86 



IRISH GARDENING. 



inously by pushing forth long underground 

 stems, every bit of which will grow, even when 

 broken uj) into small pieces, unless carefully 

 removed and binned. 



It is a safe and commendable rule never to 

 allow weeds of any kind to form seeds. Most 

 of the annual kinds can be got rid of by constant 

 hoeing, so often advocated in these pages, but 

 wheii land is really foul more strenuous methods 

 must be adopted for deep rooting perennials. 



Two of the commonest and most abundant 

 annual weeds are Groundsel and Chick weed, 

 both of which grow with great rapidity, flower 

 early, and soon form seeds. They should never 

 be allowed to approach the flowering stage, but 

 should be hoed out as soon as plainly visible ; if 

 growing actually among the seedlings of a crop 

 hand-picking must be resorted to. These 

 remarks are, of course, applicable to all weeds, 

 but some are miich more clifflcult to get rid of. 



Among i)erennial weeds some of the com- 

 monest and most persistent are Dandelions, 

 Plantains, Thistles, Couch Grass and Bindweed. 

 Constant hoeing is, of course, beneficial to a 

 certain extent in killing young seedlings of these 

 before they have got any great hold of the soil, 

 but when from any reason the plants have got 

 established in the soil, hoeing is not much use. 

 Couch Grass and Bindweed, the latter well known 

 by its beautiful large white flowers, are parti- 

 cularly hard to eradicate, and hoeing seems only 

 to increase the evil by breaking up the creeping 

 underground stems, every bit of which grows 

 again. The only effectual remedy is to fork 

 out as much as possible of the creeping stem 

 every time a green leaf appears above ground ; 

 in gardens or plots among groAving crops this is 

 the only sure remedy. 



Dandelions, Plantains and Thistles form thick 

 taproots which descend far into the soil, but do 

 not spread laterally to the same extent. They 

 have, however, the property of growing again 

 from the root, even when cut off below the 

 surface of the soil, and consequently while 

 hoeing may clean the surface of the green parts 

 of the jilant in a very short time, the root forms 

 a new " crown "" from which new leaves soon 

 appear on the surface. Hence it is clear there is 

 only one sure remedy, and that is to dig out the 

 roots entirely. 



It is possible to weaken and eventually kill 

 most perennial weeds by constantly hoeing off 

 the green parts as often as they appear on the 

 surface, but the process is a long one. We may 

 safely say that if a patch of Couch Grass or 

 Bindweed be hoed over, as often as a green leaf 

 appears, for a whole season, it will nevertheless 

 appear as strong as ever the next spring. The 



food supply stored uji in the creeping stems 

 enables these plants to tide over a long period 

 of adversity, and it is onl}' after the lapse of a 

 very considerable time that they are ultimately 

 starved out. 



From the above remarks it will be gathered 

 that the best way to keep the garden clean is to 

 be always on the offensive against weeds. Even 

 when a croj) has been safely harvested no weeds 

 should be permitted to flourish michecked. It 7- 

 will do no harm to dig in the annuals before they 

 form seeds, but the perennials should be 

 rigorously rooted out. The best way to utterly 

 destroy all weeds is to burn them if at all 

 jiossible. The ashes will then provide good 

 manure. 



War on Weeds. 



Garden Pests. 



It is sometimes supjjosed that a hard winter is 

 a blessing in disguise, the belief being prevalent 

 that hard cold weather, especiall}' if prolonged. ^ 

 has the effect of diminishing man}' of the jDests ^ 

 which plague the gardener. 



There seems room for investigation here — the 

 writer's opinion being that there is little differ- 

 ence whether the winter be mild or hard. 



If we take at random some of the commoner 

 jiests, such as shigs, for instance, we find that 

 they are already ramjiant and apparently as 

 nmnerous as ever. Greenfly is becoming 

 evident in sheltered corners, and soon will 

 increase and multiply. 



Among birds. Wood Pigeons are devouring 

 the young Cabbages, and are in such numbers 

 as to suggest that they, at any rate, suffered 

 no food shortage in spite of severe weather. 

 tSparrows, likewise, are in superabimdance. and 

 are after seedling Cabbages, &c., as soon as the 

 first green leaf appears over the ground. Rooks 

 and Jackdaws are everywhere, and the first 

 Queen Wasp fell a victim on the 24th (April). 



It is perfectly evident therefore that we 

 cannot begin too soon to devise means for 

 combating the destructive ravages of these and 

 other enemies of the gardener. 



Perhaps most people this year are interested 

 in vegetable crops, and will therefore be most 

 anxious to secure a full harvest in return for 

 the labour and money expended in cultivating 

 the soil and sowing the seeds. 



Birds of sorts are best kept at bay by stretch- 

 ing stout strings across the ground, these being 

 held taut between strong stakes. Prom the 

 strings, at intervals, suspend pieces of broken 

 glass, old tins, or anything else that will rattle 



