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WATERING 
f7 TERING must be considered with due regard 
to the nature of the plant under treatment. A 
Cactus or other succulent plant requires less 
water than robust-foliage plants, and while a 
ee slight neglect in watering a Cactus would be 
of no consequence, the neglect of a Fern in full growth might 
do great injury. The soil should in no case be kept continu- 
ally wet, but merely sufficiently moist to insure a satisfactory 
growth. Watering can be almost entirely dispensed with dur- 
ing the winter months with many slow-growing Cactacez, but 
most plants require more or less water all the year round. On 
a sunny summer day more water is of course needed than in 
the dull season of the year. The amount of water taken up 
‘by healthy foliage-plants during a hot summer day is sometimes 
quite surprising. One way to ascertain if a plant is dry is by 
tapping the pot by the hand, when if dry it will give a ringing — 
sound. » But the amateur will soon learn to discover the dry 
ones merely by looking at the soil. 
Water should, if possible, be soft. Rain-water collected for 
the purpose is the best for ordinary use. Palms and other 
foliage-plants require spraying every day in dry weather, or 
where this is impracticable the plants should be gone over once 
in a while with a moist sponge, an operation which need not 
