A LITTLE PLACE IN THE COUNTRY. 



WATER AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR TIME AND FERTILIZERS GETTING A HELPER WHAT TO PLANT CONVERT- 

 ING OUR LABOR INTO MONEY. 



MAXIMUM of pleasure and 

 profit is to be obtained from 

 the possession of our country 

 home, only when it has been 

 brought to the highest state 

 of fertility, and consequent 

 productiveness. It will take 

 time, and the acquirement 

 of a practical knowledge of the methods of practical 

 men, to accomplish this result. 



In the meantime we must look about for the best 

 substitute for these that we can find, to the end 

 that we may keep the lawn green, have an unfailing 

 variety of fine vegetables for the table, and that 

 our strawberries may not become mere clusters of 

 unpalatable seeds from an untimely drought, just 

 as they should be ripening. 



The best substitute that we can find for time, 

 experience, and costly fertilizing will be WATER. 

 If we can have plenty of that, and have it under 

 our control, we may hope for success to crown our 

 horticultural efforts, even on lands and in seasons 

 that might otherwise afford but a poor return for 

 our labors. It is true that water is not manure. 

 But as all plants absorb their food only in a soluble 

 form, it is of the highest importance as a medium 

 for carrying the food. And even where soils are 

 deficient in plant food, if water is applied regularly, 

 it will render soluble, and consequently available, 

 such supplies as the soil does hold ; and as it is less 

 often the lack of plant food in the soil, than it is 

 the inability of the plant to use such as there is, it 

 will be easily understood that the results from poor 

 soil richly treated may often be greater than from 

 good soil wrongly treated. 



The efficacy of water in the work of "making 

 a crop " under unfavorable conditions was illus- 

 trated in my own case this summer. The overflow 

 from a hydrant watered every day a poor ridge, 

 which was crossed by some rows of cabbage, and 

 by some cucumber hills. The cabbage headed 

 much larger and earlier there than in other parts 

 of the rows, and the cucumbers gave more fruit, 

 and of course withstood a drought (which came in 

 mid-season) much better. 



Sixth Paper. 



There can be nothing more annoying to the 



amateur, or more productive of loss to the profes- 

 sional gardener, than to have the labor and hope of 

 the early summer wrecked by a drought coming, as 

 it so often does, just as we are about to reap the 

 reward of our patient care. No one, until he has 

 engaged in the making of a garden, can realize the 

 poignant anxiety with which the forecastings of the 

 weather prophet may be read, nor how anxiously 

 the heavens may be scanned for a sign of rain. 



The only feasible way, under ordinary circum- 

 stances, of providing an adequate water supply, 

 will be by putting in a wind pump, and connecting 

 it with a system of tanks, pipes and hose. Where 

 there are facilities for irrigation, this is, of course, 

 unnecessary. But while the first cost of the plant 

 will be considerable, it will be vastly better than a 

 dependence upon a corporation water supply — even 

 if that be available — where the recurring annual tax 

 would soon amount to the entire cost of the indi- 

 vidual plant. 



In locating the pump there are other matters to 

 be considered beside that of striking water easily. 

 While that should have due weight, we must also 

 endeavor to locate the pump as centrally as pos 

 sible so that the various portions of the place may 

 be reached without undue expense. And elevation 

 must be considered, if it is the intention to use the 

 water upon the more elevated portions of the 

 grounds, or if it is intended to supply the upper 

 stories of the dwelling from this source. 



The elaborateness of the plant will depend upon 

 the amount of ground that it is desired to cover. 

 Thus if only the stable and a small garden are to 

 be supphed, a single tank by the pump and a coil 

 of hose will suffice. But to get the best use and 

 money return from the outlay, tanks should be 

 built upon various elevations, and kept supplied by 

 means of iron pipes running from the central one. 



The method by which the water is distributed to 

 the plants must depend somewhat upon the forma- 

 tion of the ground. If it can be easily gotten to the 

 head of slopes, it may be discharged there and al- 

 lowed to find its way down by means of small irri- 

 gation channels, or it may be distributed by hose, 



