34 MY GARDEN. 



The retaining walls were protected by fixing common hurdles 

 before them to break the power of the water. The gardener had 

 another difficulty to contend with ; for the green-house fires had been 

 put out by the water rising in the ground and flowing into the fire- 

 place. I directed a man to visit the mill below us to tell them the 

 predicament we, were in, and ask if they would kindly draw their 

 sluice-gates. The messenger, however, quickly returned, stating that 

 the sluice-gates were drawn to their utmost by night and by day. 

 It was manifest that something special had to be done to meet the 

 emergency, or all my plants would be lost. I immediately ordered the 

 pavement to be picked up, and a hole to be sunk near the fireplace 

 three or four feet below the level of the fire, and I ordered this to be 

 pumped dry several times a day. It was pointed out to the gardener 

 that the Bourne would not long be down, and that a little patience and 

 trouble would save our plants. The scheme was fully carried out : 

 the plants were preserved ; the hole was filled up ; and we have had 

 no repetition of the event up to this date. 



Whenever water rises in a stratum in which fireplaces are fixed 

 and it once occurred at the great Palm-house at Kew we have only to 

 repeat this plan. It is a mere question of pumping power, to pump 

 away the water more quickly than it flows ; a plan which, is often 

 practised by our great engineers on a large scale. 



After protecting ourselves against the ravages of the Bourne, I 

 proceeded with Professor Attfield and Mr. Edward Easton to investi- 

 gate the cause of the disaster. The Bourne rises amongst the Surrey 

 hills now and then, runs for a time, and again disappears for years. 

 It ran in the year 1854, and did not run again till the year 1866. 

 It rises at the top of the Caterham valley, and runs along its 

 whole length, through corn-fields, where the very bed of the 

 stream is for years ploughed up and planted with corn. It then 

 runs through a channel which is made for it, and passes through 

 Croydon, and used to empty itself by a culvert close to Croydon 

 Old Church. I have a suspicion that it has been diverted from that 

 culvert to the general sewage system ; but if this be so, it is an 



