572 
CONTEMPORARY WRITINGS. 
fluous water the crops will be safe; but three 
feet is preferable, and this may be recommended 
as a good average depth. Every garden 
should have a main drain leading to the out- 
let, and this ought to be larger, and slightly 
deeper than the rest; the others should slope 
into it along their whole length, at the least 
possible inclination, and this main drain must 
also slope towards the outlet. In digging out 
a drain the good surface soil should be laid on 
one side, and the rough subsoil, of whatever 
kind, should be laid separate from it on the 
other side, so as to be returned to the bottom. 
When dug out the sides should slope gradually, 
the bottom being made quite even. The 
reason for laying the subsoil and surface-soil 
separate is, that in filling up the drains the 
latter may be first returned, so as to preserve 
the good soil to be again placed at the top. 
Various materials may be used to form the 
passage for the water. Drain tiles are best, 
and they should be covered over with a layer 
of from six inches to a foot of coarse open 
material, such as gravel, rough brick rubbish, 
clinkers, or any such like substance, that will 
not readily decay. Over this a portion of the 
most adhesive of the subsoil should be firmly 
but gently rammed down, the use of which is 
to prevent the soil immediately over the drain 
from becoming too much parched. The drains 
should act by regular filtration through the 
body of the subsoil, which they readily do, 
even in the most adhesive clay, by means of 
the cracks or fissures, which soon follow the 
introduction of drains. The ordinary drains, 
leading into the main drain, should be put in 
at from fifteen to thirty feet apart, the former 
distance being suitable for heavy clay soils, 
the latter for the lighter soils which require 
draining at all. Bush drains are not to be 
recommended; the bushes laid at the bottom 
of these to form the open passage for the water 
soon decay, and consequently the drains are 
very soon liable to get stopped. A cheaper 
mode of draining than that recommended 
above may be employed where the subsoil is 
firm, and not easily displaced, — such as adhe- 
sive clay, for instance. The drain is dug out 
in the same way as before, only the lower part 
is cut very carefully and evenly, and a ledge 
of two or three inches on each side is formed 
at about six inches from the bottom. Turf 
or peat sods, a couple or three inches thick, 
and just wide enough to fit the space, are laid 
on this ledge, the grass side being put down- 
wards. The soil is then filled in as before, 
care being taken not to displace the sods in so 
doing. Open drains, as already remarked, 
are not to be recommended in cottage gardens, 
as they waste a portion of the space (gene- 
rally little enough), which might otherwise be 
cropped, and their office is quite as effectually 
performed by any of the covered drains 
already described. 
CONTEMPORARY WRITINGS AND ORIGINAL NOTES. 
The Sacred Bamboo. — At the Chinese 
festive season of New Year's-day flowers 
are as much sought after for the purposes of 
decoration, as they are in England at Christ- 
mas time. There is also a plant, with red 
berries, which takes the place of our English 
holly. It is the Nandina domestlca, and is 
called by the Chinese the " Tein-chok," or 
Sacred Bamboo. Large quantities of its 
branches are brought in on the approach of 
this season from the country, and hawked 
about the streets. Each of these branches is 
crowned with a large bunch of red berries, 
not very unlike those of the common holly, 
and, when contrasted with the dark, shining 
leaves of the species, are singularly orna- 
mental. It is used chiefly in the decoration 
of altars, not only in the temples, but also in 
private dwellings and in boats: for here every 
house and boat has its altar, and hence the 
name of " Sacred Bamboo," which it bears. 
The Nandina is found in English gardens, 
but, judging from the specimens which I have 
seen there, no idea can be formed of its beauty. 
It does not appear to produce its fruit so freely 
in England as it does in China, probably owing 
to the temperature of our summers being lower 
than those of its native country. — Fortune. 
The Genus Pelargonium. — This genus 
furnishes a number of admirable flower-garden 
plants, which are popularly known as scarlet 
geraniums, horse-shoe geraniums, ivy-leaved 
geraniums, and variegated geraniums. Of the 
first class we have not seen a better variety 
for a low bed than General Tom Thumb. Its 
foliage is a shining light green ; its flowers 
bright scarlet and numerous ; and its habit 
dwarf and spreading. It is, however, rather 
tender in constitution, and therefore requires 
a little more warmth in winter than most 
others. The Bath Scarlet and the Frogmore 
Scarlet are two older sorts, which bloom freely, 
and are fine in colour ; and the same may be 
said of Mrs.Mayler, Punch, and the Huntsman, 
with many other varieties of more modern ori- 
gin. The Horse-shoes are distinguished by a 
dark mark on the leaves, of the form of a 
horse's shoe. Some of these, as Pre-eminent 
