into each division, the one end
resting upon the tank covers, the other standing up above the soil. When I
found by the watch sticks that the soil was getting dry, I poured water
down the pipes through a tin funnel which I had made on purpose; this
spread itself over the surface of the tank covers, and diffused a gentle
moisture to the soil, so congenial to the growth of plants. This was a
move in the right direction. I then thought that it would be better to
pour the manure water down upon the tank covers, which I have done since.
I found the broken stones over the tank covers troublesome; they were also
a harbour for wood-lice. I now use only a layer of leaves next the covers,
and they are cleared out with the soil."

_On Atmospheric Humidity._

Cucumbers cannot at any time be successfully grown in an arid atmosphere,
although, during the winter season, they require a much less proportion of
atmospheric humidity, than under the influence of longer days and brighter
light; and conversely, the degree which would be necessary to secure their
welfare in summer, would be fatal to them in winter. An experienced
gardener would tell almost instinctively, at either season, whether a
sufficient supply was present or not; but less experienced cultivators
would need some index, or register, to guide them. Such an index is
afforded by the hygrometer; but most of the kinds of hygrometers are
delicate instruments, and hardly suited for garden use. What is needed in
this case is, not an instrument which requires minute observations and
calculations, but something that will at once indicate the atmospheric
humidity as plainly as the thermometer does the temperature, and which
may be as easily read off and understood. Simmons' hygrometer, recently
introduced to the notice of horticulturists, professes to supply this
desideratum; and though, perhaps, not a sufficiently accurate instrument
for purely scientific purposes, yet, as simply and clearly indicating what
is at least an approximation to the existing degree of atmospheric
humidity, it is to be regarded as a useful garden hygrometer. By it, the
degree of dryness or humidity is indicated on a dial-plate, by means of a
moveable arm resembling the hand of a clock. The dial-plate is marked off
into degrees, expressing the amount of moisture in the air, between what
is observed when the instrument is plunged in water on the one hand, and
exposed to excessive dryness on the other. As