242 GARDEN AND FARM TOPICS. 



Drain tiles, when they can be obtained at a reasonable 

 price, are the best material for draining. A horse- 

 shoe pattern is generally used. If the drain has a 

 hard bottom they can be placed directly on it when 

 leveled to the proper grade; but if the ground is soft and 

 spongy, a board must be laid in the bottom, on which to 

 place the tiles. It is often a very troublesome matter to 

 get the few drain tiles necessary to drain a small garden, 

 and in such cases an excellent and cheap substitute can 

 be had by using one of boards. Take ordinary rough 

 boards, Pine, Hemlock, or Spruce, and cut them into 

 widths of three or four inches, and nail them together so 

 as to form a triangular pipe, taking care to " break the 

 joints " in putting the lengths together. Care must be 

 taken that the boards are not nailed together too closely, 

 else they might swell so as to prevent the water passing 

 into the drain to be carried off. These drains are usually 

 set with a flat side down, but they will keep clear better 

 if put with a point down, though it is more trouble to 

 lay them. Drains made in this way will last twenty 

 years or more. 



Of course, in draining, the greater the fall that can be 

 got the better, though, if the grading is carefully done 

 by a competent engineer, a very slight fall will suffice. 

 Some of the trunk or main sewers in our cities have only 

 a grade of one foot in a thousand. 



Drainage in flower pots is essential for most plants, 

 whenever the pot is over five inches in diameter. Char- 

 coal broken into pieces from one-half to one inch in 

 diameter I prefer to every other kind of drainage, which 

 should be in depth from one inch to four inches, accord- 

 ing to the size of the pot to be drained, an extra quantity 

 being necessary if the plant is being shifted into a pot 

 too large ; then ample drainage is indispensable to ad- 



