\ 

 140 ON THE ARTIFICIAL MODES 



delayed till they are housed in the autumn, the roots will 

 be so bulky as to render their amputation dangerous. 



Caroline. Yet is it not the nourishment which the 

 plant obtains from the soil, by shooting its roots through 

 this aperture, which gives it so much vigor ? 



Mrs. B. True, but the small fibres which sprout out 

 after cutting away the projecting roots are sufficient for 

 this purpose. The main object of the aperture at the bot- 

 tom of the vase, is in order that the water may filter 

 through ; without this resource it would become stagnant 

 around the roots, and rot them. The opening is, you 

 know, partially closed by apiece of tile, leaving not more 

 room than for the water to escape which is not absorbed 

 by the roots ; but when water is not supplied to the plant 

 in sufficient quantity, the fibrous roots insinuate them- 

 selves through the aperture to search for it in the soil be- 

 neath. 



Watering by filtration is adapted to two classes of 

 plants ; those which suffer from excess, and those which 

 suffer from scarcity of water : it may be performed in two 

 ways, the one is by enclosing the vase which contains 

 the plant, in a larger one full of water, and then burying 

 the double case in the earth, the water will filter from the 

 outer into the inner vase, which must not, of course, be 

 glazed, but of a porous texture. The other mode is to 

 place a pot of water contiguous to that which contains 

 the plant, and connect them by means of a skein of 

 worsted which will act as a syphon, and transfer the wa- 

 ter to the vase in which the plant grows. 



In the Isle of Corfu I have heard that it is usual to wa- 

 ter the orange trees by surrounding them, at the distance 

 of the extremities of the roots, with very porous pots of 

 water ; the water oozes through into the ground, and is 

 sucked up by the spongioles. 



Meadows are commonly watered by filtration, small 

 trenches are dug, into which water is occasionally made 

 to flow, and thence it filters into the adjacent soil ; these 

 trenches should be rather below the surface of the soil, 



777. What is said of cutting the roots which project through the aper- 

 ture of the pot! 778, For what purpose is this aperture 1 ? 779. 

 To how many classes of plants is filtration adapted! 780. What is 

 the first! 781. What is the second! 782. What is the mode of 

 watering orange trees in the Isle of Corfu! 783, How are meadows, 

 commonly watered! 



