THE ART OF MAKING THINGS GROW 103 
Understanding the science of watering, and applying it 
in action, does not necessarily mean that our old friends the 
watering pot and the hose must be laid on the shelf. Indeed 
they still retain their places. But a beginner sets far too high 
a value upon them. What is more, he does not use them 
properly. A "greenhorn” betrays himself at the first garden 
lesson by the way he 
handles these articles . 
We have all seen him 
as he stands at noon- 
day in July compla- 
cently sprinkling his 
poor little half-burnt 
greens, sublimely un- 
conscious of the fact 
that the rivulets are 
trickling off into the 
paths instead of sink- 
ing down into the 
earth. 
One of the best 
children’s gardens I 
know owes its suc- 
cess, after an excep- 
tionally dry season, 
to the constant and thorough cultivating which it received, 
and to the exclusion of surface watering. "No water was 
available,” says the director, "but the gardens, although on 
a sunny slope, withstood the droughts well, save in a few 
neglected plots. These furnish a forcible illustration of the 
value of cultivation for the conservation of the moisture in 
the soil.” ^ 
1 Miss Grace L. Sturtevant, Wellesley Tozvnsman^ October, 1908. 
