December  19,  1901.  JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
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diversity  of  opinion  exists  as  to  the  position  and  depth  of  the 
drains  ;  but  it  is  not  at  all  a  matter  of  mere  opinion,  for  we  have 
the  sure  evidence  of  practical  results  for  our  guidance.  As  a 
general  rule  the  best  depth  for  drains  is  4  feet  from  the  surface, 
because  by  keeping  the  water  table  at  this  depth  we  get  rid  of 
all  hurtful  upward  spreading  of  water  by  capillary  attraction, 
and  the  attendant  mischievous  evaporation  which  I  have 
already  explained,  and  no  water  can  then  accumulate  in  the 
soil  permeated  by  the  roots  of  vegetables  or  fruit  trees. 
“How  can  I  have  drains  4  feet  deep,”  said  a  gentleman  to 
me  once,  “when  I  have  only  3  feet  of  soil  upon  a  bed  of 
granite  V  I  know,  too,  a  garden  with  a  shallow  soil  of  less 
than  2  feet  upon  chalk.  But  neither  of  these  nor  similar  cases 
at  all  affect  my  position.  Thirteen  years  ago  the  site  of  the 
new  garden  here  was  drained  with  2  inch  pipes  at  a  uniform 
depth  of  4  feet,  and  with  the  drains  30  feet  apart  running 
into  a  main  4-inch  drain.  Now,  the  soil  consisted  chiefly 
of  silica  in  such  minute  particles  that  its  tenacity  closely 
approached  that  of  pure  clay,  water  passing  through  it  so 
slowly  that  much  remained  upon  or  near  the  surface  for  a  con¬ 
siderable  length  of  time  after  a  heavy  shower  of  rain.  But  then 
the  fact  of  its  certain  subsequent  improvement  for  the  growth 
of  vegetables  and  fruit  pointed  so  unmistakeably  to  a  radical 
change  in  which  mechanical  division  must  be  so  thorough 
that  superfluous  water  would  sink  to  the  drains  quickly 
even  at  that  depth,  and  no  hesitation  was  felt  in  doing 
it.  Certainly  nothing  could  be  more  satisfactory  than  the 
result.  From  the  first  the  drains  have  acted  well,  and  since 
the  soil  has  been  improved  it  becomes  dry  so  quickly,  even 
after  heavy  rain,  that  succe«sional  cropping  can  always  be 
done  in  due  season.  A  rich,  friable,  warm,  fertile  soil,  in  which 
many  half-hardy  plants  pass  unscathed  through  the  severity 
of  winter  weather  now  exists  where  once  its  cold,  sodden,  inert 
and  almost  barren  condition  gave  very  little  promise  of 
successful  cultivation,  the  first  and  most  important  step 
towards  which  was  undoubtedly  the  drainage.  Warmth  and 
dryness  are  not,  however,  the  only  benefits  which  the  soil 
derives  from  thorough  drainage.  A  certain  degree  of  fertility 
also  naturally  results  from  it,  for  the  vacuum  made  by  drains 
beneath  the  surface  gives  admission  to  air  laden  with  fertilising 
gases,  such  as  carbonic  acid,  oxygen,  and  ammonia;  not,  it 
must  be  owned,  in  sufficient  quantity  for  the  requirements  of 
gross-feeding  vegetables,  but  still  in  some  degree  promoting 
the  soil’s  fertility. 
Turning  now  to  the  actual  details  of  the  work,  it  will  be 
well  to  explain  them  so  fully  that  a  beginner  may  be  enabled 
to  see  clearly  what  to  do  and  how  to  do  it.  With  very  few 
exceptions,  then,  the  drains  are  to  be  4  feet  deep  and  30  feet 
apart,  and  each  drain  must  run  from  the  higher  to  the  lower 
part  of  the  garden  into  a  main  drain.  Take,  for  example,  a 
kitchen  garden  I  know  which  slopes  gently  from  north  to  south. 
