IRISH GARDENING 



19 



there are tall and short individuals, dark and fair, 

 old and young, and so on ; and we know that the 

 distribution of any one of these pairs of characters 

 is unaffected by that of any one of the others. 

 Suppose there were three tall men to one short, 

 three dark to one fair, three old to one young, 

 and so on. It we divide a population of this kind 

 by th" fir-^t of these dividing lines there are two 

 groups in the proportion 8 tall : 1 .short. If we 

 ■split these two groups by the second line of 

 division there are in each group three dark men 

 to one fair. In the short groups there are three 

 dark and short to one fair and short. But as 

 there are three times as many men in the tall 

 group, the proportions of the tall and dark and 

 of the tall and fair men, as comjjared with the 

 other two groups, must be 9:3. Perhaps the 

 proportions for the first two and for any ad- 

 ditional number of dividing line^ can best be 

 indicated diagrammatically, thus : — 



Tall men 

 3 



Dark 

 9 



Fair 

 3 



A 



Old Young Old Young 



27 



9 



9 



and so on. 



We shall leave these figures for the present, 

 but we shall have to return to them again and 

 again. They sho.v how many different kinds 

 may be produced by hybrid plants and the 

 probable number of individuals in each kind. 

 Until Mendel's paper was discovered, the pre- 

 vailing notion was that hybrids bred in an ex- 

 ceedingly capricious manner, but he showed by 

 his experiments that their reproductive be- 

 haviour was characterized by the utmost regu- 

 larity, and, having done so, the next part of 

 his work was to deduce a law which would 

 explain this regularity. We .shall deal with this 

 in next month's number. 



[Mendei>ism is a subject which is by no means 

 easy to conii)rehend. Many expositions so abound 

 with intricate phrases and long sylla})ied words, 

 and make the subject even harder than it really 

 is. 



Knowledge worth having usually takes some 

 pains to acquire, and so mendelism is a subject 

 witli which it is re;illy well worth wliih; taking 

 some trou})le and i)ains to under.~tand, for now- 

 adays it is a most vahuible aid to the breeder, and 

 every up-to-date garden(>r should be acquainted 

 with its laws. 



Professor Wilson has kindly luidertaken to 

 exi)lain mendelism to the readers of Ihish 

 Gardening in as simi)le words as comi)atible 

 with the subject. Several articles will be neces- 

 sary, so that readers should thoroughly digest 

 each month's article befoJ'" starting on the next — 

 Editok.] 



Sweet Peas for the Garden and 

 House, 



By MacDuff Simpson, Eastwood, Newtown- 

 monntkennedy, Co. Wicklow. 



So much has been written in recent years on the 

 intensive culture of the Sweet Pea that many 

 amateurs are led to l)elieve that in growing this 

 favourite annual satisfactory results can be only 

 obtained where the soil is both rich and deep ; 

 and my object in writing this short article is to 

 show that in any ordinary soil beautiful results 

 can be obtained, although the finest exhibition 

 flo A ers may not be produced. The fact is, that 

 by ordinary care and the observance of a few 

 simple cultural instructions, flowers may be 

 grown in profusion which will satisfy those who 

 want a display in the garden and ]:>lenty of 

 decoration in the house ; indeed I may go further 

 and say that in many cases flowers not nmvorthy 

 of the show table may be gathered. 



To begin, let me say that the case stated is 

 in accordance with my own experience. When 

 I lived in Scotland I grew in the garden of 

 Edrom Manse ] eas which, in the opinion of the 

 Rev. D. Denholm Fraser, whose name is 

 a.ssociated with the Daily Mail £1,000 Prize, 

 were marvellous for size, colour and flnish ; and 

 yet the soil was light, and for the greater part 

 not more than a foot deep. Since I came to 

 reside near the coast of Wicklow I have grown 

 peas which have elicited the admiration of many 

 experts ; and yet they have been produced on 

 the hillside where heavy timber had grown for 

 nearly a century, and where the soil is little over 

 a foot deep, and the subsoil very porous. 



As deep trenches could not be secured without 

 great labour and expense, I had to content 

 myself with such depth of cultivation as the 

 soil would allow. The ]ilan adopted was what is 

 known as bastard trenching — i.e., the removal 

 of the top " .spit " and forking a good dressing of 

 rotted manure into the u])per part of the sub- 

 soil, and replacing the soil in its natural ])osition 

 An important point to be observed is that 

 want of depth may to a large e.rtent be compen- 

 sated by adding to the iridfh of the cultirated area ; 

 so that instead of making narrow trenches 3 feet 

 deep, stri])s 6 feet wicb were pre])ared. In 

 adflition to the farmyard manure a good dressing 

 of basic slag and bone meal was worked in 

 nearer the surface. The process should be com- 

 ])leted before the end of Decem])er, and the 

 ground allowed to settle till the peas are ready for 

 j^lanting out in April. 



The .seeds should be sown in antmnn and kept 

 in pots or boxes in a cold frame, where the 



