278 THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



Many think that heavy watering is necessary in seasons of drought, 



and it may be worth while showing how such heavy labour may be 



avoided. There are soils which are so thirsty, like 



Cultivation and tne not sandy soils of Surrey, that watering is 

 water. essential, and some chalky soils, too, are almost 



hopeless without heavy watering, while water is 

 often extremely difficult to get enough of on dry hills. But under 

 general conditions there is not much trouble in getting rid of this 

 labour and its attendant ugliness. The essential thing is to make 

 the beds deep enough. Even with the best intentions, many people 

 fail to do this, and workmen in forming gardens are sometimes 

 misled as to the depth of soil in beds made when gardens are 

 being laid out, the soil when it settles being really much less than 

 it seems in the making. The best way for those who care for their 

 flowers is to dig the beds right out to a depth of 30 inches below 

 the surface before any of the good soil is put in. Then, if for general 

 garden use such beds are filled in with good, rich, loamy soil and 

 are gently raised, as all beds should be in wet countries, 4 inches 

 or 6 inches above the surface, they will rarely be found to fail in 

 any drought. Much depends on the size of the bed; the little, 

 angular, frivolous beds which have too often been the rule in gardens 

 cannot resist drought so long as broad simple beds. With these 

 precautions, and also autumn and winter planting, we ought, in the 

 British Isles, to free ourselves from much of the heavy labour and cost 

 of watering, and it would be better to have half the space we give 

 to flowers well prepared, than always be at work with the water 

 barrel. 



To be busy planting in autumn and early winter is a great gain 

 too, because the plants get rooted before the hot time comes, and the 

 kind of plants we grow is important as regards the water question. 

 Where we have deep beds of Roses, Lilies, Carnations, Irises, 

 Delphiniums, and all the noble flowers that can be planted in 

 autumn or winter, we may save ourselves the labour of watering often. 

 Well prepared beds of choice evergreen or other flowering shrubs, with 

 Lilies and the choicest hardy flowers among them, also resist drought 

 well. Thus it will be seen how much we gain in this way alone by 

 the use of right open-air gardening. 



What is here said, although true of the south of England and dry 

 soils generally, is not so as to soil on cool hills, and in the west country 

 where the rainfall is heavier. In such cases it is not nearly so import- 

 ant to have the soil so deep, and a good fertile soil half the depth, 

 with copious rain, may do. But, taking the country generally, there 

 is no doubt that such deep culture well repays the doing. The 

 farmer is often unable to alter the staple of his ground owing 



