146 



UTENSILS USED IN HORTICULTURE. 



them again and fixes the hoops. In the warm summers of France and Italy, 

 as already observed, it is found much better to grow plants in wooden boxes 

 or tubs, than in any description of earthenware vessel. 



425. Watering-pots are made of tinned iron, zinc, and sometimes of 

 copper. There are a variety of sizes and shapes in use in British gar- 

 dens : for plants under glass, which are placed at a distance from the 

 spectator, pots with long spouts are required; and for pots in shelves 

 over the head of the operator and close under the glass, flat pots with 

 spouts proceeding from the bottom, and in the same plane with it, are 

 found necessary. Watering-pots have been contrived with close covers, 

 containing valves to regulate the escape of the water through the spout, by 

 the admission or exclusion of the atmosphere at pleasure ; but these are 

 only required for particular situations and circumstances. The watering-pot 

 very generally fails at the point where the spout joins the body of the pot, 

 and the two parts ought therefore to be firmly attached together, either by 

 separate tie-pieces, or by one continuous body, which may be so contrived 

 as to hold the roses of the pot when not in use, as exemplified in 

 Money's pot, to be hereafter described. The rose is generally mo veable ; 

 but as, after much use, it becomes leaky, it is better, in many cases, 

 to have it fixed, with a pierced grating in the inside of the pot over 

 the orifice of the spout, as in metal tea-pots. This grating, Mr. Beaton 

 suggests, should be moveable, by being made to slide into a groove like 

 a sluice, in order that it may be taken out and cleaned occasionally. 

 Fig. 62, a, represents a watering-pot with a kneed spout, for watering plants, 



without spilling any 

 water between pot and 

 pot ; because, by means 

 of the knee or right 

 angle made at the extre- 

 mity of the spout, the 

 running of the water is 

 instantly stopped by 

 quickly elevating it, 

 which is by no means 

 the case when the spout 

 is straight throughout 

 its whole length : b 

 shows the face, and c the 

 Fig. 62. Sucker, kneed-spoiited, and overhead, watering-pots. * edge of a Very fine rose 

 of copper for screwing on the end of the kneed spout, for watering seedlings. 

 Fig. 62, d, shows a sucker watering-pot, by which the objects effected by the 

 kneed pot are attained more completely. There is a sucker or valve in the 

 lid, by which the air is perfectly excluded ; and when this valve is shut, not 

 a particle of water can escape ; but when it is slightly raised by the pressure of 

 the thumb of the hand by which the operator holds the pot, the water instantly 

 escapes, and can be stopped in a moment : f, an overhead watering-pot, for 

 watering plants close under a glass roof, and above the head of the spectator. 

 426. Moneys Inverted Rose Watering-pot, fig. 63, has the spout 

 made of copper, and in three distinct parts; so that it serves instead 

 of three different pots ; and when furnished with common roses as well 

 as with inverted ones, no other pot need be required for a small garden. 



