MULCHING, SHADING, AND WATERING. 247 



or the results of gardening will often be quite unsatis- 

 factory. In giving it, the conditions of beneficial, natural 

 watering should, as far as possible, be observed. The 

 rains that are most refreshing to plants are those of mild 

 temperature and which distil gently, bringing to the roots 

 of plants not moisture only, but ammonia and carbonic 

 acid. If rain did not bring with it fertilizing matters, it 

 w 7 ould in time wash out all the fertility of the soil and 

 leave it sterile. This is the effect of heavy, beating- 

 storms, which carry away more of fertility than they 

 bring; while if the soil be stiff they puddle the surface, 

 rendering it, when dry, impervious, preventing the access 

 of atmospheric air and the moisture of the dew and of any 

 gentle rains that follow. 



Hence, in applying water, it should not be thrown upon 

 the soil w T ith force from a coarsely perforated watering- 

 pot, as its effects would be injurious in precisely the same 

 way as a washing rain. To tender plants and germinating 

 seeds it should be applied through a very fine rose. The 

 rose to a garden watering pot should not permit a com- 

 mon pin to enter its perforations. For delicate seedlings 

 in pots it is better to give water by sprinkling gently from 

 a wetted brush, both the plants and the soil. For larger 

 plants in pots or in the ground, the leaves may be 

 sprinkled, unless too succulent, but the main supply of 

 water should be given by pouring it gently upon the sides 

 of the pot or upon the surface of the earth, and let it flow 

 gradually over and sink into the soil. 



It is not best, in general, to water close by the stems of 

 plants. The roots take up food only at their extremities, 

 and generally extend as far as the branches. Both the 

 roots and leaves of plants require water, and receive 

 it in natural watering. But the rains that fall upon a 

 tree do not fall upon its trunk, but roll off all around it, 

 and drop precisely where the extending roots are ready 



