io6 — How to Make the Garden Pay. 



I find the following advantages in the new method of water- 

 appHcation : (i) Ease of application; (2) certainty of thorough- 

 ness in watering ; (3) exemption of plants from disease. Over- 

 head watering in amateur houses, when it has to be done by 

 means of the ordinary garden-sprinkler, is a tedious task. In 

 the new arrangement we simply pour a few bucketfuls of water 

 into the funnel and the work is not only done, but done well. 

 This method of application also enables us to use washing suds, 

 manure-water, and similar liquids which we would not like to 

 put on the plants from overhead, either from considerations of 

 cleanliness or for fear of clogging the sprinkler. 



Watering beds with the sprinkler is rarely done thoroughly. 

 A bucketful of water sprinkled on in the usual fashion will make 

 a good-sized bed appear soaked, while, in fact, the application 

 may not have reached beyond an inch deep, leaving the lower 

 portions dust-dry. Such, indeed, is not an uncommon condition 

 of many benches and flats in the glass-houses of amateurs. Sub- 

 irrigation gives us reversed conditions. On a bench, which one 

 bucketful of water applied by surface-sprinkling would render 



Subinigated Bench. 



apparently quite wet, you may turn two or three bucketfuls 

 through underground pipes, without bringing moisture enough 

 for a respectable show to the surface. The consequence is that 

 'almost everyone, without exception, would apply a greater quan- 

 tity of water by subirrigation than by the old overhead sprinkling 

 method. Herein, I believe, may be found one of the chief 

 reasons for the greatly increased growth of certain crops observed 

 as the result of subirrigation. It is only an experience similar to 

 the one made in the application of fertilizing substances on pota- 

 toes and other crops. Quantity of application is the deciding 

 factor rather than the mode of application. Lettuce and onions 

 are especially subject to this influence. On an ordinary bench, 

 and in nicely prepared, porous soil, I can produce almost double 

 the growth of these vegetables in a given time by doubling the 

 ordinary overhead applications of water. It is surprising what 

 large quantities of water lettuce will take and delight in. 

 Amateurs seldom give it enough for be?*; effect. With a sub- 

 irrigation arrangement this will be different. The application 

 does not quickly show on the surface, and consequently it is 

 naturally more abundant than under the old method. The roots 



