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JOURNAL OP HOBTICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ August 31, 1871. 



Cucumber, and Gladiolus suffer, lias teen making sad havoc. 

 I am glad to say I have not yet come in contact with it, but 

 I am told that the plants decay close to the surface of the 

 ground, and there is not as yet any known remedy for it. Red 

 spider is the most insidious enemy I know of, but this can be 

 kept in check by frequently syringing the plants. There is 

 also a maggot which eats its way amongst the seeds exactly 

 similar to, if not the same as that which burrows in Apples, 

 causing them to drop before they are ripe ; this can only be 

 got rid of by hand-picking. Mr. W. Chater, of Saffron Walden, 

 exhibited a fine lot of flowers, both spikes and cut blooms, 

 at Eensington on the 16 th, but I think the climate of Scotland 

 is better adapted for Hollyhocks than that of England; at least 

 they are exhibited much better in Edinburgh than they are in 

 London. A list of the very best varieties will be found in your 

 report of the exhibition at Kensington. — J. Douglas. 



EOAD-MAKING UNDER DIFFICULTIES.— No. 2. 



Foe a road to be really sound and durable, the drains imme- 

 diately upon or in connection with it must be so arranged that 

 water shall at no time lie in pools either upon or alongside Ihe 

 road, but at once pass away down the drains, for which common 

 unglazed pipes answer quite well ; but they should never be 

 less than 6 inches in diameter, and be laid at a sufficiently 

 sharp angle for the water to pass away so quickly that all sedi- 

 ment may be washed clear of the pipes. Drains are sometimes 

 made with 3-inch pipes laid at a very flat angle, and with a 

 well or trap under each grating continued several inches below 

 the mouth of the drain, to prevent any sediment from passing 

 into the pipes at all. But I do not like the plan, because, with- 

 out constant supervision, the wells soon fill, and it follows as a 

 matter of course that the pipes are in danger of being filled 

 also, the water passing through so slowly that it deposits most of 

 its sediment as it flows. It is therefore evident that drains made 

 at an acute angle are altogether best, as they are self-cleansing. 



Another important point to be remembered in making such 

 drains is to avoid all abrupt curves or angles, or anything likely 

 to have the slightest tendency to check the flow of the water. 

 A drain should never proceed along one side of a road for a 

 distance and then turn abruptly at right angles across to the 

 other side ; but wherever such crossings are necessary they 

 should be at a very obtuse angle, forming a long diagonal line 

 till the other side is reached, and thus the check given to the 

 v?ater will be hardly perceptible, and the flow will go on to the 

 outlet with undiminished speed. 



The gratings through which the water passes down into the 

 drains should be proportionate in size to the width of the road. 

 Thus, for a road only 9 feet wide, gratings 10 inches square, 

 with stout bars three-quarters of an inch apart, are very suit- 

 able ; but if the road is 12 or 15 feet wide, then the gratings 

 should certainly be larger ; and so upon a road having a gradient 

 of 1 in 12 it is very evident that more gratings are necessary 

 than upon easier levels. During very heavy showers the water 

 runs down such steep inclines with a rapidity so violent that, 

 if it were not checked by means of the numerous gratings placed 

 in its course, there would be a risk of much of the material 

 upon the surface of the road being washed away. 



In addition to the covered drains in the road itself, open 

 drains and ditches are often necessary to prevent water from 

 flowing upon or over the road, of which there is much risk 

 when it passes along the side of a bank or hill. In making a 

 cutting for a road to pass more easily over a steep ascent, I 

 found that the water oozed out of the upper side of the cutting 

 BO fast that the men were standing in water when at work, and 

 ■were much hindered thereby. Moreover, as this side of the 

 cutting for certain reasons was made at an unusually sharp 

 angle, I feared that so much moisture passing through it would 

 cause it to shatter very much with the first frost. To prevent 

 all this, an open deep drain was made at about a perch from 

 the side of the road, and carried parallel with it as far as was 

 found necessary. This answered admirably, quite cutting off 

 the great superabundance of moisture contained in the soil, and 

 also preventing much water from flowing down the bank on to 

 the road during heavy showers. In a few other isolated moist 

 places occurring along the upper bank, the water was collected 

 into one channel by cutting a "crow's-foot" open drain — that 

 is, a central drain at right angles with the road, and having a 

 branch on either side extending after the manner of the claws 

 of a bird's foot. 



