4 



HOCKINGS' GARDEN MAN UAL. 



Drain the land, and have it thoroughly pulverised, 

 and it will then lay light, so that excessive rain falling 

 on it will percolate through and run off by the drains \ 

 an ample store being retained by absorption for the 

 supply of plants during drought. By thus draining 

 we deepen the soil, and allow the roots to travel 

 further in search of nourishment ; we admit an in- 

 creased supply of atmospheric fertilizers, which 

 hasten the decay of vegetable and other organic 

 matter, and accelerate the disintegration of the mineral 

 parts of the soil. It improves the mechanical texture 

 of the soil, and warms it, by which the effects of frost 

 are much modified, and the crops come on earlier in 

 spring. It allows us to work sooner after rain, pre- 

 vents the formation of acetic and other acids, and 

 it admits large quantities of rain to pass into the soil 

 which is always more or less imbued with the fertilizing 

 gases of the atmosphere, to be deposited among the 

 absorbent parts of the soil, and then given up to the 

 necessities of the plants. 



In Barbadoes, drain pipes are put down at in- 

 tervals of sixteen to twenty-four feet, at a depth of 

 two feet six inches to four feet (the latter being pre- 

 ferable), and one -inch pipes are found sufficient to 

 carry the water into the main drains. The drain 

 pipes must have a fall throughout to allow the water 

 to run off It would be useless to put them at an 

 equal distance from the surface in uneven ground, as 

 that would prevent the flow of the water ; but there 

 must be a decline from one end of the drain to the 

 other, and it must be at least sufficiently below the 

 surface, in the shallowest parts, to be out of the reach 

 of the subsoil plough or the effect of pressure from 

 horses walking over it. In fact, it should not be less 

 than two feet six inches below the surface in the 

 shallowest part, and the main drains should be at a 

 lower level still, and with sufficient inclination to carry 

 the water off freely. 



