234 
HINTS FOR THE FLOWER GARDEN. 
grounds. Such cases often exist ; they are, however, easily remedied by passing a 
drain along the upper side to intercept the flow. Now, this is a matter of 
much importance, especially in a wet season ; although it is one seldom looked to. 
Other drains may carry the water away freely, but the water in its passage robs 
the ground of a portion of its heat. A drain on the upper side prevents more wet 
from entering the soil than what falls immediately upon it ; and must therefore 
assist largely in keeping up its temperature. 
The necessity for forming other drains will of course depend on the nature 
of the soil and subsoil. In a clayey ground they will be indispensable, and it 
will likewise be needful to adopt some means of ameliorating the mechanical 
texture of the earth, so as to render it sufficiently pervious to air and moisture, 
to enable it to carry a healthy vegetation. Sand, or the scrapings from a flint 
road, vegetable and coal ashes, are amongst the best substances that can be used. 
And where they can be obtained in sufficient plenty, light loamy earth, decaying 
leaves, and heath-soil, or the refuse from charring stacks will be found highly 
beneficial. 
To promote the utility of these preparatives in the general improvement of 
the soil, particular care should be employed in forming the beds severally. At 
least a foot of loose stones, covered with brick and lime rubbish, or other sub- 
stance capable of furthering drainage, should be laid in the bottom of each bed. 
The advantage of this is greater than most people imagine. Nothing can be 
more injurious to tender plants in the open border than an accumulation of water 
about their roots : it produces a coldness in the soil, which, in spring especially, 
is so far mischievous that it frequently effects the destruction of the plant, and 
generally causes an inertness, which is not recovered from for some time. More- 
over, although, as the season advances, and the soil gains a little warmth, the 
plants may recover, yet they will then imbibe so much ichorous matter that they 
will be forced into crude growth, producing nothing but gross stems and leaves, 
which, on the recurrence of a long period of rainy weather, often assume a yellow 
aspect. These are, perhaps, extreme cases ; but all who have had much experience 
in the outdoor culture of tender plants, are well aware that degrees of the same 
evil are constantly witnessed in retentive soils and confined humid places. As 
familiar instances, we need only mention the gross plethoric growths of the 
common varieties of Petunia and Pelargonium^ particularly the scarlet kinds. It 
is, indeed, as necessary to provide a quantity of broken porous materials to 
carry off superabundant water from the beds of a flower-garden, as it is to 
employ drainage in the bottoms of flower-pots ; or, if possible, it is more so, for 
we may regulate the supply of water to the pots, but we cannot cover our flower- 
beds from the rain. 
There is less danger of greenhouse plants suffering from drought in the 
borders in summer, than through an excess of humidity. The only period at 
which even an excessive dryness proves injurious to any considerable extent is in 
