DRAINAGE. 



DRAINAGE. 



the common dog's-tooth violet, which sends 

 forth its lilac flowers in March. 



Drainage. 



However high and apparently dry a 

 situation may appear, it is quite possible 

 that it requires to be drained. The object 

 of draining is not only to get rid of super- 

 fluous moisture, but also to prevent the 

 little there may be from remaining stag- 

 nant. It is quite a common occurrence to 

 find a piece of ground that is never too 

 wet, but which is, nevertheless, sour and 

 unfitted for the cultivation of delicate 

 flowers. It should, therefore, be the first 

 care of the florist to make drains from the 

 highest part of the ground to the lowest, 

 three feet from the surface, dug in a V 



SECTION OF DRAIN. 



shape, as shown in the accompanying dia- 

 gram ; and if there be no outlet at the 

 lowest part, to dig a hole, or well, or pond, 

 into which all these should lead, even when 

 there is no apparent means of getting rid 

 of the water. At the bottom of these 

 drains, along the narrowest part below the 

 shoulders A A, a row of common 2-inch 

 earthen pipes may be placed, end to end, 

 and covered up again with the soil. These 

 are too deep to cause any danger of disturb- 

 ance in ordinary operations ; and the effect 

 is to let air into the soil, if there be no 

 surplus moisture : and to prevent the lodg- 



ment of water anywhere, a distance of 

 about a rod apart, in parallel lines, will be 

 sufficiently close for the drains, and a 

 larger drain along the bottom, or a ditch, 

 may lead at once to the outlet or the recep- 

 tacle for the water. Suppose, however, the 

 soil is really surcharged with water, and 

 there is no place but the pond made for the 

 purpose into which this water can pass, and 

 suppose, while we are imagining evils, that 

 this pond or hole fills higher than the bot- 

 toms of the drains, it is obvious, in such 

 cases, that the drains cannot empty them- 

 selves. Still, even such drains are of use ; 

 if they can only dischaige all the water in 

 the driest season, immense good is done by 

 them. If the pond be not too large, a 

 garden-engine may be set to work to lower 

 the water by throwing it over the surface ; 

 and although it may fill as fast as the water 

 is taken away, there is a circulation of water 

 going on in the soil, instead of moisture 

 being stagnant, and the ground made 

 sour. 



The rationale of drainage is thus ex- 

 plained by Mr. D. T. Fish. "Drainage," 

 he says, "as popularly imderstoed, means 

 the art of laying land dry. This, however, 

 is a very imperfect definition, both of its 

 theoretical principles and practical results. 

 Paradoxical as it may appear, drainage is 

 almost as useful in keeping land moist as 

 in laying it dry. Its proper function is to 

 maintain the soil in the best possible 

 hygrometrical condition for the develop- 

 ment of vegetable life. Drainage has also 

 a powerful influence in altering the texture 

 of soils. It enriches their plant -feeding 

 capabilities, elevates their temperature, 

 and improves the general climate of a whole 

 district, by increasing its temperature, and 

 removing unhealthy exhalations. It lays 

 land dry, by removing superfluous water ; 

 it keeps it moist, by increasing its power 

 of resisting the force of evaporation ; it 

 alters the texture, by the conduction of 



