138 IMPORTANCE OP WATER IN GARDENING, 



up last season, and consequently the »pear3 are not so thick, generally .'<])eaking, as in 

 open air cultivation. 



Kliubarl) loiving, I find easy and clicaj). A barrel sawed in half, ]>laf'('d in the 

 stalile vard, and covered with fresh manure, with only a breathing hold in the top on 

 mild days, gives me abundance, and very early ; but this winter I plai(-(l in three such 

 receptacles five roots each, and brought them into a warm closet behind the chimney 

 in the dining room. Presto ! what a growth, and what a beautiful and valuable crop! 

 These fifteen roots are giving me now, and have been all January, as much "jiie- 

 plant" as we could desire. The growth is most vigorous and really beautiful. I 

 value it much for the latter quality, and sometimes treat a visitor with a peep at my 

 in-door kitchen green-house, to his great sur}»rise. 



Salads I have under glass beneath the dining room window — a fine southern 

 exposure; and on occasion of an unexpected neighbor to a cold joint at a late supper, 

 can very conveniently pick it from under the snow without leaving the room. Most 

 delicious it is too, fresh from the case, and picked by your own hands. As this case 

 is robbed, other plants from further otY are brought on a mild day to replace them. 

 I thus have salad at hand from early in November till garden supplies come in. 



Neapalitan violets in abundance, in a little bed near the south door, protected by 

 an oiled muslin frame, greet me with their odor whenever I step out. Last winter, 

 however, there were very few, owing to the extreme cold. 



Such are the amusements, as well as the troubles, of a lover of the beautiful, who 

 only found himself at leisure after the age of fifty to indulge his tastes for a garden, 

 and who in fifty experiments has had to learn for himself those particulars which 

 books do not tell. It was only last year that I saw a retired "cit," planting his corn 

 liimself, without soaking it. "Why," said he, "the books say nothing of that!" 

 Hence the necessity of periodicals like the Horticulturist, which it is pleasing to find 

 is becoming exceedingly practical. 



IMPORTANCE OF WATER IN GARDENING. 



BY D., BIJTIIEWOOD, ON THE HUDSON. 



In your late article on the " Importance of Water in Gardening," you solicit informa- 

 tion from those who have had experience in such matters, as to the best modes of 

 supplying water. I have long entertained the opinions you express of the great 

 advantages of water in the proper treatment of gardens and grounds, but the late 

 seasons of severe drouth have constrained me to adopt a system of hydraulic improve- 

 ments here ; some account of which may be useful to otheris. 



At the distance of 2,100 feet from the dwelling and gardens, there is a hill 60 feet 

 high, adjoining one of the cataracts of the Sawkill — a stream which bounds the 

 amental grounds. Upon this hill, which is level with the site of the house, I have 

 d a tower in the form of an Italian campanile, (see accompanying sketch,) 