The  first  drain  was  made  15  feet  from  the  west  wall  and 
parallel  to  it,  starting  from  the  foot  of 
the  north  wall  and  running  down  to  the 
main  drain  10  feet  from  and  parallel  to 
the  south  wall.  The  second  drain  is 
30  feet  east  of  and  parallel  to  the  first, 
and  the  other  drains  follow  regularly 
at  the  same  distance  throughout  the 
garden,  all  of  them  being  of  ordinary 
land  drain  pipes  2  inches  in  diameter 
and  1  foot  long,  except  the  main  drain, 
which  is  of  similar  pipes  4  inches  in 
diameter,  without  socket  or  flange  of 
any  kind,  but  quite  plain,  as  shown  at 
B,  in  our  small  figure. 
In  digging  the  trench  for  the  drains 
three  spades  are  required  like  a,  b,  c, 
the  top  spit  being  taken  out  with  a, 
the  next  with  b,  and  the  bottom  with 
c,  thus  avoiding  all  unnecessary  removal  of  soil.  The  bottom 
of  the  trench  is  then  cleaned  and  hollowed  with  the  scoop,  D, 
and  the  trench  is  then  carefully  examined  before  a  single  pipe 
is  put  in  it  in  order  that  any  faulty  work  may  be  set  right. 
This  is  important,  for  the  drains  are  usually  made  by  the  perch, 
and  unless  the  workmen  are  closely  looked  after  the  work  will 
not  be  well  done.  The  pipes  are  laid  with  E,  and  the  soil  put 
back  again,  the  drain  then  being  complete  as  shown  in  the 
section  A.  When  the  garden  has  no  slope  it  sometimes  proves 
difficult  to  give  the  drains  the  necessary  gradient  to  carry  off 
the  water  quickly.  A  good  way  of  overcoming  this  diificulty 
is  to  make  several  short  diagonal  branches  emptying  into  a 
main  drain,  so  as  to  secure  the  few  inches  of  fall  without 
materially  lessening  the  depth  of  any  of  them.  E.  L. 
■ 
i 
it 
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/ 
Section  of  a  Drain. 
■'  !• 
WQKK  fotithe  WEEK. 
’  m 
Fruit  Forcing. 
PEACHES  AND  NECTARINES— EARLIEST  HOUSE.— 
The  trees  in  the  house  started  at  the  beginning  of  the  month, 
and  having  been  forced  in  the  previous  year,  will  now  have  the 
blossom  buds  well  advanced  towards  flowering,  when  syringing 
the  trees  must  cease.  Where  there  is  a  redundancy  of  blossom 
remove  those  on  the  under  side  or  back  of  the  shoots.  Admit  a 
little  air  constantly  at  the  top  of  the  house,  and  this,  with  the 
warmth  in  the  hot-water  pipes,  will  keep  the  air  in  motion,  and 
moisture  will  be  deposited  on  the  glass  instead^  of  on  the 
blossoms.  The  temperature  may  be  retained  at  55deg  by  day 
and  50deg  at  night  in  mild  weather,  but  5deg  less,  m  severe 
weather  is  more  favourable  to  the  trees  than  the  higher  tem¬ 
perature,  and  the  setting  of  the  fruit  is  not  prejudiced  if  the 
temperature  falls  to  45deg  at  night  or  even  to  40deg  in  very 
sharp  weather.  It  is  necessary  when  the  flowers  show  the 
anthers  clear  of  the  petals  that  the  house  be  freely  ventilated, 
avoiding  cold  draughts,  and  not  exciting  the  trees  by  too  much 
fire  heat. 
