What is this tool found in a once used garden for?

Question

We recently took over a garden together with some equipment. As it was clearly not used in the last couple of years there was nobody around to ask.

There is this one object we don't know what to use it for. The lower part is a small plastic bucket whereas the upper part forms a roof larger than the bucket end ends in a sieve. In the middle of the sieve is a hole in which there is a loose plastic stick.

It seems like some sort of indicator how high the water rises in the bucket, but then again what should you use that for?

There are multiple of these object's available so it seems like they should be placed somewhere.

the object in it's normal configuration (empty) the sieve of the upper part of the object turned around

Answer 1

I don't know for sure, it seems to me that it would be a slow release waterer. You see people making them out of milk jugs and the like. They drill holes in them and fill them with water and then it leaches into the surrounding soil as opposed to running off the top. This looks like it could be a fancier version with an indicator stick to let you know when it's time to refill it.