WATERING. 



385 



proper spot ; this plug has a cord a, attached to which a slip of wood c, is suspend- 

 ed; and themoment the operator entersbetweentherowsofplaritsto be watered, 

 he pulls the string, and as he wheels along the barrel, the water rapidly escapes, 

 watering two rows at a time. In this manner the strawberries in the market 

 gardens in the neighbourhood of London are watered, when they are in 

 blossom. "Wlien the leaves of plants are to be cleaned from dust or other 

 matters that water alone will bring off ; or when liquid compositions, such 

 as lime water, tobacco water, sopy water, &c., are to be thro\^^l on them, the 

 syringe or engine is used, and when water is applied to small plants, or very 

 small seeds newly sown, recourse is had to a small watering pot with a very 

 fine rose. 



826. Tl'lien it is proper to water, and how much water to give, must be 

 determined by the circumstances in which the plant is placed. In nature 

 the atmosphere is very rarely otherwise than saturated with moisture, 

 when it rains ; but as artificial watering is a substitute for rain, it must not be 

 withheld when the plant requires it, on account of atmospheric dryness. As 

 the nearest approach to the state of the atmosphere in which nature suppL'es 

 water, the afternoon or evening may be chosen when the air is both cooler, 

 and somewhat moister than during sunshine. As in soils that are stirred on 

 the surface, the greater part of the roots are always at some depth, the 

 quantity of water given should be such as will thoroughly moisten the 

 interior of the soil, and reach all the roots. A slight watering on the surface, 

 unless the soil is already moist below, will not reach the fibres, and will 

 soon be lost by evaporation. When a less quantity of water is supplied than 

 will saturate the soil to the depth of from nine inches to twelve inches, " it 

 often," Mr. Hayward observes, " does more injury than good to plants ; for 

 when in want of water the roots penetrate deep, and under such circum - 

 stances a small quantity of water on the surface checks the capillary attrac- 

 tion of moisture from below ; and thus the roots that are grown deep, which 

 are those on which the plant is made to depend in times of great drought, 

 are deprived of their supply of w^ater, and the plant exerts its efforts to throw 

 out horizontal fibres ; by the time these fibres are formed and the young 

 shoots extended, the supply of water on the surface agam fails, and they are 

 again checked, and perhaps destroyed : thus the efforts of the plant being 

 uselessly exhausted between the two extremes of a supply and a deficiency 

 of water, it naturally declines in its growth, and hence arises the general 

 opinion that watering in dry weather injures, more than it benefits plants." 

 (^An Inquiry, S^'c.^ p. 53.) Most water is required b}^ plants that are in a 

 vigorous state cf growth and have a large breadth of foliage ; least by those 

 which have nearly completed then- growth ; and m general none by plants 

 in a dormant state, excepting in such cases as that of watering grass lawns in 

 summer to stimulate vegetation, or irrigating meadows after they have been 

 moAvn for the same purpose. In the case, however, of excessive dryness, 

 some degree of moisture must be afforded to such plants as are liable to 

 become desiccated even though dormant. Succulent plants, for example, 

 w^ill bear a great degree of diyness, through a protracted period ; whereas 

 others that perspire more through the bark would be completely dried up if 

 equally exposed to drought. The application of water to plants in pots in a 

 dormant state is one of the commonest and most injurious errors committed 

 by persons unacquainted with the principles of culture. It does compara- 

 tively little harm to plant'j in the fi-ee soil in the open garden, but to plants 



