40 



IRISH CjARDKMNG 



;in immense anuniiU o\ lalnnii m prmum^, siiKe 

 the spiirrecl-iii i,'ro\vtlis i>tten piiHliui.' wood 

 instead of fruit. 



There is only one \ariety to which it may be 

 reasonably apphed, that is the Ciolden Hrop. 

 the reason probably beint; that this l-ten y 

 would otherwise, under more natural condi- 

 tions, produce a huije lot of Iruit too small toi 

 practical purposes, and it is thereb\ induced to 

 i^^row a less quantity i^t" more si/eable tiiiit. 

 At the other c\-\i.\ of the scale is the Red 

 Warrintfton, which produces so much w ooti 

 under even the most careful use ol the knife 

 that none but cjuite the worst placed shoots 

 oui,'^ht to be removed if it can possibly be 

 avoided. 



I'iie trouble which arises with tliis \ariel\- 

 is that it is naturally o\' a \ery droopini; lial>it. 

 and the efforts of the j-iruner to correct tliis, 

 b\ cutliui^- well back aionj^' the shoots to 

 an upward inclination and an upward point- 

 iiii^-bud, briiii,''s on tlie other troui'>le just 

 mentioned. 



With older trees it is ollen advisable to some 

 extent to abandon the ideal of shape, and to cut 

 out whole portions of shoots and boug-hs here 

 and there over the tree, rather than to cut out 

 a lars^e amount of youn*^ wood in a \ain 

 endeavour to open the tree for pickinj^- purposes 

 and to ripen the fruit. 



indeed, if anything- it is essential that the 

 W'arrinicton should be thinner rather than 

 thicker than the ordinary run oi' varieties, since 

 the terrible three-thorns which it bears pro- 

 duce havoc in the picker's hands and clotlies. 

 Moreover, it is necessary to get the fruit highly 

 coloured in order to realise the best possible 

 prices for it. 



In contradistinction to Warrington, the 

 Lancashire Lad, probably the most popular 

 market variety particularly for ripening- purposes, 

 will stand the knife to a much greater extent, 

 and incidentally the manure cart, being much 

 more prolific of wood. The wood, too, which is 

 grown is often spindly weak stuff, and needs 

 considerable shortening to make it stiff enough 

 to carry the crop without being pulled in all 

 directions by the weight. Between these two 

 extremes lie all sorts of differing habits of 

 growth and vigour which the pruner must 

 investigate for himself, watching each year 

 the effect of the previous year's treatment, 

 and carrying it in the direction which such 



examination proves advisable. During the 

 last vear or two the prol'>lein ol pruning goose- 

 berry trees has been furtiier complicated for us 

 herein Kngland by the initlMcak ol the American 

 gooseberry miKlew . 



Amongst the many uncertainties Cimcerning 

 tliis tlisease iMie fact remains absolutely clear- 

 vi/.. that the strongest and most thrifty trees 

 ai'c llie most li;il-ile to lake the disease and to 

 have it most \irulenllv ; and it is worthy of 

 consideration wiielher it is not ;idv isaltle so to 

 modify both pruning and manuring, sii that the 

 ]->eriod of growth is mer and the new wood 

 comparaliv eiv ri]ieiied before the disease 

 1-iccomes very active in the beginning of 

 June. 



Shrubs for Beds and Single 

 Specimens. 



Hy J. W. iiiSA.Nr, l^otaiiic Gardens, Glasnovin. 



TlIICRl^ are certain kinds of shrubs which, 

 from their loose or spreading habit, 

 are more suitable for planting in beds 

 of a kind or as single specimens than for shrub- 

 bery work ; others suitable for beds are also 

 good for borders. Such beds or specimens can 

 often be placed where they can be seen from 

 the windows of the dwelling, and might with 

 advantage occupv al least some of the space so 

 often devoted to bedding plants, to produce 

 which involves an immense amount of work 

 and vvorrv . 



Although dealing with shrubs it mav not be 

 out of place to point out that it is quite possible 

 to gel verv beautiful etii'ects in spring by the use 

 of suitable bulbous plants grown in beds of 

 deciduous shrubs. In such positions Scilla 

 sihirica, Scilla bifolia, Chionodox Lucilia-, 

 winter aconites, snowdrops, Anemone blanda, 

 Fritillaria meleagris, &c., can be used with 

 fine effect. 



Prominent among shrubs suitable for beds or 

 for single specimens are the buddleias, of which 

 the varieties of Buddleia variabilis are the best. 

 These are autumn flowering subjects, and 

 should be pruned hard back in February to 

 induce the formation of long, strong shoots, at 

 the ends of which the handsome racemes of 

 purplish lilac flowers are produced. 



