtained was carefully stored, and has many times been used 

 "with advantage in the various positions I have passed through. 

 It was at the before-mentioned illumination that I first saw 

 "the Asparagus used for decorative purposes. Upon the margin 

 ■of a small stream of water I saw groups of some plants of such 

 beauty, that I was quite unable, by the light of the variegated 

 lamps which twinkled amongst them and the distance at which 

 I stood, to determine what plant it really was which gave such 

 an enchanting effect to the scene. .Judge, then, of my surprise 

 when upon close inspection I found it to be .Asparagus, a plant 

 ■which up to that time I had never imagined fit for any place 

 ■except the beds in the kitchen garden ; but our artistic neigh- 

 bours had found means to make it a feast for the eye when it 

 could no longer be made to please their palate at the festive 

 board. Since my first acquamtance with this plant I have 

 seen it used in various parts of Germany, France, aud other 

 countries, and always with great efftct. Twice mysjlf I have 

 had the opportunity of using Asparagus for garden decoration 

 and illumination ; the branches of the plants were cut and 

 disposed in various groups of different designs, aud the varie- 

 gated lamps hung upon the laterals close to the stems, and as 

 the branches were then laden with berries these added mate- 

 liaUy to the general effect. Upon one of these occasions 

 several members of our Royal Family were present, and also a 

 great number of distinguished foreign visitors, many of whom 

 expressed much pleasure at the appearance and elegant effect 

 produced by my pet plant. Those of my fellow gardeners who 

 liave used this plant for similar purposes wiU fully understand 

 ■why I write so enthusiastically about it, whilst those who have 

 not I would strongly urge to do so upon the first possible 

 opportunity which presents itself, and give us the results of 

 their experience. — Experto Ckede. 



were fresh importations, and others were from the Rev. W. 

 Ellis's collection, at Hoddesdon. The gross sum realised was 

 £330. The highest biddings were for Dendrobium densi- 

 florum, £9 10s. ; Ccelogyne cristata, £5 5s'. ; Oncidium Wel- 

 tonii, £0 1.5s. ; Saccolabium prfemorsum, £5 ; and Phalie- 

 nopsis SchiUeriana, £6 10s. 



Sale or OBCHros. — About 280 lots of Orchids were sold at 

 auction l)y Mx. J. C. Stevens on the 23rd inst. Some of them 



HORTICULTURAL DRAINING. 



When soil becomes so saturated that all its interstices are 

 filled with water to the exclusion of air, it is said to be water- 

 logged. The evils resulting from this stagnation in the soil 

 are — 1, Alow temperature so constantly maintained by excessive 

 evaporation that it is not materially affected by the heat of 

 summer ; 2, The exclusion of the air with its purifying nourishing 

 gases ; 3, The rain water, being thrown off as it faUs, washes 

 and hardens the surface, robbing it of its fertility instead of 

 contributing thereto ; 4, The beneficial action of both land 

 and water are suspended, or so far checked as to afford insuffi- 

 cient nourishment to growing crops. 



It follows, therefore, that all imperfectly drained soils are 

 subject to such evils in proportion to the state of stagnation. 

 Clay, from its tenacious nature, is most hable tobe thus affected ; 

 and as clay enters largely into the composition of almost all 

 soils, the necessity for drains will depend very much upon the 

 quantity of clay present in the land to be treated. This rule, 

 however, is not appUcable in aU cases ; the strata beneath the 

 surface being sometimes so irregularly deposited that water, 

 which would otherwise escape from soil of a porous texture, is 

 confined by a layer of earth not so pervious to the action of 

 water. It is advisable, therefore, whenever land is found to 

 require draining, to open a section line or trench across it from 

 the highest to the lowest level ; then, if it is discovered that the 

 water is so shut in, a few large openings through the retaining 

 mass will probably suffice to lay the land dry, and thus a con- 

 siderable outlay win be avoided. 



Many instances of irregular strata might be adduced to show 

 the necessity for caution ; one that lately came under my 

 notice wUl suffice. In reducing the gradient of a hill for a 

 road, it became necessary to make a cutting 6 feet deep. The 

 soil rested upon a deep bed of sandstone gravel containing, at 

 a uniform depth of 3 feet below the surface, a vein, or rather a 

 layer, of blue clay so tough as to be excessively difficrdt to re- 

 move even with the aid of picks, so that there was no passage 

 for water through, but only over it, thus confining the water in 

 the portion of gravel and soil above it. Even where pure clay 

 does not occur, the subsoil is often of so clayey a nature as to 

 retain an excess of moisture in itself and in the soil proper. 



The necessity for, and the depth and distance apart of drains, 

 should bear a correct relation to the quality and condition of 

 both soU and subsoil. A shallow soil containing so much 

 clay as to be almost a swamp in wet weather, and drying into a 

 hard crude inert mass, with a deep bed of clay beneath, should 

 have drains no deeper than 2 or 2J feet from the surface, nor 

 more than 20 feet apart. A deeper and wider system of drain- 

 age might become necessary in time as the soil is improved 

 and deepened by high culture, but tUl then the more shallow 

 method must be followed. Professor Wrightson, in his instruc- 

 tive papers on agricultural drainage and irrigation, speaking of 

 such soils says — " Their power of retention is very great, aud 

 this is a force which, while it exists, cannot be overcome by 

 any number of di^ains. Clay soil will hold, according to th« 

 experiments of Schiibler, 48 lbs. of water per cubic foot, and it 

 is only the excess over this amount which would find its way 

 into a drain. When, however, such soils are furnished with a 

 series of imderground channels, and when the work of the 

 drainer is supplemented by deep cultivation, the character of 

 the soil is gradually altered, the continuity of the soil is 

 broken, air gains access, pulverisation takes place, and the 

 altered soil becomes amenable to the ordinary rules which 

 govern more usual cases. Vigorous treatment is, however, 

 requisite, and no system of wide inteiwals between drains 

 would be successful. The di-ains must be close enough to 

 exert what Mr. Bailey Denton has termed a reciprocating effect 

 upon one another — that is, so close that the action of one shall 

 extend into the region of action of its neighbour-." 



Drainage, then, forms an important part of a thorough 

 system of high culture. Alone it wUl not suffice : it should 

 rather be regarded as the necessary foundation to future success ; 

 for if, by remo-ving the excessive moisture, rain water and air 

 penetrate the soU, raising its temperature, ameliorating its 

 crudeness, aud bringing into activity many valuable substances, 



