1 886. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



19 



watering is properly attended to you cannot 



get good flowers or keep your plants healthy. 

 From January 1st on, say ouce a mouth, dress 

 with a good fertilizer or liquid manure. 



In pot culture — the treatment is the same, 

 only the compost should be made richer and 

 coarser, with the turf chopped nliout half the 

 size of an egg; pot firmly — a 0-inch pot is large 

 A B 



to the roots of growing plants. The garden 

 becomes earlier and warmer iu the spring, 

 cooler in the siimmei", and more pi'oductive 

 and comfortable in every way from the pres- 

 ence of good uuderdrainage. 



The Kinds, Number and Depth op Drains. 

 Tlie best artificial land draiu, as shown by 

 much experience, is the round earthen-ware 



drain for this length is wanted. To get this 

 fall, we first drive a bouing-rod at D, with its 

 top just this three inches above the level mark 

 made at C. With using the top of this boning- 

 rod, just driven, asasight here, and the point A 

 at the other end of the line as one, it is easy, 

 with one person to sight and another to drive 

 the boning-rods, to bring the others at the de- 



•1 



A-fStrikimj a ;,■•!•./. H-Boiuiuj Rod. 



E-Maiii and Branch Tile in position. 



FIG. 1. HOW TO 



Tile layer. Pointed Shovel. 



Workman using the finishing Scoop. 



UNDERDRAIN A GARDEN. 



A-0— Level line. 



A-D—Liiie parallel with the Drain. 

 -DIFFERENT STAGES OF THE WORK ILLUSTRATED. 



enough to grow them in ; give one and a half 

 inches of drainage. W hen the pots get tolerably 

 full of roots give liquid manure once a week. 

 A veiy good liquid is made by usiug oue ounce 

 of sulphate of ammonia to three gallons of 

 water. This liquid is cleaner to handle than 

 manure water, does not clog the soil, and 

 answers the same purpose. 



In regard to the disease of the Carnation, I 

 am satisfied if the tieatment as laid down is 

 adhered to there will be no trouble. 



The best houses to grow them in are large 

 anfl roomy, with a southern aspect. In small 

 houses you cannot give air so well as wanted. 

 With a large house the weather outside raaj' 

 be dull and cold, but the air admitted is mod- 

 erated to the temperature of the house before 

 it gets to the plants. It will take a little more 

 coal, but this is a slight matter when plant 

 health and quality of bloom are considered. — 

 From Paper read at Philadelphia Convention. 



How to Underdrain a Garden. 



Does my place need draining is a first ques- 

 tion. Land that is somewhat light on the sur- 

 face, with a gravell}' sub-soil or land that 

 overla3-s at a near depth rocks in which there 

 are seams not far apart, are rarely helped by 

 underdrains. Rolling land that is light both 

 as to surface soil and sub-soil seldom needs to 

 be drained. Heavy soil with a sub-soil of stiff 

 clay or any other hard pan that is slowly im- 



Tile Drain. Two forms of Boa rd Dra i 



FIG. 2. CROSS SECTION OF DRAINS. 



I)ervious to water requires drainage to fit it for 

 the best use. Any soil that does not free itself 

 perfectly and fall friably from the spade or 

 mould board within thirty-six hours after a 

 saturating rain requires draining, to be satis- 

 factory either for useful or pleasure gardening, j 

 Gains That Come From A Drained Soil. ! 

 First the soil is relieved of the evil of stagnant 

 water lying underneath the surface. If this is 

 allowed to escape, all excessive surface moist- 

 ure must follow, and its place in the pores of 

 the soil be taken by fresh vaporized air. The 

 air thus freely penetrating to the full depth of 

 the draius serves to deepen and work healthful 

 changes in the soil, converting inert matter 

 into plant food, as well as to supply needed air 



tile or pipe drain with collars, as at E in Fig. 

 l,also in Fig. 3. Tiles that are either so soft 

 burned that thej' will not give a clear ring- 

 when struck, or else too hard burned, wai-ped 

 or melted make defective drains; one bad, the 

 drain is bad. In case oue cannot get tile, a 

 fair substitute may be made of narrow strips 

 of rough boai"ds, nailed iuto either of the forms 

 shown in Fig. 2, but they lack long durability. 

 Tile draius well laid last a great length of time. 

 There must be a main drain and connecting 

 with it at right angles a system of parallel 

 branch draius, at about 20 feet apart and reach- 

 ing to near the boundary of the piece to be 

 drained. The foi'mer should have a diameter 

 of 4 to inches inside, the latter of 3 inches. 

