1/8 



IRISH GARDENING 



only tends to draw the roots of tlie plants to tlie 

 surface when they should be encouraged to 

 become deep-rooted. 



Sprmg is perhaps the most trying season in 

 England, when there are often long spells of 

 drought, accompanied by cold winds, and it is 

 just at the time of year vvhen it is most essential 

 that vigorous growth should be encouraged, 

 therefore pay special attention to watering in 

 the spring, for when plants are well established 

 they will be better able to withstand the 

 summers drought, owing to the fact that 

 Alpines are mostly deep-rooted. 



Let not the reader imagine, however, that all 

 Alpines require so much attention, for many, and 

 amongst them some of the most attractive, grow 

 freely in any good light friable soil, with sufifi- 

 cient drainage. 



Always plant carefully, spreading out the 

 roots ; alw'aj'S err on the side of making the 

 hole for the plant too big rather than too small. 

 How often does one see x'l^nting done in this 

 manner— a small hole is scooped in the ground 

 and the wretched plant forced into it with all its- 

 roots in a bunch. It is also advisable to put 

 some small stones round the neck of the plant, 

 pressing them firmly into the ground ; this tends 

 to check evaporation and also keeps the leaves 

 off the damp ground. 



The rock garden should be carefully top- 

 dressed each spring to repair the damages done 

 by winter frosts and rains. The most suitable 

 compost for this purpose is good fibrous loam, 

 sand and leaf -mould in equal parts. 



Many of the mossy Saxifrages — Sedums, &c. — 

 often show a tendency to die in the centre : 

 should this be the case, soil should be carefully 

 worked into the heart of the plant. 



Keep the garden free of weeds at all costs, for 

 if allowed to establish themselves dire will indeed 

 be the result. 



As fa-r as possible keep those garden pests — 

 such as snails, slugs or wireworms — in check, or 

 some fine morning when looking for some 

 treasure, remains will only be found, and but 

 few of them. 



6^* ^^ %^* 



Green Wood. 



Sometimes oak, beech, alder, or Inrch branches 

 are found lying on the ground in woods which 

 ajjpear to have been dyed a verdigris greer. 



This green wood is used in the .south of England 

 artd elsewhere in the manufacture of Tunbridge 

 Ware, and is caused by a fungus named Helotium 

 aeruginosum or the green Helotium. The bright 

 verdigris green colour is attributed to a green 

 pigment of the mycelium of the fungus whicli 

 spreads through the wood ; probably the i)igment 

 is a waste product secreted by the fungus. 



Plant Names. 



By Canon F. C. Hayes, M.A. 



There are feW things more ]nizzllng and dis- 

 couraging to beginners in their first endeavours 

 to study the science of horticulture than the 

 nomenclature of garden jjlants ; they are 

 inclined to accuse the experts of throwing 

 unnecessary difficulties in the way of ordinary 

 folk by ignoring the vulgar tongue and using 

 instead Greek and Latin terms which o nly 

 scholars can be expected to understand or even 

 pronounce. One must confess to having con- 

 siderable sympathy With those who suffer from 

 this grievance. 



At first sight the study of plant names is 

 somewhat puzzling and uninteresting. From 

 the nature of the subject it could not Well be 

 otherwise, as We shall presently see, but yet it 

 will be found that the puzzle solves itself by 

 degrees and that there are other problems much 

 less easy of solution, even for the experts them- 

 selves, Avhich they do not resent because of 

 their mystery. 



Plants must have names, and in every part 

 of the World, and in every province at home, 

 they have been assigned familiar local names, 

 which satisfy the people of their district, but 

 many of our plants are the common property of 

 many nations, and our local English names are, 

 of course, useless elsewere, and so the experts 

 are driven to invent a plant language which may 

 be equally understood by gardeners everywhere. 



Let it be admitted that botanical names are 

 often very cumbrous and unpronounceable, yet 

 it must be confessed that other world-wide 

 sciences are no better off. In the study of the 

 earth and the rocks and the living animals, of 

 birds and insects, beginners are faced with what 

 appear outlandish names, and yet people cannot 

 do without them. 



But there is this to be said, that, while the 

 names of butterflies and moths give the student 

 of entomology no clue to the nature of the things 

 themselves, there are very few plants whose 

 names do not tell something of the history or 

 meaning of the plant, either the name of the 

 peculiar structure, or its appearance compared 

 with that of its near relatives. It is this which 

 gives the scientific names of plants an interest 

 and a meaning which adds greatly to the other 

 interests of the garden. 



As an illustration of the way every name 

 may suggest some peculiarity we may take the 

 Cranesbills. There are three families very 

 nearly related— the Geranium and the Erodium 

 of our own meadows, ard the Pelargonium from 

 the Cape. The three names are all jmre Greek — 



