36 



THB GRBBNING PICTORIAL SYSTEM OP LANDSCAPE GARDENING 



WATER 



SOMEONE has called water the universal manure. 

 Certain it is that its presence in the soil is necessary 

 for plant growth. Plants take all their nourishment in 

 licjuid form, or rather in a vapory attenuation of water. 

 No matter how rich the soil may be in all the elements 

 necessary for the growth of trees, if there is no water in 

 it to dissolve those elements and carry them as crude sap 

 to the leaves, where the function of assimilation is per- 

 formed, no growth will be made. 



Water is as necessary for trees and other plants as 

 it is for the human system. A constant and sufficient 

 supply of moisture is essential for all the vital functions 

 of vegetation. From careful estimates made in this coun- 

 try and in Europe it is found that it takes about 400 

 pounds of w'dtev to form one pound of dry vegetable 

 matter. More water comes up by capillary action through 

 the various forms of vegetation in a day than falls at 

 Niagara in a year. Vide Enc. Brit. 



There is an annual precipitation of 26 inches in 

 Michigan as reported by the government weather bureau 

 at Detroit, and it is fair to assume the same amount of 

 rainfall in the neighlxjring States. This means 300 tons 

 of water per acre, which is ample to maintain a luxuriant 

 vegetation if the ground is cultivated in the right way to 

 retain it. There is really no substitute for culti\'ation, 

 where cultivation is possible; Init of course for herbaceous 

 plants that grow so thickly as to occupy all the ground 

 tillage is out of the question, and watering with the hose 

 becomes necessary. With trees, shrubs and rose-bushes 

 it is different: with them it is easy to keep the ground 

 loose. This will prevent the loss of moisture l)y evapora- 

 tion and, by permitting the air to enter, the soil remains 

 sweet and in good heart to produce growth. Only during a pro- 

 longed drought should tlie linse l)e used and then with the utmost 

 thoroughness, soaking the ground to the depth of the roots; and 

 as soon thereafter as the surface soil becomes mealy and friable, 

 cultivation sliould ])cgin anew lo conserve the water you have 

 put in. 



The average man. h(>\\e\-cr. (lei)cn(ls altogether on liis hose, 

 lie looks so nnicb like a gardener s(|uirting water on lus ijlants. 

 But it is only appearance! He is a veritable Moloch of destruc- 

 tion. The little hose-cart that he wheels through his garden is a 

 twin ])r()ther of the Juggernaut of India. More trees and shrubs 

 are Isilled ])y excessive watering than ])\' .all the oilier agencies of 



Plato 24 



PARK SCENE ON BORDER OF A LAKE 



"And the woods against a stormy sky their giant branches tossed." 



— Hemans. 



This is a park scene on the border of a lake, the row of Willows in the back- 

 ground being on the bank. A little bayou filled with aquatics is spanned by a 

 bridge, and the walk continues to the left in a winding trail through the woods. 

 The tree in the center field is a Sycamore, those to the right are Maples, with an 

 undergrowth of Viburnums, Barberries, and Prickly Ash. Near the bayou is a clump 

 of Solidago, more commonly known as Goldenrod, and Phalaris Arundinacea, 

 quite generally known by the common name of Gardener's Garters. 



death and destruction that beset the garden's welfare and its care. 



Of course when followed b)' cultivation watering becomes an 

 innocent amusement; but it is the constant daily scjuirting of water 

 without cultivation that is objectionable. It does harm by com- 

 pacting the surface soil and excluding the air, by making the soil 

 cold and reducing bacterial activity, and above all by establishing 

 capillary action, so the water that is put on, in evaporating, carries 

 up with it the water that is in the root-field and doing good. 



The farmer has no forced water, and yet he has the best pos- 

 si])le success by tillage only; for by its means he conserves the 

 natural rainfall. And after all it certainly seems reasonable that 

 his time-tried methods are correct and wortln* of imitation. 



