THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



481 



mosphere and the roots of a plant, the practice is 

 (iisacivantageous rather than the reverse. 



More commonly recourse is had to ihe operation 

 ol'simplp. watering, /or the purpose of maintaining 

 theearlh at a due state of humidity, and to render 

 plants more vigorous than they oihervvise would 

 be; an indispensable operation in hot-houses, but 

 ol less moment in the open air. It is, indeed, 

 doubtful whether, in the latter case, it is not olten 

 more productive of disadvantage than of real 

 service to plants. When plants are watered natu- 

 rally, the whole air is saturated with humidity at 

 the same time as the soil is penetrated by the rain ; 

 and in this case the aqueous [)ar(icles mingled with 

 the earth are very gradually introduced into the 

 circulating system : lor the moisture of the air pre- 

 vents a rapid perspiration. Not so when plants 

 in the open air are artificially watered. This ope- 

 ration is usually performed in hot dry weather, 

 and must necessarily be very limited in its effects ; 

 it can have little if any influence upon the atmo- 

 sphere : then, the parched air robs the leaves 

 rapidly of their moisture, so long as the latter is 

 abundant ; the roots are suddenly and violently 

 excited, and after a short time the exciting cause 

 is suddenly withdrawn by the momentary supply 

 of water being cut off by evaporation, and by 

 filtration through the bibulous substances of which 

 soil usually consists. Then again, the rapid eva- 

 poration from the soil in dry weather has fhe effect 

 of lowering the temperature of the earth, and iliis 

 has been before shown to be injurious (p. 113) ; 

 such a lowerintr, from such a cause, does not take 

 place when plants are refreshed by showers, be- 

 cause at that time the dampness of the air pre- 

 vents evaporation from the soil, just as it prevents 

 perspiration from the leaves. iVIoreover, in stiff 

 soils, the dashing of water upon (he surface has 

 altera little while the effect of" puddlinc;" tlie 

 ground and rendering it impervious, so that the 

 descent of water to ihe roots is impeded, whether 

 it is communicated artificially or by the fall of 

 rain.* It is, therefore, doubtful whether artificial 

 watering of plants in the open air is advantage- 

 ous, unless in particular cases ; and most as- 



suredly, if it is done at all, it ought to he much 

 more copious than is usual. It is chielly in the 

 case ol annual crops that watering anilicially is 

 really important ; and with them, if any means 

 of occasionally deluging ground can be devised, 

 by means of sluices or otherwise, in the same way 

 as we water meadows, it may be expected to be; 

 advantageous.* Mildew, which is so often pro- 

 duced by a dry air acting upon a delicate surliice 

 of vegetable tissue, is completely prevented in 

 annuals by very abundant watering.f 'J'he ra- 

 vages of the boirytis effusa, which attacks spinach; 

 of acrosporiuni vionUioldns, which is Ibuiid on 

 ilie onion ; and the mildew of the pea, caused by 

 the ravages of enjsiphe commvnis, may all bii 

 stopped, or prevented, by abundant watering in 

 dry weather. Mr. Knight first applied this litcf 

 to the securing a lalf. crop ol [leas lor the table, in 

 the Ibllowing manner : — 



The ground is dug in the usual way, and Ihe 

 spaces which will be occupied by the luture rows 

 are well soaked with water. The mould upon 

 each side is then collected, so as to lorm lidjres 

 seven or eight inches above the previous level of 

 the ground, and these are well waiert^d ; alter 

 which, the seeds are sowed, in single rows along 

 the tops of Ihe ridges. The plants very soon ap- 

 pear above the soil, and grow with much vi<ror, 

 owing to the great depth of the soil and abundant 

 moisture. Water is given rather profusely once 

 in every week or nine days, even if the weather 

 proves showery ; but, if the ground be thoroughly 

 drenched with water by the autumnal rains, no 

 liiriher trouble is necessary. Under this mode of 



* [No error is more common in this country than 

 surface-watering newly transplanted trees ; and we do 

 not hesitate to affirm that full one half the failures, in 

 our dry summers, arise from this injudicious practice. 

 By pouring water daily on the fop of the <;round, under 

 a powerful sun and strong wind, the surface becomes 

 so hard that access of the air to the roots i.s almost 

 precluded ; and the water rarely penetrates more than 

 a couple of inches : while the operator imagines he is 

 supplying the thirsty roots with abundant moisture, he 

 is doing them an injury by the application of a very 

 transient stimulus, which is followed by an increased 

 sensibility to the drought. In late spring planting, it 

 is always preferable to icater abundantly in the hole, 

 while planting the tree, before filling in the u]iper liiyr 

 of soil. This will in most cases suffice, until the tree 

 becomes suihciently estatjlished by the emission of 

 new rootlets to support itself ; and also serves fr> r>n 

 sure ils growth by filling up all the small hollow 

 around the lesser fibres. In seasons of coiiiinued 

 drought, when it becomes absolutely necessary to 

 water flagging trees, two or more inches of the surface 

 soil should always be removed, the trees watered 

 copiously, and the earth replaced before tlie surface 

 dries. This will prevent evaporation and (he encrust- 

 ing of the ground, and the moisture will be retained 

 for a much longer period, — A. J, D.l 

 Vol. IX.-44 



* [" In the vicinity of Liegen (a town in Nassau,) 

 from three to five perfect crojjs of grass are [annually] 

 obtained from one meadow ; and this is eiti-cted by 

 covering the fields with river water, which is conduct- 

 ed over the meadow in spring by numerous small 

 canals. This is found to be oi such advantage, that 

 supposing a meadow not so treated to yield 1000 lbs. 

 of hay, then Irom one thus watered 4-5000 lbs. are 

 produced. In respect to the cultivation of meadows, 

 the country around Liegen is considered to be fhe best 

 in all Germany." Liebig, Organ. Chcm. p. 105. — A. 



t [The mililevv which attacks the young fruit of 

 the foreign grape, when reared in the open air, is one 

 of the most troublesome to the cultivator in this 

 country. An effectual remedy is the flowers of sul- 

 ph.ur dusted over the bundles with a dredging-box 

 (or the solution applied with a syringe,) when the 

 grapes are of the size of small peas. But the most 

 certain prevention ol this, as well as most diseases to 

 which plants are subject, consists in keeping the vines 

 in a thrifty and vigorous condition. The first croj) 

 or two of a young fhrilty vine is almost invariably fine 

 and (iee from mildew ; hut every subsequent year ^if 

 Ihe common mode of pruning is Ibllowed,) as [h>: 

 plant jrrows older, Ihe proportion of fair fruit is .smaller, 

 uiilil at last nothing but shrivelled and mildewed bun- 

 ches are seen. By lairing down half of the long shoots 

 of each vine annually, tiin-i forming new plants, and 

 tK'vcr allowing the same to bear more than two yeai>, 

 a lull crop, free from rust or mildew, may he obtiiined 

 amaialiy. E\ t:ii the finer native sorts, as the Isabella, 

 are sometimes liable to mildew on old vines : when 

 this occurs, they should be headed back, to bring uj) a 

 supply of young wood, and plentifully manured. The 

 young and thrifty snoots v, ill th?n have sufficient 

 vigor to withstand the attacks of fhe mildew, to 

 which the enfeebled iruit produced from the old wood 

 losohable.— A. J. D ] 



