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cs WATERING. 45 
: When plants have been suffered to become too dry, the ground 
should be loosened before watering it; and water should be given a 
little at a time, and frequently, till the plant appears to have recovered 
its vigour. A great deal of the good produced by watering depends 
on the state of the ground; as when the ground is hard and com- 
pact, it is very possible to throw a great quantity of water upon it 
without doing any service to the plants. 
The kind of water used should also be considered. The best 1s 
pond-water, as it is always mixed with air, and is, moreover, gene- 
rally impregnated with decayed animal and vegetable matter; and 
the worst is clear spring-water, as it is always cold, and is seldom 
impregnated with air, or with anything but some mineral substance, 
which, so far from doing good, is positively injurious to the plants. 
Rain-water collected in open cisterns, and river-water, are both very 
suitable; and when only spring-water can be obtained, it should be 
exposed for some time to the air before using it.” It is always advi- 
sable to have the water at least as warm as the plants to be watered ; 
and for this reason the water to be used in hot-houses and green- 
houses is generally kept in an open vessel in the house some hours 
before using. In some cases, the water may be much hotter than 
the temperature in which the plants are grown; and the effect of hot 
water, not heated to above 200°, in forwarding bulbs is astonishing; 
but it must be observed that it should never be poured on the bulbs, 
or on the leaves, but on the earth near the rim of the pot. Hot wa- 
ter is also very efficacious in softening seeds with hard coverings 
when soaked in it; and some of the seeds of the New Holland aca- 
cias will not vegetate in this country till they have been actually 
boiled for some minutes. 
