IRISH GARDENING. 



10- 



it would be useful to ascertain first whether 

 neighbouring allotment associations or other 

 small cultivators require assistance also, so that 

 a joint application for advice may be made, 

 thus economising the time of the ad\aser who 

 may be sent. 



Onions and Carrots should not be sown on 

 freshly turned-up land. 



Soot or lime dusted along the rows will help 

 to keep down slugs. 



Strands of black cotton stretched along the 

 rows will protect seedlings from birds. 



The tips of Broad Beans should be pinched out 

 when the plants are about 2 feet high, in order 

 to lessen the effect of attack by aphis (black fly). 



If space is limited and it is desired to use a 

 lawn without destroying the grass, turves 1 foot 

 square may be taken out at intervals of 3 feet. 

 The ground should be broken up with a fork, a 

 little well-rotted manure added, and the surface 

 raked, after which climbing French Beans may 

 be sown. When the seedlings appear the should 

 be staked After the crop is gathered the t ureses 

 may be replaced (these should have beea laid in 

 any convenient part of the gardeii), and in a 

 Tuonth or two the lawn will be as good as ever. 



Neighbouring gardeners should co-operate in 

 making provision for the spraying of potatoes. — 

 Joiirnal of ihe Board of AgriruUnre, May 1917. 



Compost for the Garden* 



Best Method of Cheating it. 



Well-rotted manure is better than fresh manure 

 for gardens. It is also cheaper than commercial 

 fertilisers in these war times. 



Composted manure is as good or better than 

 the ordinary well-rotted article, and very much 

 cheaper, because more can be saved and much 

 less is wasted. It is a bett-er balanced plant food, 

 and does not produce so much fruit and vine 

 instead of the fruit or roots for whicti most garden 

 crops are grown. 



The Best Site. — Select a level, well-drained 

 spot, as near the barn door as possible, where the 

 wash cannot go through the pile and wash out 

 the plant food. Dig away 3 or 4 inches of the 

 looser surface soil over a strip 4 feet wide, and as 

 long as desired. 



Fill the hole with well-rotted or composted 

 manure, and pile on top of this alternate 6-inch 

 layers of fresh manui'e and weeds or sod, mixed 

 with some earth, until the pile is about waist 

 high. The weed seed will be killed in the process 

 if the heap is properly handled and an addition 

 of such extra material as leaves and straw 

 increases the amount of compost obtained from 

 a given amount of manure. When many leaves 

 are used, add lime to make them decay more 

 quickly, and sweeten the acid condition they 

 produce. 



Building the Pile. — The whole pile should be 

 covered with a thin layer of earth to help absorb 

 the ammonia and many other valuable plant 

 foods which escape in the vapour. Keep pile wet, 

 but not so well soaked that water runs from it 

 and carries away the plant food. Fork over and 

 rebuild the pile every six or eight weeks, and 

 cover it again with earth. Composting should 

 be co'npleted in from six months to a year, 

 depending on the kind of material used, and 

 whether lime and water have been used to hasten 

 decay. 



Frow 10 to 15 tons of co npost should be 

 added per acre, or a little more than if undiluted 

 manure had been used. Lighter applications 

 should be for fruit and root crops, like Beans, 

 Tomatoes, Potatoes, and Beets, than for leaf- 

 crops, like Lettuce and Cabbage, which can use 

 a deal of rich food. — Moflern Forming. 



The Farm Garden. 



A " Side Line " which Pays Well. 



Whether the garden is to be a success or not 

 depends, in great measure, on its location with 

 reference to the home and to the farm buildings. 

 It should be easily reached both by those who 

 care for it and by the housewife, wlio does most 

 of the harvesting. It should be so placed that 

 tools do -not need to be brought far, for this 

 takes -time and labour, and makes the garden 

 »iOTk expensive. Then, too, if the garden is close 

 at hand, spare times now and then can be used 

 in going over it. 



The garden is generally well-drained, but if 

 it is not, laying a few lines of tile in the garden 

 will frequently pay. Early vegetables will not 

 do well in a water-logged soil, and late ones are 

 injured almost as badly. On the other hand, 

 most vegetables need plenty of water to thrive 

 and produce well. Their roots are so shallow 

 they cannot go down to a deep water table in 

 dry seasons as trees can, so artificial watering 

 may save the garden, and it is a great convenience 

 to have some sort of water supply near at hand. 



The soil should be fertile. Vegetables are 

 heavy feeders, but they will return many times 

 over the value of the manure used in building 

 up the soil. Barnyard manure is the best general 

 fertiliser to use, both for its plant food value and 

 for its tendency to lighten up tight and clayey 

 soils which drain poorly and remain " cold " 

 until late in the spring. The loose, mellow soil 

 resulting from application of barnyard manure 

 is also essential in growing the root crops, which 

 are likely to be misshapen and distorted in too 

 tight and stony soils. Root crops are more easily 

 harvested in a mellow soil, too. A dressing of 

 3 inches of manure is not too much, but it should 

 be well rotted. — Moflrrn Farming. 



Irises. 



This is another large section of garden plants 

 which come into flower about the same time as 

 the Pseonies. They are endless in variety and 

 colour, but some of this large section should be 

 in every garden. Here, too, it is impossible to 

 give a selection, but a few stand out as worthy 

 of note, such as Iris pallida dalmatica, a tall 

 stately Iris, with handsome, clear lilac flowers set 

 characteristically far apart on a grey green stem. 



Another in the same group, I. pallida oriflamme, 

 with dark falls, has also a good strong habit. 



All these breaded Irises are divided into 

 sections, and in one of these, that known as the 

 " squalens " section, we have a wonderful range 

 of art shades — bronze, tan, purple, and gold — 

 which make very remarkable and effective con- 

 trasts. " Iris King " comes into this section, and 

 is one well worth having. The best yellow is still 

 Mrs. Neubrunner, a clear golden colour, flowering 

 f reel v. 



