LEVELLING. 



184 



LETCESTEEIA. 



is anotlier veiy beautiful species, the 

 flowers of which are scarlet and 

 yellow. 



Lespede'za. — Lcgicminosce. — 

 Pea-flowered perennial plants, nearly 

 allied to the French Honeysuckle, 

 which only require to be planted in 

 any common garden-soil, in the open 

 borders, 



Lesse'rtia. — Leguminbsce. — L. 

 pulclira is a pretty little half- 

 shrubby plant, with purplish -red 

 pea-flowers, which are produced in 

 May. It is a native of the Cape of 

 Good Hope, and it is generally kept 

 in a greenhouse. 



Leuco'jum. — Amaryllidacece. — 

 The Snow-flake.— Beautiful bulbous- 

 rooted plants, natives of Europe, as 

 1 hardy as the common Snowdrop, 

 I and requiring the same treatment, 

 j except that they do not succeed 

 ! quite so well under the drip of trees. 

 Some of them are now placed in a 

 new genus called A'cis. 



Leucopo'gox. — Epacridece. — 

 AustraKan half-hardy shrubs, with 

 spikes of feathery white flowers. 

 They are very abundant in the 

 temperate regions of Australia, and 

 only require a slight protection in 

 England during winter. 



Levelling is an operation which 

 is required on a large scale in laying 

 out gardens, and on a smaller scale 

 in digging uneven ground. In either 

 case, care should be taken to keep 

 the best soil on the surface ; so that 

 when a hill is to be lowered in order 

 to fill up a hollow, the first operation 

 is to take off the surface of both, and 

 reduce the ground to an uniform 

 inclination or level, by removing the 

 subsoil, and replacing the surface- 

 soil afterwards evenly over the whole. 

 In practice, it is seldom, if ever, 

 desirable to reduce a surface to a 

 perfect level, because in that case 

 the rain which fell on it would not 

 readily run ofi". An inclination 



should generally be given from one 

 side, to the other ; or, when the plot 

 is a square, from the centre to all | 

 the sides ; and this inclination may ! 

 be so gentle as to render it quite , 

 impossible to be detected by the eye ! 

 alone. A piece of ground fifty feet ! 

 broad may have an inclination of [ 

 three inches, if the soil be loamy \ 

 and retentive ; but if it be sandy ' 

 and absorbent, an inch and a half 

 will be sufficient. In levelling la^ns, 

 no part whatever of the surface 

 ought to be on what is called a 

 dead, or perfect level ; because, as 

 the grass retains the water on the 

 j surface like a sponge, if the soil be 

 loamy, it will soon become mossy 

 and unpleasant to walk on during 

 the whole of the winter and spring. 

 All flat lawns, therefore, on clayey 

 soil, ought not only to have a gentle 

 inclination, but frequent drains, the 

 stones in which ought to be brought 

 up to within a few inches of the 

 surface. In arranging the inclina- 

 tion of dug surfaces, care should be 

 taken that the water is not thrown 

 on the gravel-walks ; for which 

 purpose drains are requisite in the 

 marginal borders ; though, in general, 

 dug soil, if the stratum be not 

 retentive, is sufiiciently absorbent to 

 render such drains unnecessary, the 

 superfluous water of the subsoil 

 finding its way to the drains of the 

 walks. 



X" Leyceste'ria, — Caprifoliaccce. 

 — L. formusa is a very handsome 

 plant, with long spikes of reddish 

 flowers, which will not only thrive, 

 but grow more luxuriantly in the 

 immediate neighboui'hood of the sea, 

 than in any other situation. It is a 

 native of Nepal, and was introduced 

 in 1824. It was, however, soon 

 lost through injudicious treatment 

 — probably through keeping it too 

 warm ; but it has been lately re- 

 introduced, and it is now found to 



