June 23, 1863. ] 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



447 



Day Day 



of i of 



M'nth Week. 



24 



25 

 26 

 27 

 2S 

 29 



Tu 

 W 

 Th 



F 



S 



Son 



if 



JUNE 23—29, 18C3. 



Teasel flowers. 



Midsummer Day. Nat. J. Bap. 



Sir J. Banks died, 1820. B. & G, 



Bedstraw flowers. 



Plantain Shoreweed flowers. 



4 Sun. aft. Trin. Q. Victoria 



St. Peter. [Cor. 1838. 



WEE KLY CA LENDAR. 



Weather hear London in 1862. 



Barometer. Thermom. Wind. 



29.850—29.743 

 29.927—29.905 

 30.126—30.060 

 30.048—29.944 

 29.804—29.686 

 29.914—29.829 

 29.988-29.900 



degrees. 

 77—42 

 72-41 

 68—40 

 73—47 

 64-39 

 67—34 

 72-50 



N. 

 N.W. 

 N.E. 

 W. 

 N.W. 

 S.W. 

 N.W. 



Rain in 

 Inches. 



.07 



.02 



Son 

 Rises. 



m. h 

 45af3 

 45 3 



Sun 

 Sets. 



m. h 

 19af8 



19 8 



19 8 



19 8 



19 8 



19 8 



19 8 



Moon 

 Rises 



and Sets 



m. b. 

 15a 11 

 35 11 

 58 11 

 morn. 

 26 

 2 1 

 48 1 



Moon's 

 Age. 



10 

 11 



12 

 13 



Clock 

 before 



San. 



Day of 



Year. 



174 

 176 

 176 

 177 

 178 

 179 

 180 



Meteorology op the Week. — At Chiswick, from observations during the last thirty-six years, the average bigheBt and lowest 

 temperatures of these days are 73.0" and 51.3° respectively. The greatest heat, 93°, occurred on the 27 th, in 1826; and the lowest cold, 34", 

 on the 24th, in 1859. During the period 141 days were fine, and on 111 raiH fell. 



USING THE WATEEING-POT. 



{Concluded from page 428.) 



HE uses and abuses of the 

 watering-pot as 

 regards ordinary 

 kitchen-garden 

 crops and decidu- 

 ous trees having 

 been already de- 

 tailed, it is only 

 necessary to say a few 

 words on it in its relation 

 to evergreens, andlshall then pro- 

 ceed to consider its influence on 

 the well-being of potted plants. 



Its duties with regard to ever- 

 greens are somewhat different 

 from those required by deciduous 

 trees. As with these foliage is as 

 much a feeding-medium as the roots, and as most ever- 

 greens thrive best when partly in the shade, it is advi- 

 sable on all occasions to shade the roots, or rather the 

 ground the shrubs are planted in, after watering, in order 

 to retain as much moisture in the ground as possible. 

 Thereby in some degree we copy the design of nature, 

 which invariably shades the space occupied by the roots 

 of an evergreen by its own boughs. Thus, therefore, 

 after watering newly-planted evergreens let them be 

 shaded, or, what is better, covered with moss, litter, 

 short grass, leaf-mould, or something that will prevent 

 the direct action of the sun upon the ground and check 

 evaporation. Rhododendrons, perhaps more than any 

 other plant, require this to be done ; even established 

 plants that do not occupy the whole ground will be the 

 better if the ground is shaded or covered in some way 

 during the hottest part of the season. All newly-planted 

 evergreens, too, or such as from necessity have been 

 planted at a wrong season, are much refreshed by having 

 their foliage sprinkled with water during the evenings 

 — after the sun has left them, of course. 



We now come to what is by far the most important 

 use of the watering-pot — namely, supplying potted plants 

 with their daily drink ; for their artificial condition ne- 

 cessitates this, and it is here that the judgment of the 

 operator is called into exercise. Any mere labourer can 

 carry water and pour a large quantity of it where told, 

 but some discretion is necessary to judge of the quantity 

 required by each plant. 



Serving all alike (a plan much too common), is death 

 to a great many plants, while, unfortunately, it is too 

 often adopted in busy times — witness a quantity of Cape 

 Heaths in small pots subjected to the drenching of a 

 coarse rose on the spout of a large watering-pot. The 

 job is quickly done, and the operator is off to something 

 else. Perhaps the next batch is pot-bound, and no ordi- 

 nary amount of water will do any harm ; but these re- 

 ceive only the same quantity as the newly-potted ones, 

 and consequently suffer from lack of a sufficient supply. 

 No. 117.— Vol. IV., New Semes. 



This state of things is unfortunately much too common, 

 and the result is that plants of delicate habit succumb to 

 it and die, while disease and a sickly growth follow with 

 others that hold tenaciously to life. Now, the discreet 

 use of the watering-pot is nowhere more required than 

 amongst small or newly-potted plants. Generally speak- 

 ing, the latter require but little water after being once 

 attended to in that way ; while the uneven growth and 

 requirements of small plants alike call for more time and 

 patience in supplying their daily wants than is generally 

 accorded them, and such attention would save many from 

 disease, and in some degree lessen the amount of " death 

 in the pot," so often referred to elsewhere. 



Watering, however, is one of those duties which must 

 be performed at some time or other ; and whatever be 

 the evils that arise from it, there is unquestionably much 

 good. Plants grown in pots would not live without 

 water ; and where care and circumspection are used the 

 watering-pot is perhaps second to no utensil whatever 

 for its general utility. To use it discreetly, however, 

 can only be learned by practice, or a careful attention to 

 the appearances of the plants to be operated on. With 

 large plants a tap with the knuckles against the side of 

 the pot will enable the daily practitioner to tell by the 

 sound emitted whether they want water or not, but this is 

 too tedious for small plants ; besides which, other tokens 

 exist in them sufficient to guide the judgment. A know- 

 ledge of the requirements of the plants is also requisite ; 

 for some plants require a large supply of water, while 

 others almost exist without it. All these things must, or 

 ought to be, thought of by those wielding the watering- 

 pot; and on the care and prudence by which they ad- 

 minister the daily drink of potted plants much of the 

 success of these depends. 



It would be wrong to close these notes without saying 

 something on the description of water to be used for 

 plants. Circumstances often necessitate an improper 

 kind to be used, but when it is possible this ought to be 

 avoided. The kind most suitable for plants is undoubt- 

 edly that with which Nature performs the same work — 

 i. e., rain water. This ought not to be contaminated 

 with any foreign substance of an obnoxious kind, which 

 it often is when it remains some time in a tank cemented 

 with some of the cements which give an unusual hardness 

 to the water ; neither ought it to remain long in a metallic 

 vessel, that will also in like manner alter its character. 

 Perhaps the best place is a pond or pool, exposed to the 

 full action of the atmosphere, and where it has a chance 

 to be warmed more or less by the sun ; next to that is 

 a wooden tub or a stone trough. At all events let the 

 rain water be as pure as possible, and as free as can be 

 from all mineral impurities that it has a chance to acquire 

 in its reservoir. Next to rain water is pond water, if 

 that be good and soft ; river water ranks next, and that 

 from wells and springs last. 



Occasional mixings of the water with an enriching 



substance will in many cases be beneficial. But as this 



is entering upon another subject I will not pursue it 



further. I would however, again urge all who have the 



No. 769.— Vol. XXIX.. Old Seeieb. 



