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Show Management of Water Can Make or Ruin a Garden ' " :-:':;:'v - ' ". V ''.''r'i' ''' ' xx ' '0 :,': - J '. :" ' ' A Canvas Hose Leaking Through Its Mesh Acts as s FortabI Irrigation Ditch. . The most Important garden implement im-plement during the summer is the garden hose, end the most important task for the gardener is using it properly. Home gardens are grown in practice under irrigation and can be made immune from the effects of drouth. Farm irrigation, irriga-tion, which began in desert areas, is now spreading throughout through-out the country, since it has been proved to provide profitable insurance in-surance against a lack of rain. In the garden the hose should be used to provide water whenever when-ever sufficient rain does not fall as needed. Research workers generally agree that the amount of water required by gardens is one inch each week. Comparing these figures it would seem that in many sections normal rain should provide almost all the water wa-ter gardens need, but this is not true. The reason is that rain does not fall with the regularity that garden plants require. When one heavy rain brings half the month's quota of moisture, mois-ture, as may happen, the effects on the garden may be disastrous instead of helpful. When so much water falls that the roots of plants are under water for long periods, plants may drown. Roots need air as much as moisture, and standing water excludes air. This is the reason soil should be porous, allowing water and air to enter it freely. When wa-ter wa-ter floods soil briefly, the plants are not injured, and as water drains away, air enters. The roots are stimulated to grow in pursuit of the receding moisture, mois-ture, and they find new plant food in deeper soil at the same time. This perhaps overslmple explanation ex-planation of the problem will indicate the pattern that amateurs ama-teurs should follow in irrigating their gardens. Use the garden hose to soak the soil whenever rain does not provide 1 inch ol water each week. For some reason, rea-son, it takes more water from a hose, to produce the same effect ef-fect as a 1-inch rainfall. Perhaps atmospheric humidity is tha explanation, ex-planation, since the air is dry when you irrigate. There is no convenent way for the amateur to measure irrigation, except bjr making sure the soil is wet six inches deep by each application. In the vegetable garden it is always best to apply the water directly to the soil surface, rather rath-er than sprinkling the leaves of the plants. When you must sprinkle sprin-kle do it while the sun is shining, so that the leaves will dry befor nightfall, because fungus growth is stimuated when leaves remain damp long. The best method of applying water directly to the soil is by using a canvas hose which leaks at every pore, and distributes th water evenly over the length of the hose. If soluble plant food is to b. applied to the leaves of your garden plants, do it in the sunshine. sun-shine. The addition of a spreading spread-ing agent to the plant food solution solu-tion is recommended to increase absorption by the leaves. Such spreaders are sold for mixing with insecticide sprays. Skim milk is also used for this purpose by farmers. |