In dealing with the main watercourse in the valley, local 

 circumstances difi'er so materially, and have so much influence 



upon the work, that no particular process can safely be laid 

 down to meet all cases. For producing a picturesque effect, 

 and to form a striking and ornamental feature in the valley, a 

 bridge is altogether preferable for crossing the water ; but if 

 the work is to be done as economically as possible, and the 

 bulk of water be not too great, stout glazed socket drain pipes, 

 or a culvert passing under an embankment, connecting the 

 banks of the stream, may prove to be best. The size of the 

 pipes or culvert should, of course, be in proportion to the body 

 of water contained in the stream during the wettest period of 

 the year. Circular pipes 2-feet in diameter afford passage for 

 a large body of water, and such pipes are equally efficient, and 

 much less expensive than a culvert. 



The track to contain the stones for the road should be ex- 

 cavated to a depth of at least 9 inches, not only that it may 

 contain sufficient " metal " to bind into a firm mass, and 

 sustain the traffic for a considerable time without needing re- 

 pair, but also that the layer of hard material may be deep 

 enough to withstand the effects of heavy thunder showers, 

 which I have seen act with such force upon shallow roads, 

 especially upon steep gradients, that the sides have been fur- 

 rowed with channels to such a serious extent as to wash the 

 stones completely away, leaving the soil at the bottom of the 

 track bare. Such paltry shallow roads constantly need repair, 

 and are far more costly than if they had been properly made 

 in the first instance. 



In searching for rock beds from which to procure stone for 

 the road, a knowledge of geology is useful, not altogether aa 

 regards a knowledge of the quality of the stone, but because 

 stone is more easily discovered by those understanding the 

 natural indications of its presence. When such indications are 

 found, some trial holes should be made a few yards apart with 

 a boring tool, for although there may be positive evidence of 

 the presence of rock, it is not wise to commence excavating 

 till it is ascertained by boring if the bed is large enough or 

 sufficiently near the surface to be excavated at a reasonable 

 rate. The cost of excavating depends entirely upon the depth 

 of soil covering the rock, the rate of pay ranging from 9d. up to 

 Is. Sd. per cubic yard of stone. I believe, however, it is not 

 often that the higher price is reached. As an example from 

 which safe deductions may be made as to the necessity for 

 higher or lower rates, it may be stated that for excavating the 

 hardest kinds of sandstone in a quarry having a regular layer 

 of 6 feet of earth over the stone. Is. Id. per cubic yard of stone 

 is a fair price. This includes the removal of the soil, and the 

 excavating and heaping of the stone in squared heaps a yard 

 high on level ground close by the quarry ; the labourers find- 

 ing their own tools, but the master supplying planks and 

 wheelbarrows. When a quarry is opened, if much stone is re- 

 quired, a quantity of 4-inch pipes should be supplied to the 

 men upon condition that a drain be made and continued npon 

 the lowest level as far as the work goes, to carry off water, as 

 otherwise a few wet days may flood the quarry, and hinder the 

 work for a considerable time. 



The stone should not be broken fine at the quarry, but 

 should be carted to the track and there broken, care being taken 

 to place large pieces in the bottom of the track, and smaller 

 ones upwards to the surface. The spaces among the large 

 pieces at the bottom act as a drain, thus tending to maintain 

 the road in a sound dry condition. — Edwakd LnoKHUESi. 



AMERICAN POTATOES. 



I PEOcnKED in the spring of last year 1 lb. of Early Rose 

 Potato which I cut into sixty sets, and the result was 60 lbs. of 

 Potatoes. I took 1 lb. from them this spring, which I cut into 

 forty sets, and the result this season is 72 lbs. of very fine 

 Potatoes ; 3 lbs. of these were diseased. 



I had also this season 1 lb. each of Peerless and Climax, 

 the results are as follows : — Peerless, fifty-seven sets produced 

 86 lbs. ; of these 14 lbs. were diseased. Climax, sixty-two- sets, 

 produced 60 lbs. ; of these 3 lbs. were diseased. The tubers of 

 Peerless are very large and heavy, the Climax a fair average. 

 I think the American Potatoes have proved less liable to disease 

 than many others of our old sorts. 



I have some Regents, Early Frame, and Paterson's Victoria 

 not worth lifting, while the Early Rose has produced a fine 

 crop— i.e., from a peck of cut sets I lifted ten bushels, and found 

 but very few diseased. — J. Haeland, Gardener, Writtle Park. 



LiNAETA VULGARIS. — You are quite right when you say the 

 above-mentioned plant, being a perennial, would not require 



