46 



IRISH GARDENING. 



in, and have the; soil wai'iued up, as young plants at 

 the pricking-of¥ stage are easily checked and die 

 off if the roots go into cold soil, or are taken into 

 a cold potting slied to be potted. 



Fruit Garden. 



The past cold, frosty weather will retard tlie. 

 growth of flower buds, so that We may expect 

 late blossoms. Peaches and Apricots are always 

 the first, and require protection from spring 

 frost — tiffany or a doul>le thickness of fish 

 netting hung down from the coping with supports 

 to keep it oft" the tree. It is best to roll it off 

 every day, as even the netting hinders the passing 

 to and fro of bees if they get a fine day to come 

 out. 



Finish off all pruning of Apple standards and 

 forking betweei^ and round apples ; give the 

 surface of the ground round the base of the trees 

 a dusting of basic slag or any reliable fertiliser. 



Grafting. — Prepai^ation may now be made for 

 grafting if stocks are already cut back. Clay 

 must be procured and well handled. A good 

 method is to add a little cow manure, working the 

 two well together. 



Spraying. — If not completed I would advise 

 anyone to use a weaker solution, as the buds will 

 be pushing now. 



Flower Garden. 



Bedding Plants. — Pelargoniums or Bedding 

 Geraniums which are still in cutting boxes must 

 now be potted off singly and placed in a warmer 

 house ; a shelf or stage in a vinery which has 

 just been started will suit them for a few weeks. 

 Pot also Fuchsias antl Heliotrope autumn 

 cuttings. Spring cuttings root readily now on 

 a moderately warm hotbed; insert the cuttings 

 firmly round the sides of small pots in light 

 sandy soil; water them in and keep them shaded 

 from the bright sunshine till roots are formed. 



Border Carnations. — As soon as the soil can 

 be got into a suitable condition, the plants that 

 have been wintered in a cold frame may be 

 planted out. Some attention mu.st be paid to 

 the ground before planting out the jjlants. Wood- 

 ashes, soot and old potting soil are all suitable 

 matei'ials for mixing with the soil for Carnations. 

 Some of the ijerpetual-fiowering Carnations do 

 well when planted outside on a sunny, warm 

 border ; old pot plants planted out give quan- 

 tities of fine flowers all through the summer and 

 autumn. 



Pinks that have been raised from pips will 

 require to be lifted from th( ir nursery beds and 

 planted into their permanent quarters ; they 

 make a fine edging in a kitchen garden, or clumps 

 in the foreground of a mixed border. 



Lobelia cardinalis. — This may now be broken 

 up into small pieces, each piece potted singly in 

 a 3-inch pot and placed back into a cold fram?. 

 They require to be kept on the dry side until they 

 begin to grow freely. 



Sweet 1'eas.^ — Autumn-sown plants may be 

 planted out — if for big blooms plant singly — 

 cover each with a 6-inch pot at night, as the 

 nights are sure to be cold in March. Seeds sown 

 in January will be up, they will require plenty 

 of air, lifting the light off altogether on fine days. 



Support tlie plants with little twigs round the 

 pots. Another sowing should be made tliis month 

 in pots, and started in a cold frame. Protect 

 them from mice, for they could destroy the whole 

 lot in one night. 



Flower Beds and Borders planted with Wall- 

 floAvers, Polyanthus, and other spring flowers 

 should be examined, and any plants loosened 

 with the frost should be firmed, the beds scuffled 

 and made tidy before the plants ccme into 

 bloom ; trim the verges with the edging knife, 

 making this quarter as attractive as possible. 



Lawns should be swept and the roller kept 

 going as nmch as possible ; continuy forking or 

 digging borders. 



Cut down Tritomas and burn clumps of 

 i'ampas Gra.ss ; they grow much better after 

 burning, and it is very hard to clean them 

 otherwise. 



Continue pruning and tying climbers, give the 

 Bambling Roses a good thinning out, cutting out 

 all dead and old wood, laying in the young 

 growth 4 inches apart. 



Towards the end of the month the bush Roses 

 may be pruned, commencing with the Hybrid 

 I'erpetuals, cut back all weak twiggy slioots and 

 cut back strong growth according to their 

 strength. 



Some strong growing Roses (if they are in beds 

 by tliemselves — as Roses look best one bed one 

 colour) do well layered — that is, laying the 

 strongest growths along the ground, pegging them 

 down with good stout pegs ; they make a fine 

 show, and you get quantities of blooms, and if 

 disbudded quite etpial to any show blooms. 



Fork the beds or borders over after pruning, 

 giving them a good dusting of artificial manure — 

 Potash, Super, or Guano. 



Southern and Western Counties. 



By Ernest Beckett, Gardener to Lord 

 BaiTyiTiore, i'ota 



The Kitchen Garden 



A LONG spell of wintry weather of a pronounced 

 character has entirely suspended much work in 

 the garden generally, and in consequence vegeta- 

 tion for the time of the year is backward ; but 

 let us hope that such conditions are only a 

 blessing in disguise, for undoubtedly they will 

 have a very beneficial influence upon the ground, 

 disintegrating that which was broken up, and also 

 causing the destruction of many obnoxious insect 

 pests, which of a mild winter go more or less un- 

 heeded by the birds, so that there might be 

 a great amount of truth in the expression I have 

 heard more than once — that the old country was 

 never so prosperous since the frost and snow 

 left it. 



Potatoes. ^ — Great as has been the interest 

 displayed in the cult of this important vegetable 

 at all times in this country, efforts will be made 

 in all directions this year to further increase the 

 crop, and rightly so wherever favourable con- 

 ditions exist. Many people will be making 

 their first step in this direction, and it is to those 

 that I would suggest that they obtain some 

 practical advice before embarking, for good seed 

 is scarce and costly, and it would be only a 



