IRISH GARDENING 



31 



Dahlias. — Roots of these should be exfiinined, 

 and any varieties that it is desirabh^ to increase 

 may be placed in gentle heat to throw up cuttings. 

 Cover the roots with 2 inches of fine soil. The 

 first shoots do not as a rule root so readily as the 

 later ones, so that the earliest shoots should be 

 cut back unless very scarce. Salvia patens nuiy 

 be treated tlxe same as Dahlias. Shake out 

 Cannas, rei)ot, and divide some if an increase is 

 needed. 



8eed-sowin<;. — Seeds of Larkspurs. Scabious, 

 Statice Siworowi. Perilla nankinensis, Xicotianar., 

 Lobelia, and other annuals that x>equire a long 

 season of growth should now be sown. East 

 Lothian stocks sewn last month nuist l)e i)ricked 

 off while finite small, 2 inches a})art. Begonia 

 seedlings need careful handling. Prick them off 

 into boxes or ])ans in the house in which they 

 are growing, the seedlings are so tiny they cannot 

 be handled singly. The operation is l)est ch>ne with 

 a pointed stick or two sticks. Sweet Peas are 

 usually- sown in October for exhibition pur]>oses, 

 but for garden decoration February is a good time. 

 Sow them thinly in Ijoxes, let the seeds be at 

 least an inch a])art each way. Boxes are more 

 easily handled than })ots, and the plants can be 

 kept in a more uniform state of moisture ; if 

 lifted carefully a.t planting time the roots need 

 not be damaged to any extent. Keep the jilants 

 from avitunm sown seeds hardy ; a little su|)port 

 is now necessary, and when the wea-ther is mild 

 they sliould be divided and potted singly. Even 

 if they were sown singly, they will be benefited if 

 some of the old soil is removed, and a little fresh 

 added. 



Potting Bedding Plants. — Geraniums should 

 now be shaken out of tlie cutting boxes and 

 ]iotted singly into 4-inch pots ; they will reciuire 

 a warmer house after ijotting, one having a tem- 

 perature of about tiO° will be suitable until they 

 are rooting freely. If the sajjply of pots is limited 

 some of the plants can be mossed. Place a piece 

 of moss flat on one hand, cover this with soil, 

 then ])lace the roots on this, draw the moss up 

 and around it and secure with a piece of matting. 

 The mossed i)lants should be returned to the 

 cutting boxes and the spaces between filled with 

 soil. Young plants of Fuchsias rooted in the 

 autunm will now need a larc;er pot, and they 

 shoidd be k<'pt growing steadiU. Large standard 

 and ])yramid ])lants that have been rested by with- 

 holding water, ])rune into shaj)e, place them in a 

 warm house, and syringe daily to encourage tliem 

 to break freely. Tlu; stock of Begonia tubers 

 nuist b(! examined, and tlie sound ones started 

 into growth, eithei' laid out in boxes, or on the 

 border of a fruit house ; do not cover with soil 

 till the growing liud ap])ears, and it can be made 

 certain that all the tubers are right side u|>. tiieii 

 shake a iittli! light soil ovei- them. 



The Fruit Garden. 



By T'etki! Hhock, Horticultural Instrudoi' 

 for Co. Fei'managh. 



The weather is the pi'im'ii)al factor in controlling 

 work on the hand at this season. Tlie snap of 

 frost at the close of the year permitted the carting 

 of farm-yard numure on to tillage and grass land 

 to be done to the Ix'st advantage. 



PRUNiN(i Old oh Esta hushed Apple Tuees, — 

 The season of 1913 will be I'cinembered bv iiianv 



apple growers on account of the abnormal de 

 veloi)ment of fungoid diseases siudi as leaf-spot 

 or scab, canker, and brown rot on varieties that 

 had previously been comparatively healthy, and 

 under favourable conditions were recognised as 

 good doers. The varieties that have suffered most 

 are Lord Derby, James Grieve, Early Victoria, 

 and in some places Lane's Prince Albert. Bramley 

 and (ireiuidier, although not immune, are not yet 

 so seriously affected. The sitotting and i)renui- 

 ture droi)i)ing of the leaves, and the branches 

 dying from the extremities back into two-year 

 old, and in some very bad cases into three and 

 four-year old wood, is typical of how some trees 

 of the above mentioned varieties have fared. 

 Spraying as a remedy while the dead twigs or 

 branches remain on the trees is nothing short of 

 the purest waste of time and material, and is, in 

 fact, like " tlu'eshing the wind." All dead or 

 dying branches should be cut back to sound 

 wood, where no trace of discoloration is 

 shown at the core. All such ])runings of diseased 

 twigs or branches should be collected as the work 

 goes on and immediately burnt. Any knife or 

 secateurs used on such diseased trees should be 

 disinfected with a cloth damped with ])araflin or 

 other disinfectant before being again used for 

 cutting healthy trees. There is ample evidence 

 that some of the neglected and worn-out orchards 

 of local sorts such as Eight-sciuare and Dido, are 

 largely responsible for the i)ropagation of fungoid 

 disea,ses that are threatening the very existence of 

 the more modern orchard. The time seems to be 

 within measurable distance when legislation will 

 be absolutely necessary to compel the burning of 

 or otherwise treating such hotbeds of disease. 



Winter Sprayin(;. — This will demand constant 

 attention on calm, dry days till <'om]ilt't ed, 

 especially in mixed plantations where goose- 

 berries are grown as an undercroj) between 

 apples, as, owing to the mild and spring-like 

 weather in December and i)art of this inoiitli. the 

 buds may soon be too far advanced to pi'rinit of 

 safely spraying overhead trees with copper sul- 

 phate or caustic solution washes. If the mild 

 weather continues, i)ears and plums — esi)ecially 

 in early districts — may also soon be too far ad- 

 vanced for winter spraying. Tliere is a wide 

 range of winter wa,shes that keep the Ijark in a 

 clean and healthy coiulition. and act as a fungicide 

 as well. Any sjiray or wash to be effective should 

 be a])plied under a high |)ressure and from a small 

 no'//le, and every twig and ci'eviic on the t ree 

 thoroughly damped. 



IM.antin(;. The land has been in such good 

 condition for planting fruit-trees and bushes on 

 sevi'ral occasions this winter, especially at the 

 close of the year and nf lale. that this woi-k should 

 now be comi)leted. if. however, some may still 

 be in arrears, it should be pushed forward on 

 every favourable ojtiKut unit y when the soil is in 

 suitable condition and does not dog on the tools. 



(ioosiOHKUUY SaWKLY. — \\'here this Jlest is 

 known to exist remove abcuit two and a half 

 inches of the surface soil with a draw-hoe from 

 beneath the bushes and to om' foot Iteyond the 

 spread of the brandies. This soil will contain 

 lu-arly all the cocoons, and should be buried to a 

 de))!!! of S or S) inches below the surface, either 

 between the bushrfl, oi- taken to some adjacent 

 vegetable ground and placed in tlie bottom of a 

 trench. Replace the soil i-enioved with other 

 good rich soil. 



