HENDERSON'S HANDBOOK OF PLANTS. 



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has a hard bottom they can be placed di- 

 rectly on it when leveled to the proper 

 grade; but if the ground is soft and 

 spongy, a board must be laid in the bot- 

 tom, 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 excel- 

 lent 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 close- 

 ly, else they might swell so as to prevent 

 the water passing into the drain to be 

 carried off. These drains are usually set j 

 with a flat side down, but they will keep 

 clear better if put with a point down, i 

 though it is more trouble to lay them. 

 Drains made in this way will last twenty i 

 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 com- 

 petent engineer, a very slight fall will 

 suffice. Some of the trunk or main sew- 

 ers 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. Charcoal broken 

 into pieces from one-half to one inch in 

 diameter we prefer to every other kind 

 of drainage, which should be in depth 

 from one inch to three inches, according 

 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 indispen- 



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sable to admit of the quick escape of 

 water. This drainage, so called, is not 

 alone of use as a means for the rapid es- 

 cape of water, but also for the admission 

 of air to the roots, which brings in 

 another important matter in connection 

 with the drainage in pots, the necessity 

 to stand the pots on some rough ma- 

 terial, such as gravel or cinders; for if 

 placed on sand, soil, or anything that will 

 close up the orifice in the bottom of the 

 pot, all the drainage placed in it will 

 avail nothing. It is far better to use no 

 drainage at all, and stand the pots on a 

 rough surface, than to use the drainage 

 and place the plants on some material 

 that will close the outlet. 



Droseracece, (Sundews.} A natural order of 

 thalamifloral Dicotyledons or Exogens 

 belonging to Lindley's Berberal Alli- 

 ance. They are herbs, which are often 

 covered with glandular hairs. They 

 have alternate leaves with fringes at their 

 base, and a fern-like growth. The 

 plants inhabit marshes in Europe, India, 

 China, the Cape of Good Hope, Mada- 

 gascar, North and South America, and 

 New Holland. They have acid and 

 slightly acrid properties. The species of 

 Drosera are remarkable for their glandu- 

 lar hairs, which are covered with drops of 

 fluid in sunshine. Dioncea muscipula is 

 a still more remarkable plant, commonly 

 called Venus's Fly-trap, which see. Some 

 include Parnassia in this order. There 

 are seven known genera and about one 

 hundred species. Drosera, Dioncea, Droso- 

 phyllum, and Aldrovanda are examples of 

 the order. 



Drupacece, (Drupiferis, Amygdalece, Almond- 

 worts.} According to Lindley, this is a 

 distinct natural order, while other bot- 

 anists regard it as a sub-order of Rosacew. 



