12 



IRISH GARDENING. 



where the country of origin was unknown, or 

 where the published descriptions were inadequate. 

 In otlier cases difTticulties arose owing to plants 

 being sent with erroneous information attached 

 to them. Thus, a Sedum received from a well- 

 know-n Enghsh botanist as collected in Sussex 

 proved to be a species unknown wild outside 

 Japan ; another from a Durham school garden 

 received as found in Scotland, proved eventually 

 to be the female plant of S. fastigiatum, a Hima- 

 layan species, of wl ich I have never again seen 

 the female in cultivation ; and so on. Some col- 

 lections, again, proved most interesting. Of a 

 small consignment from the University Botanic 

 Gai-den, Sapporo, Japan, two have turned out to 

 be new to science. Two more new species were 

 among a delightful collection of tlie tender and 

 half-hardy Sedums which American botanists 

 have of recent years been finding in such numbers 

 in Mexico ; these came to me from the gardens at 

 Washington and New York. Still another new 

 species — and this shows in what a state of con- 

 fusion the genus has been — was found to be 

 common in cultivation throughout Europe, east- 

 ward to Japan and westwai'd to Canada, un- 

 detected and unknown, and grown under the name 

 of one or other of its allies. 



The nailing down of species after species 

 allowed of more attention being paid to difficult 

 and obscure plants, and these were also mastered 

 one after another, as one grew more expert. 

 Access to botanical literature became more 

 important, and eventually I found it best to get 

 typed out tlie original description, and other full 

 descriptions of every known species, except wliere 

 I had already easy access to the books concerned. 

 The magnificent botanical libraries at Kew and 

 the British Museum furnished the materials 

 necessary to do this completely. 



The present state of the business on which I 

 entered so lightly is that my whole list of some 

 3,000 plants grown or examined fresh has boiled 

 down to about 130 species, to which must be 

 added about 15 species more which still await 

 identification. Some of these — notably tho ;e 

 contained in an interesting package of seed kindly 

 collected in Yunnan by Rev. Father E. E. 

 Maire — are still immature ; others have not yet 

 been induced to flower, in spite of eff'orts at 

 home kindly supplemented by others at Kew, 

 Wisley and Glasnevin. Another season will, it 

 is hoped, suffice to run down most of these, when 

 they will be, like all those which have preceded 

 them, figured by my friend Miss E. Barnes, and 

 a full description drawn up. So far eight species 

 new to science have been definitely recognised, 

 and these have been named and are about to be 

 described in tlie " Journal of Botany." The 

 material still remaining will undoubtedly yield 

 some more new species, and when this is worked 

 out the full results, with a figure of every species 

 found to be in cultivation, will be presented to 

 the lloya] Horticultural Society for publication. 



I shall conclude by saying that the study of 

 the Sedums proved quite absorbingly interesting, 

 although most people woukl not consider them 

 as being a very interesting group ; I am sure a 

 similar study of any of the other numerous 

 garden genera which stand in need of revision 

 would prove equally fascinating, and I would 

 cordially urge my readers to try specialising in 

 some group whicli is in need of similar attention ; 

 I can assure them that I have found it the most 

 exhilarating sport that can be imagined- 



Suburban and Allotment 

 Gardens. 



Introduction. — It is confidently anticipated 

 that during the season now commencing a great 

 extension of allotments will take place in the 

 various Irish towns and cities, consequent upon 

 the amount of public opinion which has recently 

 been focussed upon the matter and the probable 

 extension of the British Defence of the Realm 

 " AllotmentK- " Regulations, or an extension of 

 the Small Holdings and Allotments Act to include 

 Ireland. In suburban gardens, consequent upon 

 the dearness of vegetables, it is to be expected 

 that much of the ground at present under flowers 

 and grass will be turned into the production of 

 vegetable foods. 



It is hoped that the monthly notes in this 

 column will be of practical value to both holders 

 and occupiers of suburban gardens. 



Work for the Month. 



Cropping the Garden. — Decide early what 

 ground is to be cultivated for vegetables, make 

 a measured sketch of it, and then draw up a 

 plan of cropping for the first crop, with such 

 companion crops — like lettuces and radishes — as 

 may be grown with it, also allowing for succes- 

 sional cropping where the district is sufficiently 

 favoured to get two crops in the same season. 

 (Transplanted leeks after cabbagei-, &c.) In 

 drawing up a schem.e or plan of cropping for the 

 large garden decide to grow the vegetables which 

 may be considered necessary — from past experi- 

 ence or from the housekeeper's records — to keep 

 the household supplied throughout the year. 

 Where the garden is a small one aim particularly 

 at growing the necessary vegetables which are 

 dearest at the shops, growing the crops, where 

 possible, so that they come into use before other 

 supplies are available or after they are over. 

 Arrange the crops so that those of the same type 

 and requiring sinvilar methods of cultivation 

 (cabbages and cauliflowers, carrots and beet root) 

 are grown in blocks together, growing them on 

 diffei-ent ground to that which they occupied 

 last year. Space tall growing kinds, like peas 

 and beans, at wide intervals, and where at all 

 possible run the row? north and south, so that 

 each crop gets the maximum amount of sunshine. 



Soil Operations. — In old gardens with a good 

 under soil, trenching — i.e., digging two feet deep 

 and putting the top soil to the bottom with the 

 bottom soil to the top — is the best form of culti- 

 vation to adopt. In newer gardens or where the 

 subsoil is not of good quality — crude clay, for 

 instance — bastard trenching or plain digging 

 should be done, but even here it will pay to put 

 down the top three inches of soil to the bottom 

 of the trench, this usually contains millions of 

 weed seeds, most of which will be smothered by 

 such treatment. Grass should be similarly 

 treated, the sods being placed at the bottom of 

 each trench, about 12 inches deep, and a little 

 salt, about two to four ozs. per square yard, put 

 over it ; this helps to get rid of wire worms, which 

 are often troublesome creatures in newly culti- 

 vated ground. ^lanure may be applied just 

 above the turf or weed layer ; this will help to 

 decompose the former, and by the time the plants 



