96 



IRISH GARDENING. 



Celery. — ^Plant out the iiiaincrop as the plants 

 become ready and before too large, choosing 

 showery weather for preference. Dust freely 

 with soot in the early morning, also all other 

 growing crops. I only wish I had a larger avail- 

 able supply. Earliest plantings of Celery if 

 growing away freely may be helped with a little 

 stimulant. Nitrate of Soda at the rate of a tea- 

 spoonful to each jjlant, and watered in or dis- 

 solved in the water at the rate of 1 oz. to the 

 gallon, will greatly assist formation of stem and 

 leaf. Continue to sow such catch crops as 

 Lettuce, stump-rooted Carrots, Turnips, Radishes, 

 wherever a chance vacancy occurs. Where con- 

 tinuous svxpplies of the latter and Mustard and 

 Cress are required, select a cool shady border 

 and treat in three divisions for each, resowing as 

 soon as each section is fast, and shading heavily 

 with a damp mat until germination takes place. 



Globe and other Beet may still be sown with 

 ample time for proper development and a line 

 of Swede Turnips. Dust the ground freely with 

 wood-ashes for all root crops, and attend to the 

 thinning, as recommended last month, and keep 

 the hoe going whenever possible, as it is labour 

 well spent. 



The Fruit Garden. 

 The principal work in this department for the 

 present month will be the freeing of Aphis and 

 other attacks of insects from the various trees 

 and bushes, and the weather conditions will con- 

 siderably help or mar this work. The majority 

 of fruit trees, commencing with those on the 

 warmest walls, will need attention as regards 

 summer pruning where this is done with a view 

 to assist in the formation of fruit buds at the base 

 of the spurs for next year. This in my opinion 

 can hardly be done too soon. Some people aver 

 that if done too soon the basal buds will grow 

 away, but I have never seen any ill-effects that 

 way, and find that the two upper buds visually 

 act as safety valves, and I can hardly think that 

 any benefit can result fj-om summer pruning, as 

 far as the formation of fruit buds is concerned, 

 when the work is left till the wood is quite hard 

 and necessitates cutting with the knife. Goose- 

 berries and Currants may be similarly treated 

 before netting if time permits. When picking 

 green Gooseberries, do so with a view to thinning 

 the crop of fruit and assist those to remain. 

 Keep a sharp look out for the caterpillars of the 

 Gooseberry Sawfly, which if allowed to go un- 

 checked will quickly defoliate whole bushes. 

 Hellebore Powder and Arsenate of Lead used as 

 directed are the best remedies against the pest, 

 but both being poisonous must only be used when 

 the fruit is immature. Another handy remedy 

 which is often close at hand, and, furthermore, 

 handy perhaps for many amateurs, is to dust a 

 little Keating's Powder amongst the bushes when 

 the foliage is damp. 



The Fi-ower Garden. 

 The bedding out of the summer occupants of 

 the flower borders will be in full swing, and here 

 again if showery weather prevails much assistance 

 will be rendered. Remove the flowers from the 

 various plants, as this will encourage the fornia- 

 tion of growth necessary for an added display 

 later on. Where standard plants are used either 

 as plunged plants or planted out, staking should 

 be done immediately after planting to prevent 

 disturbance from winds. Continue to sow any 

 annuals for late blooming and thin out growths 



on herbaceous plants where too thick before 

 staking. Look out for and syringe Roses growing 

 on walls and pillars against apliis, and loosely 

 tie in aiiy growths that may require attention. 

 Roses that suffered with the winter's frost, but 

 are now growing freely, will be considerably 

 improved and restored by a dressing of a quick 

 acting ]3atent manure. Remove the faded flower 

 trusses from Rhododendrons, especially young 

 plants of better vai'ieties, which need encourage- 

 ment, and a dressing of rotted farmyard manure 

 and leaf-mould to beds or specimens — now th^t 

 growth is about to be made for next season's 

 display — will be of much assistance. For a spring 

 display these are hard to beat, and should be 

 utilised whenever possible in place of commoner 

 subjects for forming screens and blotting out 

 unsightly objects. Two subjects now in flower, 

 each being gorgeous, are Fmbothrium coccineum, 

 the Fire Thorn, and clumi^s of Azalea amoena. 



R 



eview* 



A Good Book.* 



The imaginative )iian might think from its title 

 that this is a book of encyclopaHlic size : but it 

 contains only 152 pages, index and ilhistrations 

 included. The author, in his " few well-chosen 

 words " of preface, explains that it is wi-itten for 

 amateur gardeners and that it is published in as 

 complete a form as space will allow. He asks 

 those of his readers who are confronted by 

 problems that they cannot answer from the pages 

 of his book to refer to the Editor of The Gdrdener. 

 " Poor Editor " we thought as we plunged into 

 the reading of the book, but after a page or two 

 we found ourselves musing : " That Editor won't 

 have sucli a bad time after all." The chapter on 

 Border Carnations converted us, and when we 

 had finished the book we vowed we would give 

 the author a good mark. The book is a most 

 excellent work, and though we mvist perforce 

 agree with the author that gardening is a pro- 

 gressive craft and gardening books grow old, yet 

 good things are longest-lived and most permanent, 

 and, except for the names of varieties of fruit, 

 flowers and vegetables, we see no reason why Mr. 

 Thomas' book should be out of date for many a 

 long day. ^^'e fancy the book was written before 

 the Food Controller came upon the scene, else 

 possibly more space might have been allotted to 

 vegetables and fruit at the expense of flowers. 

 All true gardeners will be thankful that IMr. 

 Thomas has not altered his proportions to suit 

 the craze of the moment. When the war is over 

 and our surviving warriors, men and women, 

 return to resume their normal modes of existence, 

 we fancy they will be most grateful to those who 

 can bring them \\here they can see plenty of 

 flowers and perhaps hear good music. Let us not 

 be thought to refer disparagingly to the craze of 

 the moment — vegetable and fruit growing for 

 many years to come will probably be the best 

 public service non-combatants can engage in, 

 whether professionally or in their leisure hoiu's : 

 but in war time as well as in peace time it is true 

 that " man does not live by bread alone." Yes, 

 this is an excellent book, and we commend it 

 heartily to our readers. 



* " Gardening : A Complete Guide." By 

 H. IT. Thomas. With numeious Illustrations, - 

 Is. 3d. net. Cassell tS: Co., Ltd. 



