CHAP. III. POT-CULTURE. 65 



WATERING OF POTTED PLANTS. 



There is no operation in horticulture that requires judgment 

 more than the giving to a plant just the amount of water 

 beneficial to it, and no more. If too little be given, the plant 

 will be starved and stunted; if too much, it will rot and die. 

 As a general rule, the quantity of water a plant demands 

 depends entirely upon the more or less vigorous state of growth 

 it is in at the time. When observed to be making no 

 growth, only just water enough should be given to keep it alive ; 

 when showing symptoms of starting into growth, then is the 

 time to supply water witli a liberal hand. 



It is during the Rains that the greatest difficulty is ex- 

 perienced. Plants that are natives of a cold climate, especially 

 herbaceous ones and perennials, such as Geraniums, Carnations, 

 &c., at this season, though in all but a dormant condition, 

 cannot exist in a soil that is perfectly dry ; and yet, when kept 

 under shelter, are very apt to perish from the soil turning rank 

 and sour, however little the water supplied. When the drainage 

 of the pots in which such plants are grown is perfect, the plants 

 will sometimes do even better put out and fully exposed to the 

 Rains; for in that case the soil, though constantly drenched, 

 does not become sodden with wet, nor ever otherwise than 

 sweet and wholesome. 



In watering young delicate plants, the can should be only 

 about a quarter filled with water ; for if completely filled the 

 water will issue from the rose, sometimes with so much force 

 as to cause considerable damage to the plants. In watering 

 most potted plants, however, it is best to discard the rose 

 altogether, and administer water by laying the muzzle of the 

 watering-pot upon the rim of the flower-pot, or only just above 

 it. It cannot be too strongly impressed upon malees that it is 

 the roots of the plants that require water, and not the flowers, 

 to which they often so injuriously apply it, nor even the leaves. 

 The leaves of a plant do not imbibe water, and the only 

 rational object there can be for casting water upon them is 

 to cleanse them of dust and dirt, so as to keep open their pores 

 for respiration. But the pores are situated principally upon the 

 under-surface of the leaves ; therefore the dashing of water upon 

 them from above is a very ineffectual mode of operating, often, 



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