WATERING AND FEEDING 55 



head should cause them to revive, with, of course, a good 

 soaking at the root. In such a case one watering is 

 not sufficient, and probably the pots will require filling 

 up three or four times before it is certain that the soil is 

 thoroughly soaked. 



Two or three mishappenings of this nature during the 

 growing season often causes the loss of valuable foliage, 

 and such hardening of the tissues of the plant that hinders 

 proper development. It is possible to get the plants into 

 such a condition, by careful watering, that one or two 

 hours of drought will not make them flag to a serious 

 extent. Before the operator can water the plants properly 

 he must study the varieties, as one variety may require 

 twice as much water as another, and probably those which 

 need the most water are those that have not an abundance 

 of foliage or gross wood, but one thing I have noticed, 

 that they are usually finer or smaller and more wiry in the 

 root. Good examples of varieties that need much water 

 are Mrs. G. Mileham, Harry Wood, Walter Jinks, and 

 White Queen. 



If the plants are potted early and succeed well, the pots 

 will be quite full of roots by the early part of July, and it 

 is not wise to wait till they have exhausted every bit of 

 nourishment in the soil before helping them with stimulants. 

 I do not agree with writers who state that manure is not 

 necessary until the flower buds are selected, for unless the 

 plants make good stems to the buds (not necessarily gross 

 and sappy) the flowers will not finish well. Therefore I afford 

 a little liquid manure as soon as it is found that there are 

 plenty of roots in the pots. Weak doses of liquid manure 

 made from soot, cow manure, horse or sheep manure, 

 may be given with advantage, using the liquid on two 