To  keep  the  trees  in  steady  progress  the  temperature,  how¬ 
ever,  must  be  raised  early  in  the  day  to  50deg,  and  kept  between 
that  and  55deg  through  the  day.  The  aim  should  be  to  have 
stout  blossoms,  sturdy  stamens  well  raised  above  the  pistil, 
loaded  with  abundance  of  pollen,  well-developed  pistil,  and  pio 
perly  formed  ovary.  These  all  require  tune  to  develop  and 
aeration  for  their  perfecting,  when  recourse  can  be  had  to 
shaking  the  trellis  or  brushing  over  the  blossoms  with  a  camel  s- 
hair  brush  on  fine  days  after  the  house  has  been  ventilated  f 
some  little  time.  The  pollen,  by  either  of  these  processes,  is 
distributed  in  a  golden  shower,  visible  m  the  sunlight ,  and  w  hen 
this  is  the  case  the  set  is  generally  a  good  one,  even  without 
artificial  impregnation,  and  sometimes  the  disturbance  of  t he 
air  by  lightly  syringing  the  trees  serves  to  effect  the  setting  in 
a  satisfactory  manner.  , 
SECOND  EARLY  HOUSE.— To  have  ripe  fruit  of  the  second 
early  and  midseason  varieties  at  the  end  of  May  or  early  in  June 
the  trees  must  be  started  not  later  than  the.  new  year.  At  the 
new  year  fire  heat  should  be  employed  to  maintain  a  night  tem¬ 
perature  of  40deg  and  to  insure  oOdeg  by  day,  above  which 
ventilate  freely.  This  will  bring  the  trees  on  sufficiently  fast 
to  insure  sturdy  blossom,  and  once  they  make  a  start  it  is  neces¬ 
sary  to  keep  them  in  steady  progress.  If  the  ho"s®h,a1®^j!® 
roof-lights  removed  the  inside  borders  will  have  been  thoroughly 
moistened  through  to  the  drainage,  and  not  need  water  for  some 
weeks  but  where  the  roof-lights  are  fixed  the  border  may  need 
a  thorough  supply  of  water,  and  if  dry  it  will  be  necessary  to 
repeat  the  applications,  for  nothing  short  of  thorough  moisture 
in  the  border  ought  to  satisfy  the  Reach  grower,  always  steering 
clear  of  a  soddened  and  sour  condition.  Outside  borders  should 
be  protected  against  frost,  A  few  inches  thickness  of  dry  leaves, 
with  a  little  litter  over  them,  answers  admirably.— St.  Albans. 
The  Kitchen  Garden. 
PROTECTING  CELERY-.— Severe  frost  following  wet 
weather  if  often  very  trying  to  the  Celery  crop,  and  the  leaves 
suffer  To  obviate  this  is  to  some  extent  a  little  temporal v  pro¬ 
tection  should  be  afforded  whenever  the  frost  looks  likely  of 
becoming  severe.  Dry  litter  or  Bracken  spread  thinly  over  the 
rows  wilf  protect  the  leaves  so  long  as  it  remains  dry.  A  little 
long  straw-  laid  thinly  on  each  side  of  rows  and  meeting  over 
them  is  also  an  efficient  protector.  To  hold  it  in  position  run  a 
string  along  each  side.  The  best  protection  of  all,  however,  con¬ 
sists  of  two  boards  nailed  together  forming  a  A-shaped  arrangement, 
which  should  be  fixed  above  the  plants. 
MUSTARD  AND  CRESS.— Seed  should  be  sown  frequently 
on  the  surface  of  fine  soil  in  boxes.  These  must  be  given  a  warm 
position,  such  as  the  hot-water  pipes.  Cover  the  seed  with 
paper  to  encourage  a  more  even  germination. 
LETTUCE  PLANTS  IN  FRAMES.— Give  constant  attention 
to  these,  picking  off  yellow  and  decayed  leaves  as  they  appear, 
also  lightly  stirring  the  soil  among  them.  So  long  as  the  soil 
is  fairly  moist,  abater  will  n<?t  be  required.  Give  abundance  of 
air  on  every  favourable  occasion,  with  a  little  at  all  times  except 
in  very  frosty  w-eather.  . 
PARSLEY. — A  few  good  roots  should  be  lifted  and  placed  in 
a  frame,  boxes,  or  pots  for  use  in  severe  wintry  weather  It 
is  advisable  also  to  cover  some  with  a  frame  and  light,  standing 
the  frame  on  a  brick  at  each  corner. 
