IRISH GARDENING 



The soil we vise foi" potting is a good sumly 

 loam used as rough as i)ossible, with the adilitiou 

 of one 8-iui-h pot full of clean wood ashes, one 

 5-inch pot full of Peruvian guano, and one 4-inch 

 pot full of soot to each barrow load of loam. 



They are grown in a shaded fiamo on an a^sh 

 bottom all siimmer, and housed in September. 



I find that a night temperature of 55° to (50° in 

 winter suits them well. They should be grown 

 on a stage within 18 inches of the glass and 

 frequently syringed until they begin to ])ush up 

 flowers. 



Care must be taken not to begin feeding until 

 the pots are well lilled with roots, and then it is 

 ]iiuch better to feed weak and often, than with 

 occasiojial strong dosss. — .J. Besaxt, Oak Park 

 Gardens, Cariow. 



A Holiday Tour. 



By J. H. CuMMiNG. 



It has been often remarked that to one keenly 

 interested in gardening the oi)i)ortunities of a 

 holiday are taken advantage of to see and learn 

 what others are doing. Gardening has no finality. 

 It is indeed possible to improve the beautiful : 

 the progress and improvements that one sees 

 during a holiday is an education from which the 

 wisest may learn something. 



Crossing to Glasgow on September 2nd, lOlo — 

 it hai)i»ened that the West of Scotland Hcu'ticid- 

 tural Kxhibition was held there that day. Paying 

 it a visit I was pleased to see Dublin well 

 represented in the fruit classes. The ])rincipal 

 class in fruit was for eight dishes, and Alderman 

 Bewley, Danum, Rathgar, was placed first in a 

 strong class. For size and colour his pears and 

 apples were far ahead of anything else in the 

 Show. This exhibition, thovigh in a bvisf city 

 like Glasgow, does not receive the patronage of 

 the public it deserves and which one would 

 expect. Glasgow is well sitviated for jjublic 

 parks, and some very fine bedding can be seen 

 despite the smoke from numberless chimneys. 



Passing on to Perth and Dundee I noted, in the 

 latter city, some flower V>eds on the shady side 

 of the City Museum jtlanted with single Asters, 

 Mignonette and Heliotrope. This was in a busy 

 and ])opulous district, and the sweet perfume 

 wafted on to the street must have cheered many 

 a weary toiler. 



Several days were next spent in East Fifeshire. 

 At Naughton, near Wormit, I came across 

 something which was impressed on my notice in 

 subsequent wanderings — the large use of 

 Antirrhinums and other annuals for summer 

 beddin^;. The geranium-calceolaria-lobelia order 

 is fast disappearing. A grand border at Naughton 

 was made uj) of Sweet Peas, Dahlias, Salvia Blvie 

 Beard and Antirrhinums, tall and medium-sized. 

 The Sweet Peas were specially good, and, though 



II feet high, were clothed with flowers to the 

 ground. Each gardener has his favourite method 

 of manuring and growing Sweet Peas. The 

 gardener at Naughton has his method. lie takes 

 out a trench 3 feet deep and tills it up with grass 

 that has been cut in the grounds. Turned and 

 well rotted he finds it an excellent manure for 

 Sweet Peas, and they showed they liked it. 

 I spent a day in the famous Carse of Gowrie, a 

 track of heavy flat land, about 20 miles long by 

 5 or 6 miles wide. Here there are numerous 

 orchards, each several acres in extent. The trees 

 jn a large majority of them are old and worn out. 



The grass underneath is invariably giazed by 

 cattle all summer. In the older orchards the 

 varieties of apples are mostly local sorts. 

 Worcester Pearmain is favoured for its selling 

 colour, and for a cooker Warner's King is much 

 grown for its size, it sells well in Dundee, where 

 a great quantity of the fruit goes. The crop is 

 small in size of fruit and only fit for the jam 

 manufacturers, who are the largest purchasers. 

 The growers there unfortunately lack the leading 

 and guidance of a Department as we have it in 

 Ireland. Instruction, too, is at ]iresent very 

 meagre. One Horticultural Instructor for the 

 whole of Perthshire — a county of 1,(500 sqviare 

 miles in extent — what wonder then many of the 

 orchards in the district are never sprayed and 

 are consequently full of all sorts of insects and 

 disease. 



A visit was paid to St. Andrews, known to 

 most people as the home of golf. The ancient 

 city is full of historical associations. Accom- 

 panied by friends I had the pleasure of an intro- 

 duction to Dr. Wilson, Lecturer in Agricultiire 

 at the St. Andrew's University. The Scottish 

 Board of Agriculture have their ex})erimental 

 station at St. Andrew's. Dr. Wilson is in charge 

 of this and no more enthusiastic and devoted 

 chief could be found to control such an under- 

 taking. The Doctor had 3,000 varieties of 

 l)otatoes under trial. Seedlings possessed with a 

 pedigree ])arentage impossible to remember, yet 

 all tabulated in correct form, were to be seen 

 carefvdly tended in frames. In the open fields, 

 varieties that have some promise of a future are 

 given a fair trial, and thus weeded down to Avhat 

 constitutes a disease resister, cropper, and all that 

 is required in a first-class potato. The turnip is 

 another crop that receives much attention, 

 some thirty sorts being vinder trial in one field. 

 Oats also receive attention with successful 

 results. The culinary pea has also an energetic 

 improver in Dr. Wilson. We saw some of his 

 latest results, of which we may hear in the 

 future. The dry summer had not been kind to 

 the growth of many of his specialities, and 

 without severe testing in different seasons nothing 

 is passed out as sujierior to what is already on 

 the market. 



The Standard Bearer of Scotland is Mr. 

 Wedderburn, and owns an estate called Birkhill, 

 in Fifeshire. I ])aid it a visit specially to see an 

 old yew hedge surrounding what was once an 

 orchard. It is some (500 years old. The spread 

 of branches at the base is 50 feet in diameter and 

 the height 70 feet. No trimming is done, and the 

 growth is still vigorous and healthy. 



My next place of call was in Midlothian. The 

 public roads in that county are considered very 

 well made and are kept in first class comlition. 

 (iardeners are interested in road nuiking, and as 

 I was fortunate in seeing the rei)airs going on in 

 that county, I here give the method followed : — 

 Three inches of rough metal was spread on the 

 road, then steam rolled ; a coat of boiling distilled 

 tar was i)Oured over the metal, then a covering 

 of small chips ; this was again rolled. Another 

 spraying of distilled tar was ap])lied and another 

 covering of chii)s, which was finally rolled to a 

 smooth surface. I was informed the cost was 

 about 4s. i)er sui)er. yard. 



The Koyal Caled(Uiian Horticultural Exhibi- 

 tion, held in Edinburgh each September, attracts 

 a big entry, and numerous visitors from through- 

 out the United Kingdom. This year herbaceous 

 cut flowers appeared better than ever. It wa$ 



