1, Fruiting branchlet. 2, Flowers.
Dragon Tree (Dracæna Draco), a tree-like liliaceous plant, with a stem simple or divided at top, and in old age often much branched. It is a native of the Canaries, and yields the resin known as dragon's blood. It is often grown in greenhouses.
Dragoon´, a kind of mounted soldier, so called originally from his musket (dragon) having on the muzzle of it the head of a dragon. At one time dragoons served both as mounted and foot soldiers, but now only as the former. In the British army there are heavy and light dragoons. The first dragoon regiment, the Scots Greys, was formed in 1681.
Draguignan (dra˙-gē-nyän),a town of Southern France since 1793, capital of the department of Var, in a beautiful valley, 41 miles north-east of Toulon. It has some interesting buildings, and manufactures of silk, soap, and leather. Pop. 9974.
Drainage. The term comprises the drainage of areas of country by rivers and streams, the reclamation of areas from the sea, and country formerly marshy, and the provision of culverts and pipe-drains to buildings and towns.
The Fens in Lincolnshire are a notable example of a comprehensive system of drainage by means of open ditches (locally called 'drains'), into which the surplus water is lifted by means of wind- and steam-pumps.
Low-lying or flat country often requires a considerable amount of drainage, which is carried out by means of a regular system of earthenware pipes, laid 2 to 3 feet deep, and from 15 to 35 feet apart. These pipes are porous, from 2 to 3 inches in diameter, laid with butt joints, and lead into larger mains, and thence by open ditches to streams.
A method recently introduced consists in drawing a pointed cylindrical tool, 2 inches in diameter,
through the ground at the required depth. This tool is dependent from a thin steel plate, which connects it with the carriage above, so that it can be drawn underground in any desired direction. This system is economical in first cost, but its useful life is considerably less than that of a piped drain, and its use is obviously confined to soils of the heavier variety.
In considering the provision of drainage to water-logged or low-lying land, every care should first be taken to improve the existing natural means of drainage, such as deepening and cleaning out streams and ditches, and removing obstructions.