158 



IRISH GARDENING. 



The Month's Work. 



Midland and Northern Counties. 



By W. G. Neave, Gardener to Lady O'Neill. 

 Shane's Castle, Antrim. 



Kitchen Garden. 



August and September have been, I think, a 

 record, for wet weather, the bad and good effects 

 have been pretty well balanced in the kitchen 

 garden. The Brassica family has been growing 

 luxuriantly, also Celery, Leeks, and most of the 

 root crops are doing well, with the exception of 

 Carrots, which are inclined to split with too much 

 wet. Weeds are hard to kill, and hand weeding 

 has to be resorted to. 



The Onion crop is going to be difficult to dry, 

 so they should be hung up if possible in an open 

 shed ; use up the thick-necked ones first, keeping 

 the nice thin-necked firm bulbs for winter and 

 spring use. Weed and scuffle autumn sown Onions. 



Cabbage-S. — Examine the rows of Cabbages 

 planted last month and make good any failures. 

 Plant another batch pretty thick, as there are 

 sure to be a few failures. 



Turnips. — Late sowings are doing very well, 

 the plants should be thinned moderately and the 

 soil scuffled frequently. 



Cauliflowers sown last month should be 

 transplanted into a cold frame ; they should 

 provide a supply in June and July. 



Celery. — Continue to earth up latest batch ; 

 throw plenty of soot in and about them, it will 

 help to keep away slugs, &:c. 



Leeks. — Continue to draw the soil up to the 

 stems as they grow, as the more white stem the 

 more the food value of the plant. 



Beetroot. — As the roots are more susceptible 

 to frost, lift them very carefully and store in dry 

 soil in a frost proof shed. 



Carrots ought to be lifted and stored in sand, 

 a layer of Carrots and a layer of sand time about. 

 A pit outside will do, but I prefer a shed, if 

 possible. 



Seakale. — All decaying foliage should be re- 

 moved from plants intended for early forcing, in 

 order to expose the crowns to the weather. 



Tomatoes. — If green fruit is still hanging on 



the out-door plants, the trusses should be cut 

 off and hung up to ripen in a warm house, the 

 flavour won't be so good as naturallly ripened 

 fruit, but tliey will do well for cooking purposes. 



Rhubarb. — Plants intended for extra early 

 forcing should be lifted and exposed to the 

 weather for a week before being put into the 

 forcing house. 



Winter Salads. — Any available space in cold 

 frames or pits should be filled with winter Lettuce 

 and Endive, the latter can be blanched by 

 throwing mats or straw over the lights ; keep 

 them on the dry side, as damp is the great enenay. 



Trenching Vacant ground may be started if 

 time is available, the sooner it is done the better 

 for the soil. 



The Fr.uiT Garden. 



This wet weather and lack of sunshine is not 

 giving fruit the proper finish, and is also liable 

 to cause second growths, especially if summer 

 pruning was done early. 



Apples. — Continue to gather and store accord- 

 ing as they ripen ; dispose or sell ofT all varieties 

 that won't keep well. Keep an eye open for 

 varieties that do well and suit your di.strict, for 

 future planting. 



Pears, too, should be picked carefully when 

 the seeds begin to change colour, or when easily 

 pulled off the tree. 



Peaches cleared of fruit should be syringed 

 daily, to ward off attacks of red spider. Prune 

 away strong sappy, useless growths to give the 

 fruiting wood a better chance to ripen. 



Strawberries. — Continue to cut away runnei's 

 on young plants, and keep the soil regularly 

 scuffled, fill up blanks, and firm plants that have 

 become loosened. 



MoRELLO Cherries at the first opportunity 

 should be pruned, cleaned and trained, so that 

 the work may, if po.ssible, be done before the bad 

 weather sets in. All shoots on young trees may 

 be required for extension, but the shoots on 

 established trees shovild not be closer than 4 to (i 

 inches. 



Flower Garden. 



Wintering of bedding plants calls now for 

 attention. A nice airy house is the best for 

 wintering bedding stuff, where a little fire heat 

 can be introduced to keep off severe frosts. The 

 chief thing is to keep them all on the dry side, 

 watering only on fine days. 



Tuberous Begonias should be lifted and dried 



