166 
THE DROUGHT 
noticing where and what we shall have to water 
in the twilight. 
When watering our plants, we have learned not 
to give them just a little sprinkling and then to 
move on to the next. Instead, we have divided 
our garden into three sections, which we water in 
turn, giving each a thorough soaking. We try to 
have the water get way down into the earth, about 
the plants’ roots, as it is then likely to keep them 
moist for some hours. A light sprinkling, such as 
Queenie Perth gives her flowers, does them hardly 
any good. It dries quickly, and helps the sun to 
bake the soil harder about the roots. 
A new garden feels the drought more than an 
old one like Miss Wiseman’s. There the shrubs 
and plants which have been growing for years form 
such thick masses of growth that they hold the 
moisture much longer than a garden where plants 
are fewer and not so well grown. Almost every 
day Miss Wiseman comes to the Six Spruces and 
says : “Now, children, don’t be discouraged about 
this drought. Keep your plants alive this year, 
and next season they themselves will be able to help 
you.” 
I like the thought that, later on, the plants will 
help us; because, now while they are young and 
scarcely at home in the garden, we are caring for 
them. It gives one a feeling of intimacy with the 
flowers, as though they understood one a little. 
Some of our plants have borne but few flowers 
