114 



THE GARDENER. [APRIL,. 



fade), or soak these well in thick, rank puddle, and 

 cover them up with hay ropes, until you are about to 

 put them down, when they should be thoroughly 

 drenched. Mr. McNab, a Scotch horticulturist of 

 great celebrity, says — 



" The best plan is to take an old birch broom, or 

 anything similar, and laying it down near to the root, 

 to cause the water to be poured upon it : this breaks 

 the fall of the water, and prevents the roots from being 

 washed bare of such earth as may adhere to them ; in 

 this way time is saved, for the water may be poured 

 out in a full stream from a pail, a water-pot^ or even 

 from a spout or pipe in the water cart or barrel, where 

 the situation is such that this can be brought up to the 

 plant. x\fter the first watering has dried up, the 

 earth should be levelled round the stem of the plants 

 and as far out as the water has been put on, but not 

 trodden ; if the plants are large, a second watering m 

 sometimes necessary, but in ordinary sized plants one 

 watering is quite sufficient^ and after remaining twenty- 

 four hours, more or less according to the nature of 

 the soil, the earth about the stem and over the roots 

 should be trodden as firm as possible, and after tread- 

 ing should be dressed with a rake. Where this is 

 practised, and the planting done in winter in cloudy 

 weather, there is scarcely a chance of any dry weather 

 afterwards injuring them ; but if this method or some- 

 thing similar is not practised, there will be a great risk 

 of failure every year in planting evergreens, particu- 

 larly when they are planted at the usual times recom- 

 mended, that is, in the spring or autumn. Always 

 water evergreens when planted, whether the work be 

 done in wet weather, dull weather, or dry, sheltered 

 or exposed, because the watering in the manner re- 

 commended fills up the holes that may be in the earth 

 about the roots, and consolidates the whole mass 

 much better than treading could do.'* 



