FEBRUARY 



IRISH GARDENING. 



Champion and also a ton of the same variety 

 received from a farm in Co. Gahvay. At lifting 

 time the crop was equal in every respect, thus 

 proving' that a chang'e from the bog"g"y soil of 

 Cialway to the loamy soil of Co. Dublin gives 

 quite as g-ood potatoes as the costlier one oi' 

 importing seed. A change oi' seed, even from 

 one garden to another, is better than year after 

 year planting the same varieties in the same 

 garden, which all tends to lower the resisting 



power h'om the disease. 



There are hundreds of varieties oi' potatoes 

 on the market all being pushed as the best for 

 a particular season. I grew 73 varieties in one 

 season as a trial. With the exception of 

 possibly half a dozen sorts the rest were worth- 

 less when cooked, and were only fit to adorn 

 the exhibition table, which is not the primary 

 use of potatoes any more than other vegetables. 

 .\lthough it would be absurd for any one to 

 discard all his good old friends, yet at the 

 present day it is necessary to be always on the 

 look out for new ones, and not only is it 

 necessary to be on the look out, but they must 

 be searched for. If possible to get the benefit 

 of a brother gardener's experience which is con- 

 sidered trustworthy, so much the better, but it 

 is well to be always trying one's self. A very 

 few potatoes of any new kind is quite sufficient 

 for a trial. 



Now, a word as to cooking. All potatoes do 

 not give best results by the same cooking, and 

 one should endeavour to find out the best 

 method of cooking new varieties, and thereafter 

 try and impart that knowledge to the cook. 

 The treatment of potatoes after they are cooked 

 is also an important matter, as sometimes they 

 have to be kept for an hour before being 

 served. A very satisfactory plan is to put a 

 clean cloth instead of the lid on the top of the 

 potatoes after the water was poured off them, 

 and another warm, dry cloth on the top of the 

 dish in which the potatoes w^ere sent to table. 



This keeps them fresh and dry, and little things 

 like these tell. 



9^^ i^^ ^^ 



To make wooden labels last long-eril is a good plan 

 to soak llieni (when dr\-) in lime-water for a few da}s. 

 and then to remove and spread them out to dry. When 

 quite dr}- they are to be washed over with sulphuric 

 acid (vitriol). This will produce a deposition of sulphate 

 of lime in the pores, and thus the wood will resist the 

 entrance of moisture, and so considerably letard tin- 

 process of decav. 



The Pruning of Plums. 



By Frkii. W. HaMxMomi. 



Tlll{ same principles which guide the 

 pruner in the shaping and forming of 

 apple trees apply to plums, subject to 

 modifications which are rendered necessary by 

 their different habits of growth. Most varieties 

 of plums much more naturally produce fruit 

 spurs than do man}- apples, so that they do not 

 present the same difficulties for the pruner, 

 faced with the problem of inducing wood growths 

 to turn into fruit buds. For most, if not all, 

 varieties of plums the half-standard is the most 

 useful type of tree for the market grower. 

 There are a few varieties which, doubtless, 

 would succeed as bushes, but as a general rule 

 neither this form nor the standard, which ex- 

 poses the fruit to the mercy of the gales, is to 

 be recommended for plum culture. At the out- 

 set, however, one word of caution needs to be 

 given, particularly to the grower who is prun- 

 ing his own trees. When trees are young 

 the pruning must be done with an eye to the 

 future, and not merely present, circumstances, 

 and it must be so severe as to lay a good founda- 

 tion for the growth of a big tree in years to 

 come. Too many growers are tempted to leave 

 the growths unduly long when they see fruit 

 buds on the portion which they ought pro- 

 perly to remove, and one can sympathise with 

 them, realising the temptation it is to get a little 

 fruit, particularly if one is faced with financial 

 difficulties, as many a small grower is before 

 his trees come into bearing. Indeed I have 

 heard old pruners, with this idea in their minds, 

 say — " A grower should never prune his own 

 trees." However that may be, it is a pitfall 

 which all prutters should beware of, and not 

 sacrifice the future growth of the tree to gain a 

 little present advantage. .-V plum tree allowed 

 to overcrop itself in its youth becomes a stunted 

 wreck, from which state it is very difficult to 

 rescue it : moreover, an over-vigorous tree is 

 quickly restrained when once it commences 

 to bear, so that it is wiser to err on 

 the side of too severe pruning producing 

 luxuriant growth than too light treatment 

 with the danger oi' over - cropping and 

 stunting. 



Indeed the finest fruit — and this is the only 

 sort that pays —can only be grown on trees 

 which are vigorous and healthy. Years ago it 



