400 VILLA GARDEXIXG paet v 



Irrigation, to be of great value to the crops, must be efficiently 

 done ; and in the majority of cases, if the water has to be carried 

 in -waterpots, it will not be so done. I have seen this often. If 

 a set of men are ordered to water any given area, unless they are 

 told how much water is to be used, the work is sure to be scamped. 

 This may perhaps arise through some confusion of ideas as to what 

 constitutes a good soaking of water. Scarcely any two people 

 who are not reaUy and practically acquainted with the subject will 

 agree as to the amount of water any given space should receive in 

 dry weather to suit the wants of any pai'ticidar crop; but it is 

 certain that the majority woidd not give enough water, and very 

 many would be content with just damping the surface. If, from 

 the deficiency of the water supply or any other cause, the soil 

 watered cannot be moistened as far as the roots extend, it will be 

 better not to water at all, but to counteract the drought and en- 

 courage growth by other means. In the neighbourhood of towns, 

 where the water is laid into the houses, and can be easily dis- 

 tributed by pipes and hose, the garden may have a good supply. 

 "Whenever a bed of plants is watered in the open air, the eartli 

 should be stirred next morning to prevent baking and cracking by 

 the sun, and check evaporation. 



With the Dutch hoe a very few minutes will suffice to stir a 

 large space, and it is wonderful how quickly the water ascends 

 into the clouds again if this stirring is neglected. The best water 

 is that which has been exposed to the atmosphere and the sunshine 

 in an open tank, pond, or river. The water from a deep well 

 should never be used until it has been exposed for twenty-four 

 liours — it chills too much. Plants watered with cold pmnp or 

 spring water cannot thrive. It should also be borne in mind that 

 large quantities of water cannot at any time be passed through the 

 land without making some change in it. If the water contains 

 any manurial substance the earth acts as a filter. If, on the other 

 hand, the water is clear and the soil rich, or fairly so, the latter 

 may part with some of its richness to the water on its passage 

 through, so that watering in aU cases may not be an immixed 

 good, but, if inefficiently done, a positive injury. On this latter 

 point I may say that surface watering — i.e. just damping the 

 surface an inch or two deep — must do harm, even when carried 

 out persistently, by the encouragement given to surface-rooting, 

 which, however valuable when legitimately produced, is of no use 

 when created in such an artificial manner, being too much under 

 the influence of a set of circumstances whose permanence cannot 

 be relied on. What plants, as well as animals, require is steadi- 

 ness of treatment ; and plants with a thin stratum of soil just 



