IRISH GARDENING. 



H3 



choose, if possible, a fine day, when the soil is 

 fairly dry. 



Turnips and Spinach, &c., sown last month will 

 require to be kept clean and scuflled regular; 

 thin Turnips six inches apart. 



Another sowing of Spinach may still be made 

 early this month if ground was not available 

 before. 



Parsley. — A small planting should be made in 

 a frame for winter and spring use, or, where it 

 can be afforded, the protection of a light. 



Leeks. — The blanching of these should be con- 

 tinued as long as growth proceeds. Clear the 

 ground of all spent crops and weeds, draw up soil 

 round stems of late Broccoli, Sprouts and Curly 

 Kale. It will prevent them blowing about and 

 getting a. puddle hole round the base of the stem, 

 which is very injurious to the welfare of the plant. 



Fruit Garden. 



The fruit room, if not already cleaned, should 

 have a thorough clean out, walls whitewashed, 

 and shelves scrubbed with warm water and black 

 soap; afterwards rinse with clean water, and dry 

 well. 



Some of the early Apples and Peai-s will require 

 short storage about the end of the month, such 

 as Lady Dudley, Early Victoria, Lord Suffield. 

 Lord Urosvenor, Grenadier, Ecklinville Seedling, 

 &c. Such varieties as these are better, if pos- 

 sible, to be used at once or sold, as they soon 

 lose their sap and flavour. When picking Apples 

 they should be handled like eggs, they are so 

 easily bruised. 



Strawberries. — Continue to make new planta- 

 tions. Plantations made last month should be 

 kept hoed. A dusting of soot over them will help 

 them along. 



Easpberries. — All the fruiting canes of this year 

 should be cut away, and any surplus growth not 

 required for next year removed. This will enable 

 the fruiting canes for next year to ripen and 

 finish better. 



Summer Pruning. — If this work is not yet com- 

 pleted it should be finished off without delay. 



Peaches swelling will require plenty of stimu- 

 lant to help them to finish off. Expose the fruits 

 to the sun as much as possible; pinch off late 

 lateral shoots at the first or second leaf. 



Taken all round, the fruit crop for 1917 has been 

 very good. The Apples are swelling fast and are 

 verv clean. 



Pears are a big crop; but that is the general 

 result of a verv poor crop the previous year. It 

 is very gratifying to see such a good report from 

 all over Irelaiid in last month's Irish Gardening. 

 I do not think we in Ireland have nuich cause to 

 grumble. 



Flower Garden. 



September in Ireland is sometimes one of the 

 best months of the year as regards weather. Most 

 of the hurry and bustle is over, and one gets time 

 to think and learn, either from liis failures or his 

 successes— that bed might be improved by such 

 and such, or that bed is just " it." The war-time 

 beds of Carrots and Beetroots have been a great 

 success, the Carrots especially have done extra 

 well on the raised flower beds. , , . ^ . 



Continue the propagating of Calceolarias, i'ent- 

 stemons, and Violas; select cuttings from young 



sappy growths. Keep the frame shaded and fairly 

 close till rooting takes place; then ventilate freely 

 during the winter, on fine days. 



Violets. — Keep the beds clean and the runners 

 cut off; water them when necessary with manure 

 water. If violets in frames are contemplated, this 

 is the best month to plant therein; make up the 

 frame with cow manure and good loamy soil ; lift 

 the plants with a good ball of soil, and plant six 

 inches apart each way; give them a good water- 

 ing, and shade for a few days, then give as much 

 air as possible by taking lights off altogether on 

 fine days; never close down tight except in very 

 severe weather. 



If annuals are required to flower early next 

 season sow seeds now. 



Carnations layered during the end of July will 

 now be rooted, and may either be boxed and put 

 into cold frame or planted into their permanent 

 quarters, so that they may be established l)efore 

 severe weather sets in. Herbaceous borders are 

 now past their best; remove all dead blooms and 

 maintain as tidy an appearance as possible. Many 

 varieties of Asters are still good, and for cut 

 flowers nothing is better at this sea-son. 



Cuttings of .shrubs and rambling roses may be 

 inserted this month in cold frame or under bell- 

 glasses. Climbing Roses.— Cut out all useless 

 spray growths, give moisture at the roots when 

 required. If young shoots are attacked with 

 mildew syringe with a specific. Sometimes at 

 this season of tlie year one has more time to re- 

 lay b'>x edgings, if that is necessary, than in the 

 spring, and I consider this month the best for that 

 work. 



Southern and Western Counties. 



By Er.xEST Beckett, Gardener to Lord 

 Barry more, Fota. 



The Kitchen Garden. 



With the exception of the first four or five days 

 of the month of August up till the time of writ- 

 ing on the 20th, the weather has been anything 

 l)ut genial for the ripening of fruit and growth in 

 this neighbourhood; and in the hardy fruit 

 garden Plums and Morelli Cherries in particular 

 have split badly, and owing to the persistent cold 

 and wet weather many of them have gone bad. 



Onions. — The spring sown and transplanted 

 ones with me liave been a disappointing crop this 

 year for some reason or another. In the case of 

 the former the seed germinated regularly and well, 

 and then the plants seemed to make but little 

 growth for some time, and mildew also made an 

 early appearance and checked growth again in 

 both instances. When growth has ceased the tops 

 may be bent over, taking every two rows and 

 bending them towards the middle. This will 

 allow i^om to get on the bed and lift them of a 

 fine dav. and if one has the convenience of a 

 cool airv shed or an open fruit house the bullc 

 can be brought in and laid out thinly to dry tor 

 a few weeks turning them occasionally betore 

 being stored away for the winter. I.arge Onions 

 that have been grown on exhibition lines, and 

 which are excellent for boiling purposes, need 

 careful handling, otherwise their keeping quali- 

 ties are impaired. 



