198 THE GARDENER. [May 



command a plentiful supply of good water, has a power at his back, 

 in the matter of cultivation and cleanliness, which gives him great 

 advantages over those who are dependent on either the stagnant water 

 of a pond, or cold hard spring water that has to be pumped from 

 the bowels of the earth. Of course many gardens are so situated 

 as to locality that a supply of water from a lake or unpolluted stream 

 is simply an impossibility; but, on the other hand, there are gar- 

 dens where the gardener has to use water from springs of an un- 

 favourable character, and from muddy ponds, while a little ingenuity 

 and outlay would in most cases place at his command an abundant 

 supply of the very best water for horticultural purposes. We have 

 ourselves been, in more than one instance, compelled to use slimy 

 water, with which no plant could be syringed, or else to fall back, 

 as an alternative, on pump-water, which was not only attended with 

 immense labour, but with certain death to some plants on account 

 of mineral deposit ; this, too, while an abundant supply of rain- 

 water was allowed to run off the roofs of hothouses and other 

 buildings into the nearest ditches. While we know perfectly well 

 that instances of this sort are common enough, we are under the 

 impression that there are few questions connected with horticulture 

 which require to be more urgently brought before the owners of all 

 gardens so situated. We are aware that it is a most difficult task 

 to convince the inexperienced of the almost magical effects that the 

 different kinds of water have on the health and growth of plants ; 

 in fact, we ourselves could hardly credit the importance of one kind 

 of water over another, if we had not experienced in various locali- 

 ties the different effects produced by the opposite extremes to which 

 reference has been made ; therefore we unhesitatingly say that we 

 know of no single appliance which can be of so much advantage to 

 gardeners and their employers as an abundant supply of soft water. 



Where gardens are not sufficiently near to an unpolluted stream or 

 lake from which to draw a supply, the next best thing is to store in 

 large tanks the rain-water which runs from the roofs of hothouses and 

 all other buildings connected with or near the garden. In this way 

 a supply sufficient for the most important, if not for all purposes, can 

 be secured. It is a matter of astonishment, when it is thought of at 

 all, that an element of the very best character, and one of such first- 

 rate importance, should be so frequently allowed to run to waste, while 

 at the same time water of positively the worst description is made 

 use of, at considerable cost and labour. We have known employers 

 scrupulous to a point that no cinders should go to waste in ash-heaps, 

 while a tenfold more injurious waste in connection with the water 

 supply was never thought of. 



