38 PRACTICAL FLORICULTURE. 



effect is much more fatal. To the unpractised eye, a Heath 

 that has been injured by drouth may appear all right, 

 while it is gone beyond recovery. The old gardener 

 before alluded to used to make his dead Heaths do excel- 

 lent service in assisting him in some severe jokes played 

 on his less experienced brethren. Specimen plants of 

 Heaths were scarce, and in some sorts, very valuable, and 

 if he succeeded in making a present of one of these dead 

 plants to one of his less posted friends, it used to keep 

 him in good humor for a week. 



No plant should ever be allowed to flag or wilt for 

 want of moisture, neither should it be watered until the 

 necessity for water is shown by the whitening of the 



surface of the soil, 

 particularly if in 

 dull Aveather, or if 

 the green-house is 

 kept at a low tem- 

 perature. As a 

 rule, with green- 

 house plants kept 



in a night temperature of 45, with a day temperature of 

 60, watering twice a week from December to March will 

 generally be sufficient ; on the approach of clear weather, 

 with higher temperature in April and May, they will re- 

 quire daily attention. 



Our practice is to water during winter with the common 

 rose watering-pots, of the pattern shown in fig. 10, giving 

 the plants water sparingly, or otherwise, as required. 

 But as spring opens, we go at the operation more expe- 

 ditiously, using a West's Force Pump (fig. 11), and 2-inch 

 rubber hose. To the end of the hose is attached a heavy 

 sprinkler, similar to that shown in the common watering-pot 

 (fig. 10). In all districts where there is no hydrant- water, 

 this means of watering will be found to be most thorough 

 and effective. In my work, " Gardening for Profit," I 



