THE AMATEUR’S KITCHEN GARDEN. 
7 
length of time, drainage will not only improve it, but operate 
like magic in increasing its productiveness and rendering it 
suitable for many forms of vegetation that will not thrive on 
cold damp land. If it be possible, the whole of the drains 
should be carried under walks, and, if necessary, they should 
be taken direct, or as direct as possible to the natural outfall. 
In most cases a main drain formed of a pipe six inches in 
diameter should be laid along the lower side of the ground, 
opening to the outfall, and the other drains communicating 
with it should be formed of half pipe and sole, or three-inch 
whole pipe with sole attached, and all connections should be 
made by turning the pipe slightly in the direction of the flow 
in the main, because water does not easily turn at a right 
angle, and a quick removal without conflict is required. The 
depth of the drains will depend upon the set of the land and 
the nature of the outfall, but a depth of two feet is better than 
a depth of one foot, and a depth of three feet better still. 
The result will be more satisfactory, if the channels are cut 
by an experienced workman, and filled in over the pipes with 
chalk, or limestone, or shale, or brickbats. If you cannot 
command hard stuff for the purpose, use brushwood, for, when 
covered with earth and kept undisturbed, it is scarcely to be 
spoken of as a perishable substance, and it greatly facilitates 
the downward passage of water to the pipes. In heavy low- 
lying clay lands where moles abound, it is often necessary to 
lay shallow drains, because of the small fall obtainable. In 
such a case pipes of one inch bore are to be preferred, and the 
distance may range from twelve to twenty feet. In lighter 
soils, in which deep drains may be laid, they may be thirty 
to sixty feet apart, and the last-named measure answers well 
for dividing walks, so that walks and drains may go together, 
leaving sixty feet plots between, which may be again divided 
into beds and quarters. In marking out the ground, the pur- 
poses to which it is to be devoted must of course be taken into 
consideration. 
Now it is of the first importance to determine to what ex- 
tent it is likely fruit trees will be planted in the kitchen 
garden, because it is not desirable either to plant them where 
they will not thrive or to be perpetually shifting them about 
because you find them in the way. We are bound to say then, 
in the first place, that fruits and vegetables should, generally 
speaking, be grown in gardens or plots quite apart from each 
