THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN'S COMPANION. —August 10, 1806. 
305 
water. The situation is elevated, a moderate distance 
from Sheffield, and is a very nice place indeed for its 
occupiers. A Mr. Illingworth has built himself a house 
on one of the lots, and in his garden I met with a 
decidedly new second early Pea. It grows about six feet 
high, and is an extraordinary free bearer. The pods are 
of a medium size, containing from seven to eight Peas in 
each. The pod has a peculiarly rough surface, and tho 
Peas arc of a rich dark green colour, and most delicious 
flavour. It is most decidedly au acquisition, and I j 
havo persuaded Mr. Illingworth to save the whole, and 
give the seed to some farmer to raise a good stock. 
In the same garden I noticed several plants of the \ 
now almost extinct Tree Onion, a very curious and 
strange freak of nature. Instead of producing seeds, 
there is, on the top of the stem, a hunch of small 
Onions, which are excellent for pickling. I believe, 
somo time ago, there was, in The Cottage Gardener, 
an inquiry for this variety. Mr. I. will he happy to 
send a few bulbs to any person requiring them on 
the receipt of stamps to pay the postage. 
T. Api’j.eisy. 
DRAINING AND MANURING NEW GARDEN 
GROUND. 
A question being asked about draining and manuring ! 
a piece of ground intended for garden and lawn, and the 
best time and mode of doing both, naturally calls for ( 
some consideration, the more especially as on the first 
of these operations being well done depends much of 
the after success or failure. One question asked is 
easily answered—“ Which of these undertakings is to 
be done first?” The draining by all means; and tho 
way in which it is done will have so much effect on the 
after welfare of the produce, that a little extra expense ! 
in the first onset ought not to he denied to a piece of 
ground which is destined to be both useful and orna¬ 
mental, and in which it is likely the occupier will feel 
deeply interested. It is, therefore, imperative to have 
the first of these jobs done well, and, as it is likely that 
other works may speedily follow, the sooner the better 
that is commenced, the more time there will be after¬ 
wards for the trenching, manuring, &c., to which it is 
probable the whole will luyvc to be subjected. 
Draining .—The number of treatises that have been 
written on this subject, independently of the many 
practical examples most rural districts have presented 
during tho last few years, render it unnecessary here to 
say much on the general principles of draining; but as ] 
it is possible that our correspondent’s premises may be 
of that suburban class around which there may have : 
been but little draining practised, it is right here to 
point out that the first object to determine is the outlet , 
which ought to be the lowest point on the plot operated ! 
on; but some understanding with the neighbouring 
proprietor is sometimes necessary in order to get the 
proper depth of fall and other matters. Leaving this, 
however, to bo arranged by those concerned, it is then 
necessary to set out the drains, the main one being 
expected to terminate at this lowest point, and the 
branch drains leading into this main one; but the 
whole ought to be at least three feet deep, and if the 
main was six inches more so much the better, care being 
taken to give each one sufficient fall to carry off the 
water. As drain pipes are not expensive articles, and 
the difference in price between a one-inch pipe and a 
two-inch one not being very much, it would be better not | 
to use any less than one inch and a half, or, it might be, 
two inches in diameter. This is especially necessary if j 
they have to run more than 150 yards, or if the stratum 
be saud or gravel, both of which generally contain much ■ 
water; and do not by any means let the drains be less j 
than threo feet deep, and the bottom of a uniform i 
descent, and just scooped out to receive the drain pipe, 
the operation being done very skilfully by men who 
make it their business to follow that calling; and after 
the pipes are laid in, it is good practice to cover them up 
with some porous material, taking care, if stones are j 
used, not to throw them in to break the pipes. Usually, 
there is sufficient of such material on the spot by using 
tho most open portion in the bottom. Re very careful 
at the junction with the main, and, if possible, let there 
be a fall at that place, in order to clear the drain. 
The distance the drains are apart will depend on 
circumstances, but for garden and lawn purposes it is 
better not to be too sparing that way, as it is difficult 
afterwards to add more. In tillage and pasture ground 
it is not uncommon to arrange them a rod apart, which 
is sixteen feet and a half, but sometimes the distance 
is wider; but for a garden I would not advise it more 
than a rod, and if less so much the better : wet ground 
requires the drains still closer. Re very careful in 
coming in contact with trees, for several kinds send 
their roots down info drains, and speedily fill the 
largest pipes with a plaited string-work of roots of 
extraordinary length. Willow, Alder, and Ash are very 
bad that way. Oak is not so likely to do so ; but even 
annual crops have been known to penetrate a drain; 
so that it is necessary, in some cases, in passing large 
trees where the drain cuts the roots, to cut another 
false drain a little nearer to the tree, in order to separate 
the roots at that place, and to direct them iuto the 
channel there made until the proper drain be con¬ 
solidated, so as to render it unlikely for the roots to 
penetrate it. Precautions of this kind are more 
necessary than is supposed, for I was obliged, the last 
spring, to have a close socket-jointed pipe drain taken 
up and relaid. The roots of a tree had got into it in 
small string-like fibres, and had run up a distance of 
upwards of sixty feet in places, completely filling up a 
four-inch pipo with its thong of roots. The amateur 
ought, therefore, to be careful in preventing this from 
happening, as draining will be worse than useless when 
the water does not get away. 
When drains run a great length, and parallel to each 
other, it is very good practice to run a cross one at top, 
connecting them with each other, and with some 
openings outside. This is what is called an air drain, 
and whether it be of service or not, it is not an 
expensive addition ; the mouths of its branches might 
open out in some thicket, or by some wall, or anywhere 
not likely to get choked up. It is also necessary to 
observe here, that in wet districts the after comfort of a 
walk or roadway is much increased by a drain being 
run in it, and the excavation filled in with stones or 
rubble. This drain might be apart from the ordinary 
ground drains, but united with them in its outlet. It 
would also be advisable, in excavating the ground a few 
inches for the road metal, to allow tho bottom to slope 
to the drain so as to catch all the water. In filling in 
drains, it is not advisable to ram them tight; better fill 
them loosely, and let them settle of themselves, which 
will be no particular objection in tillage ground, and in J 
turf it is better to have it to take up and relay than 
destroy the utility of the drain by ramming in im¬ 
pervious clay or other similar substance. In winter, or 
after heavy rains, the ground falls quickly to near its 
proper level, but in summer it is more slowly done. 
Most workmen accustomed to draining prefer doing 
it in the winter, but it can be done at all times; and as 
“ Amateur ” wishes to proceed with the tillage and ! 
manuring of it, he might do it at once, and have tho 
autumn to do his other work. And as he inquires about 
the manuring as well, we may say, that if bis ground 
is stiff and heavy, it would be well, after draining, to 
have it trenched, or deeply dug, or ploughed, and if he 
allows four or five one-horse loads of good lime per acre 
