4 OF THE CULTIVATION" SECT. IV. 



then if the season be very hot and dry, watering the 

 roots twice a week will help the fruit to swell. 



An engine to water the leaves of vines, and all 

 other wall trees in a summer evening, refreshes them 

 much,, and helps to rid the trees and wall of insects 

 and filth. Late in the summer, when the nights 

 begin to get cold, it is time to leave off* all watering, 

 except things in potSj audjrames, which should have 

 it then only in the morning, As watering is apt to 

 make ground hide-bound and unsightly, let the sur- 

 face be occasionally stirred and raked, which will 

 make future waterings enter the ground the better : 

 when the ground is hard on the top, the water runs 

 away from its proper place, and half the labour i$ 

 lost, Many things are impatient of being kept wet 

 about the shanks, and therefore watering should be 

 (generally) at a little distance. 



The quality of water used for refreshing plants is 

 a material thing, and it is very various in its nature, 

 according to the peculiar earths and mineral sub- 

 stances, that it passes through. Rain water is by 

 far the best, as appears by the verdure and vivacity 

 it gives : It is nourishing, as being full of vegetable 

 food. 



River water is ne,xt in fitness, and pond water 

 follows. Wtll w^ter is of least account, though 

 local circumstances occasion its use the most. Sp 

 that in forming a judgment concerning watering, it is 

 not simply to be considered, whether plants should 

 be watered ; but whether with well water, and that 

 too from a pump. Pump water, if used directly 

 (to say nothing of it's hardness) is so cold in summer, 

 that the roots feel an extreme sensation ; for as they 

 are then warm, through a lively fermentation in the 

 earth, great cold so contracts their vessels, that they 

 perform their proper offices with difficulty, an^ teh 

 come diseased. 



4 



