WAT 



[ 819 ] 



WAT 



that thd water which flows in at one end 

 may run out at the other. If the bottom 

 of the trench is not sufficiently moist, a 

 small body of water is allowed to enter 

 to soften it. The cresses are then di- 

 vided into small sets or cuttings, with 

 roots attached to them; and these are 

 placed at the distance of three or four 

 inches from each other. At the end of 

 five or six days a slight dressing of well- 

 decomposed cow-dung is spread over all 

 the plants, and this is pressed down by 

 means of a heavy board, to which a long 

 handle is obliquely fixed. The water is 

 then raised to the depth of two or three 

 inches, and never higher. Each trench 

 is thus replanted annually, and furnishes 

 twelve crops during the season. In the 

 summer the cresses are gathered every 

 fifteen or twenty days, but less frequently 

 during winter ; care is taken that at each 

 gathering at least a third part of the bed 

 is left untouched, so that neither the 

 roots may be exhausted, nor the succeed- 

 ing gathering delayed. After every cut- 

 ting, a little decayed cow-dung, in the 

 proportion of two large barrowsful to 

 eacn trench, is spread over the naked 

 plants, and this is beaten down by means 

 of the rammer above mentioned. After 

 the water-cresses have been thus treated 

 for a twelvemonth, the manure forms a 

 tolerably thick layer at the bottom of the 

 trench, and tends to raise its level. To 

 restore it to its original level, all the 

 refuse should be thrown out upon the 

 borders which separate the trenches from 

 each other. These borders may be planted 

 with artichokes, cabbages, or eauli flowers. 



Planting in Borders. This must be 

 done in September, and in a moist, shady 

 border. Plant slips, and the only culti- 

 vation necessary is to dig the earth fine, 

 to drav,- a slight trench with a hoe, to fill 

 this with water until it becomes a mud. 

 to cover it about an inch deep with drift 

 sand, and then to stick in the slips about 

 six inches apart, watering them until 

 established. The sand keeps the plants 

 clean. They will be ready for gathering 

 from in a very few weeks, and the shoots 

 should be invariably cut, and not picked. 

 They are not so mild-flavoured as those 

 grown in water, but then they are free 

 from aquatic insects, &c. 



WATEEFALL. See CASCADE. 



WATEKING ENGINE. See ENGINE. 



WATERING POTS. These should have 

 roses pierced with very fine holes ; the 



diameter of those usually used is to6 

 large. Long-spouted watering pots are 

 required for watering plants in pots upoa 

 shelves. French watering pots have zig- 

 zag bends in the spout, to break from the 

 plant the force of the water. Shelf water- 

 ing pots are small and flat-bodied, for 

 giving water to plants overhead, and near 

 the glass in greenhouses or stoves. 



The accompanying engraving is of a 

 watering pot from Mr. Gr. Thompson, 390, 

 Oxford-street, who states that its superi- 

 ority consists in the roses being so formed 

 as to give the water thrown from them 

 the nearest resemblance to a gentle 

 shower of rain, which renders it peculiarly 

 suitable for watering seedlings or other 

 tender plants. As the brass joints which 

 connect the roses to the spout are made 

 water-tight, there is no danger of its re- 

 turning outside, to the annoyance of the 



person using it : a is the spout to which 



^ roses are screwed; &, the box to 

 contain either spout out of use ; c and 

 d, the holes in which the joints are 

 placed; e, a large rose, for watering 

 flower-beds ; /, a smaller rose, for water- 

 ing plants in pots. 



WATER LEAF, Hydrophy'llum. 



WATER LEMON. Passifto'ra laurifo'lia. 



WATER LILY. Nymphae'a. 



WATER MELON. Cu'cumis CUru'ttus t va.r. 



WATER PLANTS. See AQUA'RIUM. 



WATER EEED. Aru'ndo. 



WATER VINE . Tc tra 'cera potato 'ria . 



WATER VIOLET.- Hotto'nia. 



WATSO'NIA. (Named after W. Watson, 

 a London apothecary. Nat. ord., Irids 

 [Iridacese]. Linn., 3-Triandria 1-Mono- 

 gynia. Allied to Gladiolus.) 



Bulbs, from Cape of Good Hope, except where 

 otherwise mentioned. For culture, see GIA~ 



Dl'OLUS. 



W. aletroi'des (aletris-like). li.Scarlet.June.l/"*. 



variegafta (variegated), ij. Variegated. 



June. 1774. 



angu'sta (narrow-lowered). Scarlet. June. 1825. 



brevifo'lia (short- leaved). 1. Pink. May. 1794. 



compa'ct a. (compact). l. Purple. June. 1821. 



fu'lgida (bright). 4, Rd. May. 1795. 



