Watering Plants And Trees

Speaking of watering shrubs and trees, the Gardener's Chronicle saya : "It is the incessant driblets thatdo the harm, for it frequently happens that the top sou looks sodden when the portion about the rools is almost dust dry." This remark is worthy of being recorded, alt hough the season for outdoor watering has passed. But it will apply well tohouse-plante.whicta must receive an artificial supply of water the year through ; their treatment, however, is generally well understood. It is more frequent that out-door watering is wrongly performed, and very often the watering does more harm than good. Sume years ago, an experiment was made on a row of newly set cherry trees in a dry season. A portion was occasionly watered ; in another port'.on it was omitted ; a third was mulched. The watering soaked the suríace, which was afterwards baked hilo a hard crust, excluding from tbe soil below all subsequent waterings, and preventing the benefit derived from a mello w surface. Most of these watereil cherry trees died the same summer. Nearly all the unwatered ones lived, but they did not have a vigorous, healthy appearance. The trees that were nnilchèdseveral inches deep with oíd hay as soon as the hot weather of summer carne, all lived, and the leaves liad a green, healthy appearance. This contrast might not oeour in inoist seasons. In hot.dry wealher, nothing is more important for n-ily set cherry trees than mulchiog. It appears to be less important for oiher trees, for which a clean, mellow surface for several íeet appears to be the best. "We have recommended on former occasions, when watering became necessary, the removal of the soil fiom lue surf ace down to the roots, then poaring in the water cjpiously nnO. replacing the earth. But unless Lhis operation is repeated often enough to keep the soil about the roots constitntly moist, it will be of little service. The greatest amount of water is taken up by plan ts and trees in a thrifty, growing condition, with plenty f leaves; but these plants have already thrown out roots far enough to obtain the neededsupply, provided the soil has been kept loose and mellow, and grasa and weeds have not been perin i ited to pump the moisture from the t'iirLh below.