INTRODUCTORY REMARKS 11 



at least, preservation a fact often forgotten is that soils de- 

 teriorate ! 



The principal means of bringing about the happiest state of 

 affairs in our gardens are draining, digging, manuring, cul- 

 tivating. 



The first operation that is necessary to ensure a fertile soil 

 is draining the land facilitating the quick passage of surplus 

 water naturally present in the earth, as well as 

 Drainage rain-water and artificial liquid applications, to the 

 lower depths, at the same time conserving a 

 sufficiency for the needs of plant life near the surface. It is 

 a mistake to suppose that draining the land means the abstrac- 

 tion of every ounce of liquid from the soil ; on the contrary, 

 the operation, properly performed, causes wet land to become 

 dry, and vice versa, all other conditions being normal. This 

 is a paradox, but of most easy solution. The withdrawal of 

 excessive moisture from the land by any drainage system causes 

 the soil to become at once amenable to the influence of air and 

 light, the particles become drier and more widely separated, 

 making the soil loose in texture ; but the air which rushes into 

 the interstices absorbs the small proportion of moisture that 

 remains therein, and thus is created the vaporous atmosphere 

 so necessary to plant life. In this way, the withdrawal of 

 liquid in an objectionable deleterious form leads to the substitu- 

 tion of moisture in a form which is most acceptable to and 

 assimilable by the plants. Another effect of drainage is to 

 raise the temperature of the soil by the same process of changing 

 a cold, water-logged mass into an aerated, porous soil, and 

 facilitating the entrance of the sun-warmed atmosphere. 



Whilst noting the grand results of a proper system of drainage, 

 the question occurs as to the methods and means of accom- 

 plishing the work. These must obviously be regu- 

 Metbods lated by circumstances i.e. the length of one's 

 of purse, the nature of the soil to be drained, the 



Drainage extent of the ground, the materials and labour that 

 may be available in the district, and other considera- 

 tions. The orthodox drainage system is carried out by means 

 of a train of pipes, laid a few feet below the surface along the 

 whole length or width of the plot in whichever direction the 

 ground may incline. Where no incline exists, the pipes are 

 laid nearer the surface on one side of the garden, with a down- 

 ward tendency towards the opposite end, where provision for 

 receiving or passing on the liquid accumulations must be made. 



