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Show Some Mistakes to Avoid in Watering the Garden Plants which have everything i else required for vigorous ! growth, will die for lack of water. I And in the water which is carried by the hose, it has become pos-' pos-' sible to mix with a minimum of trouble, plant food, and pesticides for easy application to the garden. gar-den. One Inch of rain Is needed on average every week. You can test it by setting out a coffee can, and measuring the water that falls into it. If an inch of rain fails to come, make up the difference dif-ference with the hose. But do not apply it in small doses; put the whole week's ration on at once. If you use a sprinkler, calculate calcu-late as nearly as practical the area it covers; and let the hose run in a 10 quart pail, to learn how long it takes to fill the pail. One inch of water on a square yard takes just over 5 gallons of water. Apply this to area your sprinkler covers and you can tell approximately how long to let it stand in one position to give the soil the soaking required. The best sprinkler throws a I fine spray in a quantity which the soil can absorb without run-off. ' Never try to water lawn or garden gar-den with a nozzle held in the hand, for you will never get enough on. The success of artificial arti-ficial watering is entirely dependent depend-ent on the quantity applied; it does not depend on the temperature tempera-ture of the water. Cold water is just as good as warm; it will all be the same by the time it reaches the plant roots. The idea that gardens should not be watered in the sunshine is obsolete. That is really the best time to water, if a sprinkler is used; because the leaves dry quickly, and do not go into the night wet. Dampness and darkness dark-ness encourage the spread of fungus disease, and leaves should never be wet so late in tha day that they cannot dry before nightfall. This is especially important im-portant In the vegetable garden, and with the edible leaves, sucb. as lettuce, chard, and cabbages. While plant leaves enjoy an occasional shower, that washes off accumulated dust, neither leaves or flowers are benefitted by prolonged sprinkling; so it is better to let most of the water you apply run directly on the ground. This can be done by using a canvas hose, which leaks along its length through every pore, and thus plays the part of an Irrigation ditch. The water may also be allowed to run from the hose on a piece of board which will prevent washing the soil. With the discovery that plant leaves absorb plant food which is sprayed on them, even more quickly than the roots, impetus has been given to the practice of applying plant food through the hose water. This practice is not new, and safe methods have been worked out for it. A siphon can be fastened between two sections of hose. If plant food is dissolved In a bucket or tub, and the small rubber tube leading from the siphon dropped into It, the fertilizer solution will be lifted up and mixed with the hose water. If dry plant food Is used, mix it in the tub with one pound to 2 gallons of water. If soluble plant foods are used, prepare a solution solu-tion which the direction say is safe for applying to plants in the garden. When these solutions are further diluted by the hose water there will be no danger of burning burn-ing the plant leaves. Most gardens gar-dens will benefit from a food application once a month during the summer. |