222 ROUND THE YEAR 



less sky and in minute drops. Exuded water appears 

 whether the sky is clear or clouded, and forms large 

 drops at a few points. 



Here I will throw in a few remarks upon the 

 watering of gardens. The gardener never waters when 

 the sun is high, nor when a cold night is to be 

 expected. He would waste his labour if he were to 

 sprinkle the ground when the sun is sure to come and 

 dry up a great part of the water almost as soon as it 

 reaches the soil. Moreover, energetic absorption and 

 transpiration, suddenly induced without reference to 

 the physiological conditions of the plants, is a strong 

 measure which often turns out ill. In such a climate 

 as ours it is better to submit to the hardships of the 

 changing seasons, which are seldom intolerable, 

 rather than make violent and capricious changes in 

 the supply of moisture. To water before a cold night 

 may be much more serious than to water in a blaze of 

 sunshine. The plants will be unable to absorb the 

 water largely because of the low temperature, and 

 what they do absorb may be distinctly injurious. 



It is hardly necessary to remark that the compara- 

 tive dryness of plant tissues in cold weather is the best 

 and safest thing for them ; the mere frequency of dry 

 tissues in living plants during winter would be 

 conclusive on this head. Dry shoots and boughs, 

 which do not bleed when cut, will face the hardest 

 frosts known in Europe ; but in spring, when they are 

 loaded with water and watery fluids, they will be 

 blighted by a temperature only a few degrees below 

 freezing-point. 



My own garden has lately shown me how a cold 



