DR(/SERA, 



88 



duvau'a. 



they need not be placed deeper than 

 the usual depth of trenched ground, 

 say between two and three feet. Plant- 

 pots and boxes are drained by pla- 

 cing crocks or potsherds, shells, small 

 stones, or cinders, over the hole in 

 the bottom of the pot ; and in large 

 pots these materials may be covered 

 with any fibrous matter, such as old 

 matted roots, loose moss, pieces of 

 turf, &c, which will prevent the 

 earth from mixing with the potsherds, 

 stones, or other substances employed 

 for draining. The great object of 

 draining is to prevent the stagnation 

 of water about the roots, which rots 

 the spongioles or elastic extremities 

 of the fibres, and soddens or consoli- 

 dates the earth in such a manner that 

 the roots cannot penetrate into it, or 

 if they do, that they decay for want 

 of air. For most plants the best ma- 

 terials are old pots, broken into pieces 

 little more than an inch in diameter, 

 which gardeners call crocks or pot- 

 sherds, as from their porous nature 

 they form reservoirs of moisture, 

 which will prevent the plants from 

 ever becoming too dry. Cinders, on 

 the contrary, are to be preferred for 

 delicate or succulent-rooted plants, 

 as the crocks retain so much moisture 

 as to be injurious to the roots of these 

 plants. The Australian and Cape 

 shrubs should have their pots drained 

 with two or three layers of crocks, as 

 these will retain sufficient moisture to 

 prevent the roots from withering, 

 which even an hour or two of perfect 

 dryness would occasion them to do. 



Drilling. — Sowing seeds singly in 

 furrows made in straight lines; a 

 mode of sowing very useful in culi- 

 nary crops, but seldom practised with 

 flowers, which scarcely ever require 

 to be hoed up. 



Dro'sera. — Droseracece. — The 

 Sundew. British, American, and 

 Australian plants, with hairy leaves 

 and curious flowers, which require to 



be grown in moss, or peat, or heath 

 mould, kept moist, and during the 

 heat of the day covered with a bell- 

 glass. The hairs on the leaves sup- 

 port drops of water in the hottest 

 weather, and being very irritable, 

 close on any insect that may chance 

 to touch them, like those of Diontsa 

 musctpula, Venus's Fly-trap, the leaf 

 bending over the insect, and holding 

 it in prison. The Italian liqueur 

 called Rossoglia is said to take its name 

 from one of the species being used in 

 its composition. The Australian spe- 

 cies from the Swan River, seeds of 

 which have been introduced by Capt. 

 Mangles, promise to be very beauti- 

 ful. Ail the kinds of Drosera ap- 

 pear to be very short-lived ; and pro- 

 bably will not live longer than three 

 or four years, whatever care may be 

 taken of them. 



Dry Stove. — A hothouse or plant 

 structure, for tropical plants which 

 do not require a moist heat, such as 

 some of the kinds of Cacti, or other 

 succulent plants. The temperature 

 of the dry stove should not be less, 

 even in winter, than between 55° and 

 65° ; but in summer it may be from 

 10° to 20° higher. The plants are 

 placed cm shelves or benches ; and 

 they are grown in pots of sandy peat, 

 or very porous soil, thoroughly 

 drained, which in general should be 

 kept much drier than the soil of 

 plants, either in the greenhouse, or in 

 the moist or bark stove. The plants 

 generally grown in a dry stove, are 

 the different species of Melocacti, 

 Epiphyllum, Cereus, Euphorbia, 

 Stapelia, Agave, Mesembryanthe- 

 mum, Ciassula, Sedum, Sempervi- 

 vum, Larochea, and several sorts of 

 bulbs, such as Lachenalia, 0'xalis,&c. 



Dumb Cane. — Caladium segiri- 

 num. — A kind of Arum, requiring a 

 bark-stove, and more curious than 

 beautiful. 



Duvau'a. — Anacardiacece ,or Te- 



