IRISH GARDENING. 



autuiiin, l)iit I well recollect seeing a fine tree of 

 tliis in the public gardens at Leamington some 

 years ago in the month nf October — a specimen 

 of the most vivid and brilli.mt ooloin-ing. 



I'andtki iier.s'uii colours ni a very unusual 

 numner; the young leaves at the tips of the 

 shoots about August lici ome rosy-violet, the 

 colour deepening and creejjing gradually f'-"vn the 

 stems until all the leaves aie shades of red, whilst 

 the older leaves at the base of the shoots turn 

 yellow — a delightful contrast. 



Without doubt, the most l)rilliant-coloured tree 

 of the current season has been rimiinui ruiiii- 

 hilis. Lines and groups of this on the hillside, of 

 the most intense blood-red colo^^r, were a sight \i) 

 lie remembeied. 



The Golden Poplar never was as golden as some 

 of the species before they slicd their leaves, prob- 

 ably P. tiifliocaiinis being as bright as any. 



PyrKs arhufijulius (the Chokeberry). a brilliant 

 led, and its variety " Brilliant," scarlet, are low- 

 growing shrubs that must not be uinitted from 

 the autumn garden. 



The Mountain Ash Groiij' give us I'ljnis {Sor- 

 hus) (li.tiohir and jopdnii-iis and the Oaks ((Jiici- 

 cus) of colouring merit, all come from North 

 America, (,l. coi-rineii , Q. ijuliititris. and (/. iiil)iit 

 being well known for their fine autunm effects. 



The Sumdrh.i (Bliu.s), from the dwarfs aromn- 

 firii and roiMilliiui to the taller kinds, sinifd, 

 fiiphina, and its cut-leaved form, and rirniniiiiKi . 

 are always good. 



In the Currant family (Hihrs), the one I have 

 in mind is B. mneiim, leaves a bright red. 



The shrubby fipinviis, one of the most useful 

 race of hardy shrubs, contain many members 

 that, after doing their " bit " in the flowering 

 way, do a bit more with their leaves before un- 

 dressing for the winter. N. mar<j(iiit;f. a low- 

 growing bushy kind, has wonderfid colorns of 

 yellow and scarlet, whilst S. iiryufa allows its 

 foliage to become a beautiful golden colour before 

 becoming a naked purple cloud of fine branches 

 This should always have its place in the twelve 

 best hardy .shrubs — snow'-white flowers in spring, 

 grateful mass of green foliage in summer, turn- 

 ing golden in avitumn, and the winter effect is as 

 described above. 



Vihiiniiiins include the Conunon Guelder Rose, 

 always well-colovued in the harvest days: also T'. 

 plinitiim, which does not colour here. Its form 

 I', p. ioinentosiim " makes good " for it liy be- 

 coming a brilliant red. 



Those shrubby Honeysuckles (Tlie Weigeliiis) 

 would scarcely be looked to for autinuu colours. 

 Eva Biiflike. however, without its excellent char- 

 acter as a flowering shrub, is worth its place by 

 reason of the fine colour of its foliage in Octolier 

 and November. 



Xiintliijiliizii II pi'tioVin . or Yellow Root, can be 

 remembered growing in a mass either -iloni' or 

 forming a ground-work for taller subjects. It is a 

 low-growing shrub, whose leaves turn a deep 

 innple, lasting for four t.i six weeks before 

 falling. 



Without going into the matter of autmun- 

 tinted Climbers, which ought to have a chapter to 

 themselves, one might say that there is no time 

 of the year in the garden that we relish more than 

 the sliortening autunm days, when, as the last of 

 llie Michaelmas Daisies are passing away and 

 looking fmward to the winter months, the glorious 

 colours of our trees and shrubs brighten the dtiys 

 before they go to rest. 



November. 1921. G. N. S. 



Imperial Fruit Show. 



The Editor has asked me to give a few impres- 

 sions of a visit to the recent Fruit Show, held at 

 Crystal Palace, London, to the readers of Irish 

 G.iRDENiNG, and I i/ladly accept the opportunity. 

 Before describing some of my impressions, and 

 some of the exhibits, perhaps it-w'ould be w'ell to 

 explain the conditions which suggested the Show. 

 During the past few years Conunercial Fruit 

 Shows have been held in at least three districts 

 in Great Britain, in wdiich apples are largely 

 grown on a conunercial scale — namely, Kent, 

 Eastern Counties, and West Midlands — each Ijeing 

 organised and run by its own local Commercial 

 Fruit Show Committee. It was felt, however, that 

 these Shows, though valuable to the grower, were 

 not all that could be desired, as, owing to their 

 being held in the producing areas, they failed to 

 attract the consuming public. It was, therefore, 

 decided that a National Show, at which the 

 premier exhibits from the local shows would come 

 into competition with each other, shoidd be held 

 in a large consuming centre, where little fruit is 

 produced, for the purpose of showing the con- 

 sumer the great advantage of eating home-grown 

 apples. This idea of showing to the consiuning 

 public the quality of our home-grown fruits was 

 one of the underlying principles of the show, 

 hence it was not on the same lines as those we in 

 this country are accustomed to see. To an Irish 

 visitor, perhaps, this commercial standpoint was 

 one of the most striking featiu'es of the show. In 

 all the Dessert classes, except those reserved for 

 amateurs, and three for half-bushel liaskets, all 

 the apples for competition were exhibited in 

 busliel boxes, of the specification adopted as 

 standard by the Federation of British Growers, 

 each capable of holding approximately 40 lbs. of 

 frvnt. The cookins varieties, except those classes 

 reserved for amateurs and one for bushel baskets, 

 were exhibited in half-barrels, capable of holding 

 about six stones of fruit. The cla.sses in each sec- 

 tion were confined to ten varieties of our most 

 successful commercial apples, with a class for any 

 dessert and any cooking variety in each section. 



From a rapid sinvey of the show the most 

 striking impressions w«'e : — (1) The large number 

 of entries; (2) the high standard of the exhibits, 

 both as regards grading, packing, and coloiu' of 

 the fruit. In passing, it may be mentioned that 

 these latter points, along with a number of others, 

 were taken into consideration by the judges 

 before deciding their awards; also, what appears 

 to be a new feature in any fruit show of this 

 kind, was. a definite munlier of points were 

 awarded for the flavour of the fruit. That the 

 judges took flavour seriously into consideration 

 was in constant evidence to the visitor by the 

 nmnber of fruits which had a portion removed 

 for tasting in each class. 



Before leaving the Provincial Commercial Com- 

 petitions, perhaps, a novel feature in the West 

 Midland Section may be mentioned. Behind each 

 variety entered for competition were one or more 

 cards giving the name of the variety and certain 

 other particulars, such as whether suitable for 

 dessert or culinary, or both, season, where and 

 when raised or introduced, general habit of trees, 

 etc. This is a feature that could with very little 

 expense be adopted at many of our Irish shows. 

 and would. I believe, make such shows more 

 interesting and instructive to the visitor, who 

 is not an expert in these matters, and also to the 

 consuming p\iblic. 



