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a troublesome weed; but I do not know of it growing well 
anywhere in this district, except at Iron Acton, where the soil is 
Strongly charged with iron. Yet I do not say that good soil by 
itself will enable plants to resist drought ; it can only be a great 
help, and on whatever soil plants are growing, along drought will 
test the skill of the gardener. Perhaps the skill, or no-skill of a 
gardener is shown in nothing more than in his way of watering 
his plants. Plants soon show when they are thirsty, and a good 
gardener will at once quench their thirst by a plentiful supply of 
water at the roots; the unskillful gardener loves to water the 
drooping foliage ; it looks pretty and is of no use; and if he has a 
plant drooping by the side of a gravel path, he is rather surprised 
to be told that he had better soak the gravel path well than wet 
the foliage only. There is an advantage in watering leaves when 
they are choked with impurities, and in some places, as at Kew, 
where they have to contend with an atmosphere charged with 
blacks, constant and copious syringing is useful; but this is 
cleansing, and not watering, and is the same use to the plant 
that a good washing is to a dirty man, opening the pores by 
cleansing them of their choking impurities. 
Very shortly I will mention two other features of the garden this 
year. I attach a high value to the autumnal tints as one of 
the chief ornaments of the garden, and this year I had none. 
We are now told that it is wrong to speak of equinoctial gales, 
but this year we had very strong gales at the time of the 
autumnal equinox, with the unpleasant result that the trees were 
stripped bare long before their time, and so there were no leaves 
to be tinted. The only compensation that can be had for this 
loss is in the old weather forecast that if the leaves fall before 
Martinmas the winter will be mild. I hope this forecast may 
come true. 
The year was not so remarkable for abundance of unusual 
fruits and seeds as I should have expected. The Catalpa, some 
Magnolias, and the Koelreuteria fruited well, and I had fruit on 
