
IT WORKS ON ALL CROPS 
We have used automatic watering on 
roses, carnations, sweet peas, chrysanthe~ 
mums, snapdragons, stocks, and other cut~ 
flower crops. We have obtained little differ- 
ences in production as compared with plants 
surface watered at the same Capillary ten- 
Sion, The saving of labor, the uniform 
thorough watering with no packing of soil, 
the reduction of the amount of fertilizer 
used, and no spread of disease by splashing 
water are its great advantages, Most grow- 
ers will probably increase production be- 
cause they Gan maintain more uniform and 
greater water supply. 
: Our production of all crops has been 
high where we have maintained a uniforn high 
supply of moisture. We averaged from 34.5 
to 36.9 flowers on Peters Briarcliff rosea in 
eleven months in 1943-1}. for twelve months 
in 1941-45 we out from 42 to 45 flowera per 
plant with an average stem length of 20 + 
inches. Virginia carnations in the second 
year of production cut 25 flowers per square 
foot of surface watered and 32 flowers auto- 
matically watered. Plants that do not flower 
continuously, as stocks and chrysanthemums, 
gave no difference in production, 
IT WORKS ON ALL SOILS 
Any soil type can be used with automatic 
watering. It is especially desirable for soils 
which tend to bake or develop a structure 
impervious to water. Soils which tend to 
loose capillarity and dry at the surface should 
be saturated with water occasionally or 
watered from the surface once or twice each 
month. 
It ie probably not necessary to condition 
the soil with peat or manure as for surface 
watering. Soils with high organic content 
loose their capillarity more readily than 
those lower in organic content. 
Heat pasteurized soils tend-to loose 
Capillarity more readily than unheated soils, 
This 18 corrected by flooding the soil from 
below occasionally or by an occasional sur— 
face watering. This difficulty is usually 
corrected after three or four such floodings, 
No matter what the problem arising in 
your soil, you will observe it and correct it 
before any damage is done. In all of our ex- 
perimenting to learn about the system we have 
never lost a crop and have constantly increased 
production and quality. 
USE IT FOR POTTED PLANTS 
_ The greatest labor saver of all is auto-— 
matio watering of potted plants. We use a 
watertight bench and inject water in it to 
half submerge the pots at the time of water 
ing. The water stands until the soil is wet 
then the surplus is drained from the bench. 
We have used it on all plants grow in pots 
and have been able to do as good a job of 
growing as by surface watering. The plants 
dry uniformly and they are all thoroughly 
watered each time, 

A V-Bottom Bench leveled with gravel for auto= 
matically watering potted plants ~— 
OR HOE IE ae HE HE 4b OEE tb OE HO Ha 
THE AUTOMATIC PROPAGATING BENCH 
You can work it out for your own condi- 
tions and root nearly 100 per oei:t. All you 
need 18 a watertight bench and good 7. 0aga= 
ting sand which 1s not too fine. We t nd our 
sand for cement work is excellent. It con- 
tains about 60 per cent sand which passes a 
1/16 inch mesh screen. The remainder passes 
a 1/8 inch mesh screen but not the 1/76 inch. 
e 
If the sand is too fine roots form near 
the top of the sand while if it 1s too coarse 
you will loose many cuttings by drying. One 
trial with your sand and you can make the 
necessary adjustment before the cuttings are 
lost. 
If the sand is too fine, lower the water 
table; while if 1t is too coarse, raise the 
water table. We have found sand which passes 
a 1/8 inch screen works fine for poinsettias 
with a water table 1 to 2 inches below the 
base of the outting. Roses and carnations 
root best if the base of the cutting is in 
water in this coarse sand. In our regular 
cement sand all things root well with the 
water table about 2 inches below the base of 
the cutting, 
You probably cannot compare that method 
of rooting with surface watering because you 
cannot maintain the same water content of the 
sand and other conditions cannot be the same, 
You oan easily make it work or make’it fail 
depending on your desire. 
HOW THE PROPAGATION BENCH WORKS 
The sand 18 not packed. The water table 
1s raised to flo@ the sand and the cuttings 
are stuck, No trench is cut and the sand is 
not packed. The water table isa drain own 
to 1 to 2 inches below the base of the cutting 
and set with a float valve to hola there. 
Cuttings are taken from the plant and no 
leaves are removed, Only one thickness of 
Cheese cloth shade is used over the cuttings. 
When you remove them from the sana reise 
the water table to saturate the sand and pull 
the outtings, It has worked very well for us 
