CULTIVATION OF TENDER EXOTICS IN THE OPEN AIR. 
13 
dampness. On this account, too, the surface of the exterior border should be con- 
siderably elevated, that it may approach as nearly as possibly to the level of the hot- 
water pipes or flues of the heating apparatus inside. 
But a great proportion of the heat which a border so situated derives, is 
attributable to the reflection of the solar rays from the building behind it. Hence 
its wall, if it have one, or the rafters and sash-bars of the glazed surface composing 
its front, ought to be painted of that colour which will most readily reflect the 
light and heat naturally acting upon it. White being undoubtedly the most 
efficient reflector, should always be preferred ; and the basement of a house should 
be white- washed or stuccoed accordingly. 
Perhaps the most influential matter, however, has yet to be mentioned. It is 
the proper drainage of the border. We are astonished to find that this subject should 
be so rarely attended to, and that it is scarcely ever allowed the consideration it 
demands. The drainage of flower-pots containing specimens of exotics is never 
neglected by persons who understand their culture ; nevertheless, unaccountable 
though it be, when plants of the same, or allied species — or sometimes the identical 
objects — are turned out of the pots into a border where no facilities are at hand for 
checking their supply of moisture, nor any control over their appropriation of it 
possessed — where, moreover, too much water at particular periods is far more likely 
to prove injurious or fatal — no one appears to think of providing adequate remedies 
for an undue accumulation of fluids. 
We note as an essential point in the naturalization of plants, — whether of the more 
tender class now under discussion, or belonging to a' group which may be regarded 
as almost hardy, and only liable to detriment from very intense frost, and as well 
for temporary as for more permanent purposes, — that some proper and sufficient 
system of drainage must be furnished. All kinds of plants do not retain moisture 
through the winter to the same extent ; but every species that is half-hardy, or is 
usually grown in a greenhouse, coming from a much warmer climate than that of 
Britain, is necessarily, on exposure, less likely to have its developments ripened, and 
inevitably imbibes a greater quantity of moisture than it can evaporate, thus 
rendering it more subject to the influence of frost. 
Assuming the above position established, it is particularly necessary that some- 
thing which will facilitate drainage should be placed at the bottom of every border 
intended for the reception of exotics. W e would suggest that a border of three or 
four feet wide be excavated originally to the depth of eighteen inches below the 
walk that is before it ; that six inches of broken bricks, coarse gravel, scoriae, 
cinders, or stone, be laid in the bottom, over which the soil can be introduced to a 
level with the walk in front, and six inches higher at the back. If the garden be 
in a country where stone is abundant, a rough drain can likewise be made along the 
front of the border, at the depth before mentioned, which will greatly aid in 
carrying off the superfluous water. 
The body of earth thus formed will be from one foot to eighteen inches thick. 
