164 



IRISH GARDENING. 



culture; aud though for a time in abeyance, 

 their revival, after these most lamentable war 

 conditions have passed away, is most probable, 

 it behoves both private and market growers to 

 keep up varieties to meet the practical and 

 friendly rivalry created by such exhibitions. 



In the appended list of varieties 1 have only 

 named such as are well suited in all ways for 

 general cultivation, and such as n:iay be grown 

 satisfactorily with the minimum amount of 

 labour as entailed by proper cultivation in all 

 cases. I have purposely omitted some well- 

 known varieties owing to their extreme 

 susceptibility to attacks of " Apple scab " and 

 canker, although three varieties named {i.e., 

 Wellington, Eibston Pippin, Gascoyne's Scarlet) 

 come, in the opinion of many, under this cate- 

 gory. The first-named two are very desirable 

 varieties, and practically I find that with a 

 little extra attention in the 'vay of spraying and 

 rooting conditions, both varieties will produce 

 good crops of clean and thoroughly satisfactory 

 fruit. Gascoyne's Scarlet has been discarded 

 by some good cultivators, though its splendid 

 appearance and good qualities render it a very 

 desirable Apple. It is an excellent cooking 

 and exhibition fruit; it succeeds admirably as 

 a bush tree on Paradise stock in light, warm, 

 well-drained soils. In this locality it does well 

 as a cordon on Paradise stock. There is no 

 great amount of special preparation needed for 

 the planting of Apple trees, but conditions 

 essential to success are a naturally well-drained 

 soil or artificially drained areas (stagnant water 

 and heavy retentive subsoils under shallow 

 soils are fatal obstacles),* a good fertile soil, a 

 situation well open to sun, but with a reason- 

 able amount of s'helter against westerly or pre- 

 vailing high winds, which, if not guarded 

 against, make sad havoc amongst ripening 

 fruits. Where a situation is good, but soil not 

 up to desired standard, it may be brought into 

 suitable condition by casting in such materials 

 as are available, and deemed suitable. Poor, 

 shallow soils, or land inclined to be boggy, may 

 have added new loam, decayed leaf heaps, 

 ashes from fire heaps, old road scrapings, of 

 w'hich there is usually abundant deposits on 

 country road sides, decayed rubbish heaps, 

 sandy oir shell deposits from the shores of tidal 

 rivers, any or all of these materials make useful 

 additions to poor soils, and to which a limited 

 quantity of well decayed farmyard manure 

 may be added as conditions seem to demand. 

 If soils are deficient of lime, a little unslaked 

 lime may be applied biennially, allowing the 

 lime to slake on the land and be dug or 

 ploughed in during winter. 



For garden culture, bush trees on Paradise 



stocks are most suitable for planting. Horizon- 

 tal trained trees and cordons in lines by walk 

 sides are highly ornameiital and useful, 

 maturing under good cultivation plentiful 

 crops of superior and highly finished fruits. 

 Any of these may now be planted in ordinarily 

 good garden soil, or sites may now be prepared 

 by digging or trenching, and the trees planted 

 from end of January to middle of March. All 

 classes of trees are in recent years most reason- 

 ably priced, ranging from maidens, at lOd. ur 

 Is. each, up to fruiting and specimen trees, at 

 7s. 6d. to 10s. each. Maidens and two or three 

 year old trees are principally used for planting 

 large areas or orchards ; what are called fruit- 

 ing trees are most suitable for garden planting, 

 as these may be allowed to mature a moderate 

 crop of fruit the second summer after planting ; 

 whereas with young trees, three or four years 

 must elapse before a crop of fruit may be 

 gathered. As these trees advance in years, 

 and according to the yield of fruit n^iatured, an 

 annual dressing of good farmyard manure 

 should be lightly dug in after the pruning is 

 completed. This is my practice, and with the 

 addition of a sprinkling of basic slag spread in 

 January under the trees at the rate of 4 to 6 oz. 

 of slag to the square yard. The trees should 

 not be planted wliile the ground is unduly wet, 

 as the trampling needed to make the roots 

 sufficiently firm causes such soil to become over 

 hardened, and impervious to proper action of 

 sun and air. A guide to proper condition is 

 when the soil may be trampled without sticking 

 to the feet. Before planting shorten coarse 

 roots, and cut away jagged ends of roots, and 

 plant the trees at same depth as they have been 

 grown in nursery. This is indicated by earth 

 mark on stems. Stake the trees as planted, if 

 there is any probability of their being loosened 

 in ground. About the middle of March these 

 trees should be pruned. Trees provided with 

 a good proportion of robust growths should 

 have the side shoots cut back to five or six eyes 

 and the leading growths shortened to about 'half 

 their length (not more), cutting the shoot at 

 a bud looking outwards. Bushes of varieties 

 naturally making less robust growth may be 

 pruned a little more severely ; horizontal 

 trained trees and cordons may be similarly 

 pruned, but reduce the leading shoots to about 

 a third of their length. If, after being two or 

 three years planted, any trees are growing a 

 great profusion of over-robust growths and 

 making few or no fruit buds, they should be 

 lifted to check this over-luxuriant growth — - 

 that is, proceed to dig a trench about 2 or 2h 

 feet from stem all round the tree to the depth 

 of the roots, saving small fibry roots, but culj 



