28 



IRISH GARDENING 



Economy in Stoking. 



It niuy interest some of your readers to know how 

 tlie furnaces for heatinj: the {jhiss-hom-'S hen* 

 are kept going on very eiononneal lines. There 

 are two furnaei-s in use. ph\in saddle hoilfrs 

 ereeted 18 inoiuhs ago. size 5i feet hy 21 



On the estate is a large saw-mill worked hy a 

 suction gas plant in which anthracite is used. 



Tlie waste cinders from this plant. t( izether 

 with the saw-iiust which would otherwise lie 

 thrown out as useless along witli small slahs— waste 

 nuiterial in the making of egg-cases— are used in 

 the heating of the ahove-mentioned hollers. 

 Tlie fires are well started in the morning with 

 small slahs. Then when well started the hoiler 

 is filltvl with saw-dust, and attended every hour. 



Notes from Glasnevin. 



ViHiToits to the Koyal JJotanic Gardens during 

 .January and Kel>ruary found many evidences of 

 ri'turning sj)ring in the oi)ening of a consider- 

 ai)le numi)er of early i)looming suhjecls. Thi> 

 weather on the whole was ojx'u and mild with 

 necasiomil storms of wind and cold rain. Snow- 

 drops were early in Hower. jiarticularly (iiilnu- 

 thus Khrisii, which is growing well in the 

 Spinva hed in front of the Palm House range. 

 In tlu- rock garden, where a collection of species 

 (if Snowdroi)s is grown, jiearly all were in flower 

 hy the end of .January, including such handsome 

 forms as (r. Idt'tjoVms, (it. nioxiiinis, and <i. Khrcsii 

 inuiuirtthifus, together with the conunon Snow- 

 drop G. nivalis and some of its varieties. In 



; AX I F I! .\( i .\ H Of'H KLI.\X.\ 



When required to lie stopped it is filled v.itli 

 saw-dust and the door left open, and at starting 

 time plenty of the waste slahs are used until a good 

 hody of fire is got up. This is the only fuel used 

 during the day. Aliout 8 p.m. some anthracite 

 waste is now put on to get a body for banking up; 

 at banking time the lioiler is fully filled with tlie 

 anthracite waste which keeps up the necessary 

 heat during tiie niglit. This was the only fuel 

 used during the past winter, and when the ther- 

 mometer registered 2.'! degrees of frost, sufficient 

 lieat was maintained to keep all plants safe. 

 When erecting the boilers the flues were made 

 larger than usual to give extra draught. The 

 saw-mill is about a quarter of a mile from the 

 gardens. The refuse from the mill is conveyed 

 by a motor lorry used on the estate. 



E. Rutherford, Head Gardener to the 

 Right Hon. Lord Faniham. D.S.O.. 

 Farnham. Cavan. 



front of the long curvilinear range G. Ilariu'. 

 notable for it broad, glossy, green leaves, was 

 showing many flowers in the last days of .Tanuary. 

 The Winter Aconite was open by the middle of 

 the month, and many Crocuses even earlier, 

 notably Crocus Jinpnati, a large colony of which 

 aiinuaily makes an attractive picture near the 

 Yew Walk. The white form ('. I. olhitlus is also 

 beautiful, and the pale slaty blue o/ ('. t^irhni 

 suggests a fine early display if planted in quantity 

 among shrubs or in short grass. Croriis m;vsin- 

 cus, with rich yellow flowers^ was early noticeable 

 under a large Arbutus near the entrance gate, 

 and Crocus clnt/santhus Canary Bird on the 

 rock garden and round a Florence Court Yew 

 made a beautiful show. Particular note 

 should be made of a very fine form of 

 Galtniihus pJicofus, which came to the Glasnevin 

 collection from the Rev. J. C. Digby, of Lincoln. 

 The leaves are liioad and glaucous, the flower stems 



