JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
294 
[April 12, 1883. 
whose ripe experience enables him to grow his bulblets by 
thousands promiscuously, and with facility to name them 
accurately as they flower. Mr. Campbell’s seedlings Duke of 
Leinster, Duchess of Leinster, and Provost Binnie are also sent 
out. I beliei'e they are of very high merit. The recommenda¬ 
tion of the raiser is sufficient to all who have the pleasure of 
knowing him. I hope to see them and Mrs. Finnie in my own 
garden this year. 1 was surprised to see in his grounds at 
Cove Gardens somewhere about half a hundred vigorous plants 
of my favourite Ondine, and about as many of the charming 
variety Marquis of Lothian, all raised from bulblets. 
Allow here a slight divergence. Of the English varieties I 
flowered last year Agnes Mary, Cymbeline, Duchess of Edin¬ 
burgh, Flora, Hesperia, Jessica, Marica, Miss Salway, Mrs. 
Kynartin Mainwarey, Pictum (one of the most useful), Queen 
Mary and Una, Earl Russell, James Kelway, and some others 
I have had some seasons, but have never seen, nor do I now 
hope to see them, in perfection, if at all, from the corms I 
have, as they have commenced that decrease in size which 
unmistakeably announces waning energy, and sooner or later 
an inevitable farewell. —A Northern Amateur. 
(To be continued.) 
THE GARDEN WATER SUPPLY. 
If I were asked, What is the general rule as to watering garden 
crops ? I should feel bound to answer, Just enough water is given 
to prevent actual suffering from drought ; anything beyond this 
is an exceptional effort for a special purpose. If my querist 
were to go farther and ask, Do you consider the general prac¬ 
tice satisfactory ? I must again reply, Decidedly not ; and 
the well-known fact of a free quick growth being a chief 
factor in the development of all culinary vegetables, and 
which is only imparted by abundant moisture in a fertile soil, 
gives weight to my answer. For stronger evidence patent to 
everyone we have only to revert to the wonderful growth of 
vegetables in the Avet summer of last year, and as a farmer I 
may add the equally satisfactory fact of a double crop of hay 
and root crops of extraordinary abundance. But perhaps it is 
in an unusually hot dry summer that the inadequate supply of 
water to the requirements of so many gardens is shown most 
clearly ; stunted growth, premature running to seed, mildew, 
tough flaccid flavourless vegetables that ought to be crisp, 
succulent, and sweet ; crops of such brief duration that serious 
intervals occur in the supply which it is the pride of all good 
gardeners to maintain fully of every vegetable in its season. 
In striving to remedy this unsatisfactory condition of things 
the two mcst important points are ample means for the storage 
of water and suitable facilities for its subsequent distribution. 
Chemists teach us that water exposed to the air absorbs fer¬ 
tilising gases suitable for the food of plants, and common 
sense tells us that water warmed by the summer sun is much 
better for plants than cold spring water fresh drawn from a 
well or pump. It should therefore always be stored in an open 
tank or pond sufficiently elevated to admit of its being con¬ 
veyed through pipes to convenient points of the garden. 
When I began making the garden at Oldlands it was at first 
proposed to obtain water by a branch connection with the 
main pipe conveying spring water to the house from a 
reservoir some 50 or GO feet above the highest part of the 
garden site ; but eventually I was able to make a pond im¬ 
mediately below the reservoir to catch the waste water which I 
found escaping by soakage from a group of springs surround¬ 
ing it, and thus obtained an abundant independent supply, 
which is taken to all parts of the garden through an iron main 
pipe 1 inch in diameter with suitable branches and hydrants. 
Enough 2-ply indiarubber hose in lengths of 60 feet was 
procured to reach every part of the garden, with suitable brass 
unions for screwing together and upon the hydrants, and a 
copper pipe with a tap, jet, and rose for the watering, and I 
thought my arrangements complete. For a time all went well, 
one man doing the work of half a dozen, and the newly planted 
fruit trees and shrubs grew so freely and well as to repay the 
outlay for hose in a single season. But after a couple of 
seasons’ wear the hose was cracked and split in several places, 
and the conviction grew upon me that the extra 1(M. per foot 
which would have purchased the leather hose would have been 
a wise outlay at first. Gladly do I give your readers the 
benefit of this little item of dearly bought experience, in order 
that they may avoid my inevitable vexation, for the indiarubber 
hose soon became useless. 
