THE 



GARDENER, 



MAY 1871. 



THE WATER SUPPLY OF GARDENS. 



HE supply of a sufficiency of wholesome water to our 

 large towns has become one of the most important 

 questions of the day. In many instances the supply 

 of water is insufficient in quantity and deficient in 

 quality. Although of much less importance from a national point 

 of view, the same facts which apply to towns apply with equal 

 force to many gardens, and in numerous cases the water supply 

 of gardens has become the most pressing question of the day with 

 the gardeners who superintend them; and the experience of the 

 last few summers, as well as the fact that our springs in many dis- 

 tricts are yet unaffected by the rains of winter and spring, is not 

 at all calculated to cheer many gardeners, nor to assure them that 

 they will not have to pass through the lamentable struggle with 

 drought which, in many cases that we could name, rendered satis- 

 factory results out of the question. That a good supply of soft 

 water is one of the chief elements towards successful cultivation, no 

 one can for a moment question ; yet it is quite evident that in the 

 selection of garden sites the supply of water has never, in many 

 instances, received that amount of consideration which its great 

 importance demands. The disadvantages arising from this are now felt 

 more than ever, because the number of plants which require a daily 

 artificial supply of water has been multiplied fourfold within the 

 last twenty- five years. 



There is no denying the fact that the gardener who has at his 



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