Treatment of Plants.

Waikato Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2057, 12 September 1885, Page 6 (Supplement)

Treatment of Plants.

" How often shall I water my plants ?" asks the purchaser of & small bill at the nursery. In window gardening the water question is also one of the anxious ones — and even in the regular operations of gardening, under the treatment of quito praotioed hands, the relations of water to plant life is not as it might be. We shall understand better bow to water if we oorreot first some impressions derived from old works on physiology. It is said that plants want water. This is not strictly true. Water is found in plants, but it enters rather in the shape of vapor. A soil that is wet will grow only water plants ; and it is a remarkable faot that these water plants seem to have very little water in them. A reed or bulrush grown in water has far less water in its structure than a nearly allied spieces grown on dry land. The deserts of Africa abound in euphorbias ; while on the plains of Mexico the only moisture wild cattle can often get is from the large spiny globe cactuses, which they manage to cleave open with their hoofs. A wet soil is totally unfit for plant growing. A plant standing twenty-four hours in water ia often irreparably injured. A hyacinth, to be sure, will live one season in water ; but all the matter which goes to make up the flower is prepared the year before, and after flowering the bulb is exhausted and almost worthless. A good soil for plant growing, therefore, is not one which will hold water ; but one in which water will rapidly pass away. The soil itself is composed of minute partioles, through which air spaces abound. The water must be just enough to keep these partioles moist, and the air in the spaces is thus kept in the condition of moist air. The roots traverse these air spaces, and it is therefore moist air which roots want, and not water. If it were water simply which plants wanted, we should oork up the bottom of the hole in the flower pot and prevent the water getting away. Instead of this we try to hasten the passing of the water through as muoh as possible, by not only keeping the hole as clear as possible, but often by putting pieces of broken material over the hole. A plant will generally be the healthiest, therefore, whioh wants water the oftenest. This will show that there are plenty of air spaces, and that the roots are making good use of them. If it does not often want water it is in a bad way and more water will make it worse. How often to water them will be according to how easy the water passes away. If when you pour water on earth it disappears almost instantaneously, it would be safe to water suoh plants every day.