 A means of outlet lower than any part of the 

 lot to be di'ained is necessary; the cellar drain 

 might of teu be of service as to this. The general 

 depth of the small pipes should be three feet. 

 From the line of these at the highest point a 

 general fall of one inch to the rod is desirable, 

 throughout, but much less than this, say, one 

 inch to four rods, can be made to answer along 

 with the best kind of work in laying the tile. 



Levels and Gradient Lines. To determine 

 these rightly calls for greater painstaking than 

 any other part of the work of uuderdraining. 

 vStill it is not a very difficult task, and with 

 the help of Fig. 1 we think we can make the 

 way for this important part easy to any of our 

 readers. To do so we start out with the most 

 simple methods, such as all can command. 



A main draiu being shown at E, 

 let us go through the steps of deter- 

 mining the grade for the branch 

 leaving it here, which then will 

 apply to all siinilar pai-ts. A first 

 step is to strike a level. For aiding 

 in this we call in a carpenter's com- 

 mon square and a plumb-line — any 

 cord weighted with a stone will 

 answer for this. Two stakes are 

 driven, a smooth sighting board is 

 laid across the tops of these, upon 

 and over the end of which are hung 

 the square and plumb-line, all as 

 shown at A. By tapping one or 

 the other of these stakes lightly 

 on the top, until the plumb-line agrees with the 

 square, as iu the cut, the sighting board across 

 the stakes is brought to an exact level. A 

 spirit-level could be used advantageously for 

 gaining the same end. Then by sighting over 

 this board towards a stake set at C, (the other 

 end of the line), marking the level point ou 

 this, the level line A C is located. 



This line, then, is to be taken as a basis for 

 securing the fall of the drain from the C end to 

 the main (E). Now let some boning-rods, one 

 of which isshown at B, be provided, say enough 

 to place at a rod apart along, or rather just at 

 the side of the line of the draiu. Let us sup- 

 pose that it is a little more than three rods 

 from A to C, and a fall of three inches in the 



sired distance apart between, and with their 

 tops to a line (A D). The tops of said boning- 

 rods will then of course represent the gi-ade of 

 the drain, but at, say five feet, above where 

 the drain itself will come. 



Now, in the .work of digging the trench and 

 shaping it up to receive the tile, it only be- 

 comes necessary to measure down five feet 

 from the top of each boning-rod to secure the 

 right depth at those points. As the rods are 

 but a rod apart, it then is no difficult matter 

 to rightly even up the bottom of the trench 

 between these points, as the man in the engrav- 

 ing is shown in the act of doing. A straight 

 edge board ICJ feet long is an excellent help for 

 evening up the bottom in this respect all ready 

 to receive the tile. 



Laying the Tile. With a trench properly 

 shaped up its entire length for receiving the 

 tile, it is an easy matter to lay these. Whether 

 to lay the mains and the branches at the same 

 time is immaterial, if all the levels were pre- 

 viously obtained. The tile should be brought 

 carefully into place, adjusting the collars and 

 firmly settling them as the work goes on, filling 

 the soil on top of them when a certain length 

 of the tile is properly in place. The tile layer 

 shown in the engraving is a convenient tool 

 for handling the pipes as they ai'e being put 

 down. When tile are laid near trees, special 

 pains should be taken to have them come 

 tightly together, for keeping the roots from en- 

 tering and clogging them. 



A Fine New Window Plant. 



We refer to the Tara.riiciini Den.'<-leonis. 

 Although the name may not yet be a familiar 

 one to the ears of most plant growers, it affords 

 us pleasure to say that plants of it may even 

 now be had very cheaply. Add to this the 

 fact that they possess most attractive blooming 

 qualities, and the greatest ease of culture in 

 the window in winter, and we think enough 

 has been said to at once attract favorable inter- 

 est to our subject. 



The flowers of the Taraxacum are of a sin- 

 gularly pleasing form and color. In some 

 respects they resemble Chrysanthemums, being 

 in size midway between the small and large 

 flowering blooms of that genus. But in double- 

 ness, symmetry (without stiffness) and fine 

 coloring, they even exceed the Chrysanthemum, 

 we think, while theirseason of bloom is longer. 

 They are dwarfei- iu habit and are more easily 

 grown. Although the color is yellow, it is 

 strikingly bright, and affords as fine a bit of 

 richness as we know of in the entire floral 

 world. The leaves are of elegant form, with 

 the teeth or lobes, which appear along their 

 margins, bent downwards. 



The culture of the Taraxacum as a pot plant, 

 as intimated, is simple. Plants should be ob- 

 tained during this month, potting them in 

 ordinary soil of moderate richness. This should 

 be pressed quite firmly against the roots. After 



