WATERING. 



285 



rapidly in the foliage of trees trained against a 

 wall, from the increased heat by which they 

 are surrounded, than from the foliage of trees 

 growing as open standards. Added to this, a 

 more limited amount of rain falls on such trees, 

 from the position their branches are placed in, 

 and the projection of the copings, than on trees 

 exposed to rain on all sides. We have else- 

 where stated that trees derive food from water 

 through their leaves ; if, then, wall trees are 

 not syringed, and that often, this supply of 

 food is denied them. Yet how much do we 

 expect from such trees, both in their healthy 

 appearance, and in the size, quantity, and excel- 

 lence of their fruit. In dry soils, and in seasons 

 of drought, much advantage has been found 

 from watering at the roots also ; yet this is sel- 

 dom thought of, or, if it is, more seldom prac- 

 tised. Water, however, to be useful, must be 

 applied copiously in all out-of-door culture; 

 mere dribblings do more harm than good ; and 

 water applied to the roots of plants in the open 

 air, in particular, should be manurial in a slightly 

 diluted form. A few cwts. of guano or pigeons' 

 dung, or other fertilising matter, in the absence 

 of liquid-manure tanks, can easily be incorpo- 

 rated with the water used, and its effects will 

 be sufficiently evident. Watering such crops as 

 celery, cauliflower, asparagus, or such others as 

 require abundance of enrichment, with water 

 unenriched, is next to labour thrown away ; and 

 next to this is even enriched water, when not 

 sufficiently largely applied. 



The way in which water is applied to even 

 our most common crops is a matter of consi- 

 deration, so that the quantity used may be 

 applied to the greatest advantage. Now, this 

 cannot be done when it is thrown upon the 

 ground with great force as from the spout, or 

 even very coarsely perforated rose of a watering- 

 pot. In this way it acts much in the way of a 

 thunder-storm shower, battering the ground 

 quite hard, running on the surface, escaping in 

 waste, and, when let fall on young and tender 

 plants, beating them down and half-smothering 

 them with mud. How different, and how much 

 more beneficial, is the gentle evening or morn- 

 ing shower, which falls lightly and equally over 

 the surface ! Such we should endeavour to imi- 

 tate, in the application of water artificially. In 

 light porous soils, heavy showers and heavy wa- 

 terings have the effect of carrying off, either on 

 the surface or washing downwards, the fertile 

 particles of the soil, leaving the heavy silicious 

 portions behind, and, when long continued, re- 

 duces the soil to a state almost of sterility ; and 

 were it not for the amount of fertilising matter 

 added to the soil by the fall of genial showers 

 (referred to, p. 18), the rains alone would render 

 the earth almost sterile. It is not, therefore, by 

 the quantity, but by the way in which water is 

 applied, that it is beneficial or injurious to plants. 

 Plants in pots suffer much from careless water- 

 ing. The soil in a pot, already too moist, is, by 

 the application of more water, rendered water- 

 logged — that is, containing more water than the 

 roots can take up — and, by its occupying the 

 spaces between the particles of soil which should 

 be occupied with air, it actually chokes the plant 

 VOL. II. 



for want of that necessary element. This state 

 of matters may readily be detected by feeling 

 the weight of the pot, which will be found much 

 heavier than one of the same size in a proper 

 state as regards water. When the soil around 

 the roots of pot-grown plants is allowed to be- 

 come too dry, it is not, in such cases, applying 

 water in quantity all at once that is to restore 

 matters to their proper state ; it is by giving a 

 little, and repeating that every few minutes, 

 until the whole ball of earth becomes equally 

 restored to its proper state of humidity. Pour- 

 ing it on in quantity all at once prevents its pe- 

 netrating through the ball, and causes it to 

 escape between the sides of the ball and the 

 pot, leaving the centre as dry as ever. More 

 plants are killed by injudicious watering than 

 by almost any other point in bad management. 

 In the application of water, to whatever plant or 

 crop, the nearer we imitate nature, the more 

 satisfactory will the results be. 



On this subject the following excellent re- 

 marks are made by Dr Lindley in " The Theory 

 of Horticulture," p. 125: "When plants are 

 watered naturally, the whole air is saturated 

 with humidity at the same time as the soil is 

 penetrated by the rain ; and in this case the 

 aqueous particles mingled with the earth are 

 very gradually introduced into the circulating 

 system, for the moisture in the air prevents a 

 rapid perspiration. Not so when plants in the 

 open air are artificially watered. This opera- 

 tion is usually performed in hot dry weather, 

 and must necessarily be very limited in its 

 effects : it can have little if any influence upon 

 the atmosphere ; then the parched air robs the 

 leaves rapidly of their moisture. So long as 

 the latter is abundant, the roots are suddenly 

 and violently excited, and after a short time 

 the exciting cause is suddenly withdrawn by the 

 momentary supply of water being cut off by 

 evaporation, and by filtration through the bibu- 

 lous substances of which the soil usually con- 

 sists. Then again, the rapid evaporation from 

 the soil in dry weather has the effect of lower- 

 ing the temperature of the earth. Such a low- 

 ering, from such a cause, does not take place 

 when plants are refreshed, by showers, because 

 at that time the dampness of the air prevents 

 evaporation from the soil, just as it prevents 

 perspiration from the leaves. It is therefore 

 doubtful whether artificial watering of plants in 

 the open air is advantageous, unless in particu- 

 lar cases ; and most assuredly, if it is done at 

 all, it ought to be much more copious than 

 usual." To the vast utility of copious watering 

 we have the testimony of ages ; of which the 

 natural overflowing of the Nile, the irrigation 

 practised artificially in India and China, and 

 other warm countries, as well as the application 

 of water in an enriched state in the melon gar- 

 dens of Persia, are examples ; and wherever 

 irrigation has been carried on upon correct 

 principles, even in the colder climate of Britain, 

 the good effects have been shown. So far, how- 

 ever, as gardens are concerned, the water should 

 be in an enriched state, more especially for 

 annual crops — perennial ones seldom requiring 

 such aid. However much we may recommend 



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