91 
IRRIGATION. THE FORCE-PUMP. 
at the base, like those of the Heartsease, and 
the corolla consists of the same number of 
petals, which are equally irregular in their 
form, though not in their colour ; the lower 
petal is drawn out, in the same manner, into 
a spur, which is much longer than that of the 
Heartsease, though the rest of the flower is 
smaller. The stamens ' are formed with the 
same regular irregularity, only the tails of the 
two irregular ones are larger and stronger, in 
the same proportion as the spur is larger 
which is intended to conceal them. The pistil 
is of the same shape, with the same curiously 
constructed and perforated style, which is 
bent in its narrow part, and swelled out into 
a hollow globe at the tip; and in both species, 
the ovary is one-celled with three parietal 
placentas, that is, with three nerve-like pro- 
jections from the sides of the capsule, having 
four rows of seeds attached to each. The 
capsule looks like a smooth shining berry, and 
it x-emains partially shrouded by the calyx, till 
the seeds are ripe ; when it bursts open with 
an elastic spring, and divides into three valves, 
each of which has the placenta bearing the 
seeds in its centre. 
" In all these points the Heartsease and the 
Violet are alike ; but they differ materially in 
the leaves, which in the Violet are broad and 
heart-shaped, without stipules ; but in the 
Heartsease are small and ovate, with such 
very large and deeply-cut stipules, that they 
are by most persons mistaken for the leaves. 
I may here be asked what are stipules, and in 
what do they differ from leaves ? In answer 
to the first question, I can only inform my 
readers that stipules are generally little leaf- 
like bodies, which seem to act as attendants 
upon leaves, as bracts seem to wait upon 
flowers ; but in what they differ from leaves, 
except in size and shape, I have not been able 
to learn. Even Dr. Lindley, in the last edition 
of his Introduction to Botany, says, ' What 
stipules really are is not well made out.' 
" The Heartsease and the Violet differ also 
in their habit of growth. The Violet is a 
creeping plant, with no stalks but those sup- 
porting the flowers, while the Heartsease 
stands erect, with a thick square stem, so 
strong, that, notwithstanding its succulent 
nature, it may be trained like a little tree." — 
Loudon, pp. 279—284. 
Each volume, therefore, has its claims upon 
the botanical public, but, for the life of us, we 
can see no good reason for the title of " Botany 
for Ladies ;" especially so close at the heels of 
a work which had been as unmeaningly called 
" Ladies' Botany." 
IRRIGATION. THE FORCE PUMP. 
We have already, in a former paper, shown 
the effect of the elevated pump. This was 
supposed to be by the side of a pond or stream, 
at the lower end of the ground, and the labour 
of raising the water by a common pump is not 
greater than raising it from a well to the 
surface of the ground, as in other cases. But 
it is easy to raise water by a force-pump to 
almost any height — such force-pumps as are 
used in houses to throw water from the lower 
to the upper apartments. In this case, all the 
apparatus but the pump itself would be the 
same; the cistern, or tub, or tank, or what- 
ever it may be called, which would, in the 
case of the elevated pump, be under the spout, 
must be put as high, and have the pipe at- 
tached to it to go under-ground to the top of 
the hill. The difference would be in the plan 
and the construction of the pump. Instead of 
being on the platform it would be on the 
ground ; and, instead of a common lift-pump, 
it would be a force-pump, something of the 
plan of garden engines, with a pipe to reach 
up to the tank, which pipe should be as large 
as the pump will carry well, and fill well. For 
it matters not by what means the water is 
carried to the proper elevation, so there be 
head enough of water there, and that there be a 
sufficient height above the hill on which the 
top or highest tank is to be formed to make 
the water run free. There is, generally, very 
little difficulty in finding water at the lowest 
part of the ground : generally speaking, if the 
place be properly drained, a pond may be 
formed at the lowest part to receive all the 
water from the drains of the whole place; and 
this water will, in most cases, be found suf- 
ficient for all the purposes of irrigation. It 
may be, too, that a ditch near the lowest part 
of the ground brings water from neighbouring 
lands, all of which might be appropriated, if 
a proper receptacle be made for it, with a 
provision for the surplus to run away. In 
this case, nothing is wasted by the operation ; 
the ditch may be made to run all the water 
into your pond or excavation, or tank, or 
whatever it may be, and a proper outlet may 
allow the water, when full, to run off again ; 
the water-way will be just as complete as if it 
went past the place without running into the 
pond at all. Here, then, by the apparatus 
and the tanks at different spots, where they 
are most required, precisely the same as 
recommended in a former paper, a common 
force-pump may be on the ground, and force 
the water to the elevation required, with just 
as great facility as the elevated pump would 
lift it there. The only point in favour of the 
elevated pump would be in remote places in 
the country, where almost every worker in 
wood understands and can make the common 
lift-pump, whereas hardly anybody within 
miles understands the force-pump, or could 
make one, even if ordered. In such places, 
