378 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[March 20. 
“' The tomb of Humphry Repton, who died March 21th, 1818. 
1 Not like the Egyptian tyrant—consecrate, 
Unmixt with others shall my dust remain ; 
But mouldering, blended, melted into earth, 
Mine shall give form and colour to the rose ; 
And while its vivid blossoms cheer mankind, 
Its perfum’d odour shall ascend to heaven.’ ” 
Meteorology of the Week. —From observations during the last 
twenty-four years, at Chiswick, the average highest and lowest tem¬ 
peratures of these days are there, 51.2°, and 34.6°, respectively. The 
greatest heat, 69°, occurred on the 20th, in 1836 ; and the lowest cold, 
16 °, on tha20th, in 1815. Rain fell on 68 days, and 100 days were fine. 
“ I cannot comprehend the necessity for draining lauds 
when I see the Calla eethiopica flourishing in a pot 
plunged beneath water; nor how roots can be rotted by 
water when I see those of Hyacinths thriving in it in my 
| glasses.” Such is a paragraph in a letter now before us, 
1 and we will first reply to the objection, and then show 
more fully why draining is beneficial. 
As to the Calla eethiopica, we need only reply that it is 
a water plant, and we can no otherwise account for its 
roots requiring an overflow of water, whilst those of 
some other plants decay if water is in the slightest 
excess, than we can for the Hippopotamus and the Camel 
being of similarly opposite habits. God made the one 
to require an abundant supply of water, and he so con. 
structed the other as to enable it long to exist without 
even a small supply of moisture. Then, as to the 
Hyacinth, we know that in water it exists for one season, 
but dies if continued there longer. Its leaves and flowers 
are formed from the elaborated sap stored up in the 
bulb during the previous year’s growth, and so far is it 
from gaining in weight of solid matter during its growth 
in water, that this is actually diminished. In fact it 
endures the water for a short season, as many other 
organised creatures will live in an unnatural state for 
awhile, but the excess of water speedily brings to it 
death. 
It is only to those who are unacquainted practically 
with the cultivation of plants, that it is necessary to 
urge that an excess of water is prejudicial to them, 
whether under glass or in tho open air. It will be suffi¬ 
cient to specify the damping off' of cuttings and seedlings 
under glass; the waxiness of potatoes, the mossiness 
of apple trees, and the gum and blistered leaves in 
peaches. These are only a few of the actual diseases 
occasioned by such excess of moisture in the soil; but 
the mischief does not stop there. 
Wherever there is such an excess the crops are later 
in coming iuto production, and are earlier in being cut 
i down by the frosts, and for the evident reason that the 
more superfluous water is in the soil the greater is the 
amount of evaporation, and the greater the evaporation 
; the greater the degree of cold. Thus the experiments of 
M. Schluber and others show, that where a soil in a dry 
I state reached by exposure to the sun the temperature of 
I 113°, the same soil iu a wet state only attained to 99°. 
This accounts for a well-drained soil having the for- 
wardest vegetation, and that an ill-drained soil has its 
crops soonest cut off by frosts, is because that as it is 
| heated slowly so does it cool rapidly from excessive 
I evaporation. It is over the lowest and wettest portions 
! of a field that the evening fog is first apparent, for as it 
| first becomes colder than any other portion of the field, 
j there first is seen the moisture deposited from the air, 
for fog is nothing but moisture so deposited. We 
never saw tho consequences of this more markedly 
demonstrated, than by the dahlias about W iuchoster 
during the winter now closed. In the low grounds near 
the Itchen they were cut down by the first irosts, but in 
the better drained grounds on the chalk hills around, 
they were untouched by the frosts for two months later. 
The subject, however, has not been left to speculation, 
for Mr. Parkes, Mr. Dickenson, and others, found that 
the evaporation in inches from the same soil, drained 
and undrained, was as follows :— 
Jan. April. July. Oct. 
Drained Soil. 1’28 1‘05 3 - 30 2'69 
Undrained Soil.... 1‘49 4 - 00 2 - 79 2'89 
Again, it was ascertained that the soil of a bog un¬ 
stirred remained uniformly at 46°, but where it had been 
dug to a depth of three feet, the temperature of the air 
being 65°, at seven inches deep the soil was 55°, and at 
thirteen inches 51°. 
We have said enough, we think, to explain why 
drainage is beneficial to cultivated crops, and in previous 
numbers we have shewn the different decompositions 
which occur in wet and dry soils, and how much more 
beneficial to vegetation those are in the latter; we, 
therefore, now turn to the practical part of the subject, 
and it is especially for the purpose of recommending to 
our readers a little shilling volume just issued from the 
press, Land Drainage, Embankment, and Irrigation, by 
James Donald, Civil Engineer. It is the best little 
manual on the subject we have ever perused, aud gives 
every useful information on the principles and practice 
of draining; the size, distance, and direction of the 
drains; the comparative value of tiles, pipes, and other 
agents for effecting the drainage; the cost of drainage, 
and its profits. From this last named chapter we will, 
in conclusion, make one short extract: 
“ In various districts of Scotland now drained almost 
throughout, much land, which only a few years ago was wet 
and stiff, and considered unfit for the growth of turnips or 
other green crops, has, by thorough draining and more 
perfect tillage, been made more valuable than the light and ! 
naturally dry land around it. Its culture, although better 
done, costs less than formerly. Manure has full effect upon 
it, and almost any kind of crop can be grown with certainty 
and advantage. Formerly it was liable to bind together and 
become hard and tough after a single day’s rain, but now it 
possesses only a proper degree of consistency, whilst its 
stamina has been developed, and its fertility called into 
action; and whilst under good management, it is scarcely [ 
inferior to the lighter soils in the growth of turnips or j 
potatoes; it may produce heavy crops of beans, wheat, or i 
clover, when the lighter soils fail in doing so; but such soil, 
nevertheless, requires perfect tillage and liberal manuring 
to make it highly productive; every detail must be carried 
out to suit the requirements of the case. Badly done work 
of any kind will not answer even after draining.” 
GARDENING GOSSIP. 
At the last meeting of the Society for the Encouragement 
of Floriculture in Great Britain, J. Davidson, Esq., in 
