PERMANENT NURSERIES. 



high condition of tilth. If strong weeds have overrun the soil, 

 they may, before the plough can be used, have to be cut or shaven 

 away with sickles, pickaxes, grubbing axes, or hoe-axes, according 

 to the size and lignification of the weeds and the nature of the soil. 

 Otherwise it will be sufficient merely to hoe up the soil lightly. 

 An excellent form of tool for this purpose is the tea-planter's hoe 

 (Fig. 22). 



ARTICLE 6. 

 WATERING. 



In the climate of India, which admits everywhere of a more 

 or less prolonged Dry Season, watering in some form or other 

 cannot be dispensed with. Even in the few exceptional cases in 

 which the intervals between sufficient falls of rain are not long 

 enough to kill the young nursery plants outright, these, especially 

 such as are in the seed-beds, are necessarily thrown back in their 

 growth, unless watered artificially. And indeed, under any cir- 

 cumstances, it is a matter of vital importance for the nurseryman 

 to be able to regulate his work and control the growth of his 

 young plants without being entirely dependent on the contingency 

 of rain falling. 



The necessity of artificial watering being then indisputable, it 

 may be generally laid down that for nursery purposes the usually 

 soft, tepid water of a flowing stream is better than the generally 

 hard, chill water of a spring. Tank water would obviously be even 

 still better. The chill of cold water is most easily corrected by 

 storing it in a reservoir previous to use. This storing also affords 

 an opportunity for mixing special soluble manures with the water, 

 an expedient which, as will be seen further on, is often useful and 

 even necessary for preventing or diminishing the ravages of white 

 ants. The reservoir, in order to minimise waste by absorption in 

 the soil, by evaporation, &c. should be situated in the immediate 

 vicinity of the nursery. 



Water may be given to the plants either (A) by pouring it from 

 above, i.e., by HAND-WATERING, or (B) by IRRIGATION. 



Handwa tering. 



In hand-watering the supply of water may be brought from a 

 distance in skins, or led in channels, from wells or tanks or running 

 streams, into reservoirs either of pucca masonry or with merely 

 puddled sides and bottoms, and situated in the midst of the beds 

 or lines to be watered. Hand-watering is always both costly and 



