WATERING AND FEEDING 85 



the plants in a healthy condition during such experiences, 

 must necessarily entail a great amount of work. Water- 

 ing, feeding, the gathering of blossoms, and the tying 

 and controlling of the growths, must have persistent 

 attention, otherwise the plants will soon go back, and 

 the display of good blooms be brought to a premature 

 conclusion. 



In periods of drought, watering must be done 

 thoroughly, and at fairly regular intervals. We must 

 admit a preference for copious applications of water, 

 when we are satisfied the soil is dry. Growers, how- 

 ever, are apt to forget that, previous to the planting of 

 their Sweet Peas, heavy dressings of manure were 

 applied, and where the clump system of planting was 

 followed, holes were taken out, and these filled, or two- 

 thirds filled with good manure, that was well trodden in. 

 This was also the rule with Sweet Peas planted in rows. 

 Trenches were taken out and filled with manure in similar 

 fashion to those prepared for Celery. 



In this way, plants in clumps and rows have cool 

 quarters for their roots to revel in in dry weather, 

 where they are able to draw upon plant food and 

 moisture quite freely. This manure forms a kind of 

 reservoir of moisture in hot and trying periods, a fact 

 that many growers forget, when they see the surface 

 soil dry. Watering should be done in the late afternoon 

 or evening ; we prefer the latter time. This work is 

 less laborious in the cool of the evening and the plants 

 hare then several hours in which to take up moisture 

 and plant food, the better to fit them for the strain of 

 the morrow. When Sweet Peas are watered in the 

 morning of a hot day the beneficial effects are doubtful, 

 as much of the moisture is quickly absorbed by the sun, 

 and not seldom the plants look anything but happy. 



Two or three copious applications of water each 

 week, in the hot, dry summer weather, should suffice 



