99 



DUMB CAKE, 



rise nearer to the surface than 

 the common depth of dug ground, 

 say about a foot or eighteen inches ; 

 and they need not be jAsbced deeper 

 than the usual depth of trenched 

 ground, say between two and three 

 feet. Plant-pots and boxes are 

 drained by jilacing crocks or pot- 

 sherds, shells, small stones,or cinders, 

 over the hole in the bottom of the 

 pot ; and in large pots these materials 

 may be covered wdth any fibrous 

 matter, such as old matted roots, 

 loose moss, pieces of turf, &c., which 

 will prevent the earth from mixing 

 with the potsherds, stones, or other 

 substances employed for draining. 

 The great object of draining is to 

 prevent the stagnation of water about 

 the roots which rots the spongioles 

 or elastic extremities of the fibres, 

 and soddens or consolidates the earth 

 in such a manner that the roots can- 

 not peueti-ate into it, or if they do, 

 that they decay for want of air. For 

 most plants the best materials are 

 old pots, broken into pieces little 

 more than an inch in diameter, which 

 gardeners call crocks or potsherds, as 

 from their porous nature they form 

 reservoirs of moisture, which will 

 prevent the plants from ever becoming 

 too dry. Cinders, on the contrary, 

 are to be prefen-ed for delicate or 

 succulent-rooted plants, as the ci'ocks 

 retain so much moisture as to be in- 

 jurious to the roots of these plants. 

 The Australian or Cape shrubs should 

 have their pots drained with two or 

 three layers of crocks, as these wiU 

 retain suflicient moisture to prevent 

 the roots from withering, which even 

 an hour or two of perfect dryness 

 would occasion them to do. 



Drilling. — Sowing seeds singly 

 in furrows made in straight lines ; a 

 mode of sowing very useful in culi- 

 nary crops, but seldom practised with 

 flowers, which scarcely ever require 

 to be earthed up. 



Dro'sera. — Dj'oserdcae. — The 

 Sundew, — British, American, and 

 Australian plants with hairy leaves 

 and curious flowers which require to 

 be grown in moss, or peat, or heath- 

 mould, kept moist, and during the 

 heat of the day covered with a bell- 

 glass. The hairs on the leaves sup- 

 port drops of water in the hottest 

 weather, and being very irritable, 

 close on any insect that may chance 

 to touch them, like those of DioncB^a 

 Muscipida, Venus's Fly-trap, the 

 leaf bending over the insect, and 

 holding it in prison. The Italian 

 liqueur called Rossoglia is said to 

 take its name from one of the species 

 being used in its composition. The 

 Australian species from the Swan 

 River, seeds of which have been intro- 

 duced by Capt. Mangles, promises to 

 be very beautiful. All the kinds of 

 Drosera appear to be very short- 

 lived ; and probably will not live 

 longer than three or four years, 

 whatever care may be taken of them. 



Dry stove. — A hothouse, or plant 

 structure, for tropical plants which do 

 not requii-e a moist heat, such as some 

 of the kinds of Cacti, or other succu- 

 lent plants. The temperature of the 

 dry stove should not be less, even 

 in winter, than between 55° and 65°, 

 but in summer it may be fi-om 10° 

 to 20° higher. The plants are placed 

 on shelves or benches ; and they are 

 grown in pots of sandy peat, or very 

 porous soil, thoroughly drained.which 

 in general should be kept much drier 

 than the soil of plants either in the 

 greenhouse, or in the moist or bark 

 stove. The plants generally grown 

 in a dry stove are the difierent species 

 of Melocacti, Epiphyilum, Cereus, 

 Euphorbia, Stapelia, Agave, Mesem- 

 bryanthemum, Crassula, Sedum, 

 Sempervivum, Larochea, and several 

 sorts of bulbs, such as Lachenalia, 

 O'xalis, &c. 



DuiLB Cane. — Calddium sequl- 



H 2 



