286 



CULINARY OR KITCHEN GARDEN. 



copious watering, or even irrigation, in gardens, 

 one thing is quite obvious, that in most gardens, 

 as at present constructed, little or no provision 

 has been made for securing a supply, and still 

 less for its economical distribution ; and there- 

 fore, as long as the gardener has his water to 

 carry about in watering-pots, we may expect 

 to see this operation either entirely neglected, 

 or very superficially performed. We have shown 

 how such full supply and proper distribution 

 could be secured (vide vol. i., articles Water, 

 Tanks and Cisterns, &c.) There would be no 

 great difficulty even in applying enriched water 

 in a tepid state to our most common crops, thus 

 securing two important points — namely, enrich- 

 ment in a form ready for the use of plants, and 

 this without lowering the temperature of the 

 soil about the roots ; indeed, it might be made 

 to increase it. 



From all this it will be seen that watering in 

 the open air is of sufficient advantage, if pro- 

 perly applied ; but even in our present advanced 

 state of horticultural science, we seem to have 

 little control over it. With plants in glass- 

 houses the case is different, and there a more 

 correct system may be pursued. There are two 

 conditions in the existence of plants that, as 

 concerns watering, are widely different ; those 

 are, the season when they are at rest, and that 

 when they are in the vigour of growth. In the 

 former state they require but little water, be- 

 cause they lose little by perspiration, and hence 

 the draught upon the root for food is greatly 

 diminished ; while in the latter case they 

 require an abundant supply, on account of 

 the increasing perspiration, which begins to 

 take place as soon as the plant is excited, and 

 increases as the foliage develops itself. During 

 the younger state of the leaves, their draughts 

 on the roots are most powerful, on account of 

 their perspiratory action being most rapid at 

 that stage, which points out to \is the necessity 

 of watering abundantly, and affording them all 

 the light in our power. This supply should be 

 gradually diminished as the tree or plant arrives 

 at a full development of its parts, be the object 

 of their cultivation fruit, flowers, or wood ; the 

 only exceptions being oleraceous annuals. Wa- 

 tering while the fruit is arriving at maturity 

 tends, no doubt, to increase its size, but this is 

 obtained at the sacrifice of a great amount of its 

 flavour ; and watering when the wood is about 

 nearly formed, causes it to continue growing 

 till too late a period of the season; and, as a 

 consequence arising from its increased size, and 

 the quantity of fluid contained within it, it is 

 prevented from ripening, and is therefore liable 

 to be killed by the frosts of winter. 



Plants with large leaves require more water 

 than those having smaller ones; and hence in 

 nature it will be observed, that many aquatic 

 plants, and those growing by the banks of rivers 

 and lakes, have leaves above the ordinary size. 

 It may be taken, however, for granted, that such 

 plants as the Victoria regia, the Nelumbiums, 

 Nymphgeas, &c, have extraordinary perspiratory 

 power on account of the very large size of their 

 leaves ; and to aid them in decomposing the fluid 

 they absorb, a high temperature and bright sun 



are necessary. The melon and the cucumber, al- 

 though by no means aquatic, having large leaves, 

 perspire enormously, and hence require a very 

 large supply of water, if placed in a high tem- 

 perature ; but in a low temperature, and equally 

 watered, gum, canker, and spot take place, and 

 ultimately death — the heat not being sufficient 

 to decompose the water taken up by their roots. 

 Plants in metallic hot-houses, when glazed with 

 large panes of glass, require much more water 

 than plants of the same species grown in houses 

 with small glass, and much crowded with astra- 

 gals and rafters. Practically, plants in pots or 

 tubs should be watered often, and not too much 

 given at a time. If water be given in large 

 quantities, it passes through the soil in the pot, 

 provided it be properly supplied with drainage, 

 carrying with it much of the richness of the 

 soil ; and if imperfectly drained, causing the soil 

 to become water-logged, cold, and impervious 

 to the air, so necessary to the welfare of the 

 roots. 



Watering is the mainstay of gardening in 

 warm climates ; it is particularly so in artificially- 

 heated climates, and by no means to be disre- 

 garded even in our naturally cold and humid 

 country. The utility of watering newly-planted 

 trees, shrubs, and plants is admitted, but the 

 proper application of it little understood. Many 

 conceive that the water for their plants, like 

 what they use themselves, cannot be too fresh 

 and cold. Than this, a greater mistake does not 

 occur in the whole art horticultural. Eain water 

 is best of all ; and dirty stagnant water, and at a 

 high temperature, the most congenial to the 

 plants. Cold spring water is the worst of all. 

 It is not going too far to say, that pure water 

 should seldom or never be applied, but that it 

 should be impregnated with some enriching 

 matter, of which our modern artificial manures 

 offer abundant choice. Those who have found, 

 if they have bestowed a passing thought on the 

 matter, how little service their continued water- 

 ing has done to their plants in a dry summer, 

 would do well to think of this. 



The fertilising matter conveyed to the soil by 

 rain water, compared with spring water, must 

 exercise a most important and beneficial influ- 

 ence on plants. The researches of M. Barral, of 

 Paris, show that, in six months, the rain which 

 fell upon an area, equal in extent to one English 

 acre, contained, as near as possible, 



7.75 lb. of ammonia. 

 36.50 — nitric acid. 



5.56 — chlorine. 

 12.60 — lime. 



4.81 — magnesia. 



A writer in the " Critic," referring to M. Barrel's 

 experiments and statement above, says, " From 

 July to December is usually the drier half of 

 the year, as well as that in which the less fuel 

 is consumed, so that we may safely double these 

 quantities in estimating the annual supply per 

 acre of nitrogenous compounds gradually dis- 

 tributed over a country by the rain. For the 

 sake of illustration, I have calculated the amount 

 of the solid constituents of the rain falling on 

 an area equal in extent to Great Britain ; and, 

 balancing the various causes likely to lessen or 



