CULTIVATION UNDER GLASS 



on the part of the gardener, and obviously occupies much more 

 of his time than watering all over the plants with a hose would. 

 The safe rule to follow when watering is— when dry, give a 

 plant plenty; when wet enough to last till next time, give 

 none. By following this rule, the plants will be kept in good 

 health and a steady rate of growth. 



With bulbous and tuberous plants perhaps a little more care 

 and knowledge of their individual peculiarities are necessary than 

 with fibrous-rooted ones. Many bulbous and tuberous plants require 

 a period of rest at some particular period of the year. The 

 gardener knowing this period, watches its approach and regulates 

 his supplies of water accordingly. As the plants show signs of 

 going to rest by the yellowing of the leaves and their gradually 

 falling away, watering becomes less frequent, and more air and 

 light are given to the plants to hasten the ripening process. 



Again, after the resting period is at an end, and the bulbs or 

 tubers show signs of new life, the plants will require more and more 

 water until they are in the full vigour of their growth. It is this 

 continual and gradual change from the active to the dormant state, 

 and vice versd, that requires to be taken into consideration when 

 giving water to the plants. 



Syringing. — Besides supplying water properly to the roots of 

 plants it is often necessary to apply it also to the stems and foliage, 

 more especially perhaps with stove or hothouse plants, and in a 

 lesser degree to greenhouse plants. It is well known that the drier 

 the atmosphere the greater the amount of moisture evaporated from 

 the millions of pores or stomata on the leaves of plants. Conversely, 

 the more heavy laden the air is with moisture, the slower will be the 

 evaporation from the leaf surfaces. According, therefore, to the 

 humidity of the atmosphere surrounding stove and greenhouse 

 plants will the operation of syringing be regulated. In hot dry 

 weather it may be necessary to syringe three or four times a day, in 

 addition to damping down the pathways and stages of the house. 

 During the winter months, however, and during cold or dull spells 

 of weather, there will not be the same necessity for so much 

 syringing. The gardener, therefore, who wishes to grow his plants 

 well under glass must be a kind of meteorologist or weather-prophet, 

 and vary his work according to circumstances. What he does one 

 day, and would be perfectly correct in doing, may be altogether 

 wrong the next day, simply because the weather conditions were 

 totally different. 



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