1966 



WASHINGTONIA 



Sonorai and W. robusta are found along the Pacific slope 

 of Mexico, on the mainland or on the peninsula of Baja 

 California. While the type locality of the former is 

 given as Guaymas, on the mainland of Mexico, the few 



2/17. Old tree of Washinetonia filifeia. 



specimens in cultivation have come from the peninsula, 

 and though the type locality is not certainly known, 

 most of the specimens in the trade apparently came 

 from Guaymas and Mazatlan on the mainland. 



In cultivation in California Washingtonias respond 

 gratefully to an abundance of water during the dry sea- 

 son. It is a mistake to suppose that because they are 

 desert plants they will thrive without moisture; on 

 the borders of the Colorado desert, where they grow in 

 abundance and luxuriance, they occur beside saline or 

 brackish springs. j Jos BcKT Davy . 



WATER ALOE. Stratiotes aloides. W. Arum is a 

 name sometimes applied to Calla pahistris. W. Beech. 

 Carpinus Caroliniana. W. Caltrops, or Water Chestnut. 

 Trapa nutans. W. Chinkapin, or Chinquapin. Nelumbo 

 luteu. W. Cress. See Cress and Nasturtium officinale. 

 W. Hyacinth. See JBichhornia. 



WATERING. An abundant and convenient supply 

 of pure, fresh water should always be a first considera- 

 tion in locating a garden or greenhouse. Having this, 

 the next matter is knowing how to use it, for here, 

 good gardeners say, lies nine-tenths of the elements of 

 success. Certain it is, especially in the indoor cultiva- 

 tion of plants, that more depends upon knowing when 

 to give or withhold water than upon any other single 

 matter. The art of watering is unteachable; it requires 

 experience, judgment, skill. Some knowledge of the 

 commoner facts of vegetable physiology, physics and 

 soil physics will be helpful, but even then experience 

 "will be necessary. Two common types of watering- 



WATERING 



cans are shown in Fig. 2718. In American gardens, 

 however, watering is usually performed with a hose 

 from a stored water supply. 



General Rules.— A fairly safe guide is: never water 

 plants until the soil has become dry, though not 

 "powder-dry," and then give them a thorough soaking. 

 Plants dislike a continuously wet soil. In the care of 

 plants in earthenware vessels, a useful test is to thump 

 the jar. If it rings the soil is dry; if the sound pro- 

 duced is dull the soil is sufficiently moist. Such rules, 

 however, are only for the novice. They presuppose 

 activity of growth, and take into account only one con- 

 sideration aside from this, and that is the condition 

 of the soil as regards moisture. The experienced gar- 

 dener reads his practice in his plants and the conditions 

 under which they are being kept. The following sug- 

 gestions are based upon the most important considera- 

 tions. 



Actively growing plants may be watered very freely, 

 as a rule, whereas in a dormant or semidormant state 

 the same plants will require only occasional water- 

 ings. 



Soft-stemmed or rapid-growing plants ("soft-wood" 

 and "hard-wood" plants), and those with large leaves, 

 need, as a rule, an abundance of water when growing 

 actively. Hard-wood or slower-growing plants, with 

 smaller leaves, must be watered with greater care. Soft- 

 wooded plants, with some exceptions, may at times even 

 flag somewhat for want of water, and recover without 

 permanent injury when a fresh supply is given. Hard- 

 wooded plants, as camellias, azaleas and heaths, on 

 the other hand, suffer permanent injury from becoming 

 too dry. It is safest to allow no plant in active growth 

 to flag. 



The amount of foliage affects the plant's capacity for 

 using water. Plants which have been cut back, or 

 which from disease, insects or other causes, have lost 

 most of their foliage, must be kept drier until they 

 have regained their foliage. 



Unhealthy plants are benefited, as a rule, by being 

 kept rather dry until they begin to show signs of re- 

 newed vigor. 



Small cuttings, or any plants freshly potted or newly 

 transplanted, are not in condition to use much water 

 until the root-hairs have attached themselves to the 

 soil-particles and growth has begun. A thorough wa- 

 tering at the time of potting or repotting the plants, 

 especially if they are subsequently shaded for a few 

 days, is usually sufficient until they have become 

 established. 



The character and bulk of soil should be kept in 

 mind. Porous and warm soils dry out much sooner, 

 while the heavier clay soils are in danger of becoming 

 water -logged and sour, unless watered with care. 

 When there is a large mass of soil in proportion to 

 root development, as in the case of greenhouse beds 

 newly set with young plants, care must be used ir» 

 watering until the soil is occupied with roots. 



Serious trouble often begins in the greenhouse from 

 a heavy watering at the beginning of a period of dark, 

 muggy weather. Not only does such watering do dam- 

 age to the soil and roots, but the excessive humidity of 

 the air about the plants and its weakening effect upon 

 their tissues, invites the attacks of various mildews, 

 fungi and insect pests. 



The time of day is important. In the greenhouse ic 

 winter free ventilation is usually impossible. At night 

 there is a tendency toward a damp atmosphere. 

 Careful florists, therefore, water in the early part of 

 the day at this season, so that the house will have 

 become somewhat dried out by nightfall. It is seldom 

 advisable to let plants go into the night with wet foli- 

 age. It gives the fungi a chance. Especially hazardous 

 is it to water cutting benches or boxes of young seed- 

 lings late in the day in the winter season. The various 

 damping-off fungi find under such treatment the condi- 

 tion suitable for their development. Excessive humidity 

 on the interior of a closed plant-house is most likely to 

 occur in moderate weather. During severe weather the 

 condensation upon the glass is large and renders the 

 air of the house drier. During summer, when there is 

 free ventilation, the watering may advantageously be 

 done late in the day. Midday watering at seasons when 