The other exception to what has proved an otherwise satis¬ 
factory apparatus is the failure of the taps. This is owing partly 
to pressure and partly to silica disturbed by rain and remain¬ 
ing suspended in the water for a long time after every disturb¬ 
ance. Now silica, however microscopical in size, is nevertheless 
quartz crystals, and its wearing action upon the tap soon 
becomes apparent in a slight dripping of water, which in¬ 
creases very much in proportion to the frequency with which 
the tap is used, and sooner or later it becomes useless. At 
first grinding the worn shaft of the tap with emery powder 
Avas tried, but the remedy was so brief in its duration that new 
taps soon had to be resorted to. After trying many sorts brass 
plumber’s cocks have been selected as best. They are bought 
with a screwed end for screwing into the iron pipe, so that a 
new tap can always be put on in a few minutes by any of the 
workmen. A stock of the various sizes is always kept in 
readiness, as a leakage in a dry summer among the thirty taps 
in constant use is a serious matter. The average price of the 
taps may be given at about 6s. I have given these particulars 
about the hose and taps for the assistance of beginners, who 
are frequently at a loss in such matters. 
It is not every garden that is so fortunately situated in re¬ 
lation to its water supply as this is, But there is none for 
which suitable arrangements cannot be made which in almost 
every instance would prove to be quite as much in the interest 
of employer as of the gardener. Storage of water and 
facility of watering means saving of labour as well as benefit 
to crops. It has been the writer’s lot to have a full experience of 
waterbarrels drawn by horses or men ; deep wells requiring two 
men at the pump that with a little outlay for horse gear might 
have been profitably worked by horses standing idle in the 
stable ; waterpots carried throughout the whole of a long hot 
summer’s day by “ all hands,” all for want of a moderate ex¬ 
penditure in the first instance when the garden Avas made. On 
the other hand admirable arrangements have been met witli. 
Gardens in fiat low-lying districts have had rain Avater stored in 
raised cisterns or ponds sufficiently elevated for its distribution 
through pipes. Such ponds are readily made above the com¬ 
mon level by puddling the soil excavated for the raised banks 
Avherever it is suitable, and most soils, excepting gravel or sand, 
make good tenacious puddle. Excellent dams containing a 
large proportion of silica have been made for several ponds 
made here Avithin the last feAv years ; or a strong spring of 
Avater has been turned to account by pumping it into a cistern 
close by, Avhence it flowed to loAver open cisterns made about 
the garden. 
For many gardens on hills the hydraulic ram is a great boon. 
Many scientific books profess to explain its value and use, but 
most of them rather puzzle than assist an ordinary inquirer. 
In the “ Gardener’s Year Book ” for 1877 Dr. Hogg gave a 
\ y ery clear and useful account of it. He said, “ This is an in¬ 
vention which has been in use for a great number of years, 
and, because few people understand it, it is not as much in use 
as it ought to be. It often happens that though a spring of 
Avater cannot be obtained near a house, one is found at a lower 
level. The question then is, Hoav is the Avater to be raised to 
the high level Avith the least possible trouble and expense ? 
It is in such cases that the ‘ Avater ram 7 is of invaluable use. 
It can be put to work in any place where a fall of water of 
1 foot or upwards from a stream, brook, or spring can be 
obtained. It Avill force Avater to a vertical height equal to 
from twenty to thirty times the height of the fall, drive the 
Avater to any horizontal distance Avhich may be required, and 
work day and night without any a tention Avhatever.”— 
Edward *Luckhurst. 
Books for Young Gardeners. —Several eminent men have been 
criticising the actions of young gardeners in your paper for several 
Aveeks past; may I remark that I think it would be more useful to 
have given them something for their benefit ? We want to know the 
best books on gardening and botany, chemistry and drawing, and the 
