208 
THE PETUNIA. 
keep it always going, if necessary. Now, drain 
1 lie land as you would if the water run off, 
bringing all the drains so as to convey the 
water to the dyke cleared hy the engine ; and 
the effect is as complete as if it actually run 
away, instead of requiring to be forced away 
by extra power employed on purpose. In this 
manner have the fens of Lincolnshire been 
converted from endless sheets of water to excel- 
lent wheat lands, yielding, under ordinary 
culture, four quarters to the acre : so that there 
really is not any ground, in any situation worth 
claiming, that might not be claimed by the 
application of some of the numerous means 
employed. A windmill has been found equal 
to the draining of a large swamp, where there 
were no means of running the water off, the 
nearest and best watercourse lying more than 
six feet above the level of the greater part of 
the swamp. There was an excavation made at 
the part nearest the outlet, and this was 
pumped out by means of a very economical 
windmill, raised sufficiently to catch the wind ; 
and though there were times when the want 
of wind gave the water a little lenity, it was, 
for the most part, well kept under and proved 
a valuable addition to the farm. The draining 
was of course performed so as to guide the 
water to the excavation, where it was expelled 
to the nearest watercourse by the mill. It is 
not the apparent difficulty that should deter us 
from attempting improvements, if the object 
to be attained be worth it ; for this must always 
be the ground-work of all improvements. In 
the Lincolnshire Fens' improvement, land worth 
nothing was made worth a considerable sum ; 
and if it cost half the annual rent to keep it 
drained by means of steam-engines, the other 
half would be profit ; and therefore worth the 
effort. 
EUSTOMA EXALTATUM. 
( Grisebach. ) 
THE TALL EUSTOMA. 
This plant has lately attracted some atten- 
tion as a new species of Lisianthus, called 
L. glaucifolius, no doubt owing much of this 
interest to the well-known beauty of its near 
ally, Lisianthus (now Eustoma) Russellianus. 
Instead, however, of being new to the collec- 
tions of this country, it appears to have been 
known long ago, and probably in the mean time 
has been lost, or nearly so. Though much 
less showy than L. Russellianus, it is a pretty 
plant, of a simlar habit and general character, 
but with smaller and less attractive coloured 
flowers. It belongs to Gentianaceas. 
Eustoma exaltatum forms an upright 
branching plant, somewhat naked in its ap- 
pearance, with elliptic-oblong, bluish-looking, 
(glaucous) leaves, produced in pairs, and situ- 
ated closely on Ihe stem, opposite each other, 
and terminating at the apex in a rather sharp 
point. The flowers are somewhat broadly 
bell-shaped, divided at the edge into five obtuse, 
segments, of a pretty lilac colour, deeper about, 
Eustoma cxalla'.tim. 
the eye. and about half the size of E. Russell- 
ianus. It is a biennial plant, requiring to be 
sown towards the end of the summer, in order 
to bloom during the following one. It grows 
best in a light soil of which sandy peat is the 
chief component ; and, in order to correct its 
somewhat lax and naked habit, the young plants 
should be frequently and freely "stopped" 
that is, they should have the tops of the shoots 
taken out as soon as they have formed two or 
three leaves long, and this should be continued 
till late* or earlier in the spring, according to 
the time the plants are required in bloom, and 
the degree of bushiness which it is desired to 
impart to them. It requires a green-house 
temperature, somewhat above the average. 
The Pacific coast of Mexico, Vera Cruz, 
Cuba, Tampico, St. Domingo, the Havannah, 
and the Arkansas, are all said to produce it ; 
but probably some of these stations belong to 
a different species. 
THE PETUNIA. 
This extraordinary plant, which, but a 
short time ago, was a mere border flower, has, 
by the perseverance of the spirited growers, 
who have been moved by the publication of its 
properties, becoaie a most striking garden 
