HOME VEGETABLE GARDENING 
IRRIGATION 
A /T ORE than 90 per cent, of every green vegetable is 
-f ▼A water. How to supply the plants with all the 
moisture they need to mature the crop deserves some 
thought. The amount of moisture required by different 
vegetables varies greatly. As a general rule, plants of 
which we eat the juicy foliage, like spinach, cabbage, etc., 
require more moisture than plants of which we eat the fruit. 
Yet elegant lettuce may be grown through comparatively 
dry seasons where thorough cultivation is practised. 
It may thus be seen that no hard-and-fast rules can 
be laid down. Plants which are children of tropical 
climates (egg plants, peppers, tomatoes, etc.) can get along 
without moisture (other than that gathered from the air) 
for surprisingly long periods. Whenever watering is re- 
sorted to, however, regardless of what kind of plants you 
irrigate, put the water where it belongs — to the roots. 
One thorough soaking of the soil is more beneficial than a 
dozen “sprinklings.” 
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