APRIL 



IRISH GARDENING 



63 



the plough may be safely used. A belter plan, perhaps, 

 is to examine a few of the trees and see to what extent 

 the roots have spread. Surface-roots indicate fruitful 

 trees, therefore every care should be taken when 

 working- among the trees that these roots are not 

 injured in any way. They should rather be encouraged 

 by mulchings of manure. A spade should never be 

 used in digging about the roots of fruit trees, and a 

 fork should only be used when necessary. The Dutch 

 hoe is the best implement to keep down weeds, which 

 it effectually does if used frequently. Not only does it 

 keep the ground clean but the stirring of the surface 

 conserves moisture and aerates the soil. 



Strawberries.— Towards the end of the month a 

 mulch of strawy manure should be placed around 

 established plants. The fruit of the strawberry is 

 very easily injured by coming in contact with the soil, 

 whereas a mulch of litter, bleached and clean by ex- 

 posure to the weather, makes a good resting medium 

 for the fruit during the ripening period. Spring plcmta- 

 tions. — Young plants from runners are often left over 

 the winter in nursery beds. The ground for these 

 should be well prepared, adding a liberal amount of 

 farmyard manure. The young plants should be 

 planted in rows twenty-eight inches apart, and about 

 twenty inches may be allowed between the plants in 

 the rows, but these distances may be restricted a few 

 inches where the garden is small and the ground 

 valuable. Care must be taken not to plant too deeply ; 

 the heart of the plant should be on a level with the 

 surface. Firm planting is advisable. Use the feet to 

 make the soil as compact as possible around each 

 plant. This will ensure slow growth, which is con- 

 ducive to fertility. No fruit should be allowed the first 

 season on spring-planted strawberries. As soon as the 

 flower trusses appear they should be cut off. The 

 succeeding crop will well repay such treatment. To 

 prevent waste of ground a line of onions or lettuce 

 may be sown between the rows without injury to the 

 strawberry plants. The ground should be frequently 

 hoed during the growing period. 



Spraying Mixtures. -Swift's arsenate of lead is an 

 American preparation of recent introduction. It is a 

 very safe remedy to use against all leaf-eating grubs. 

 It does not injure the most tender foliage if applied 

 according to directions which are given with packages 

 or kegs of this material. Fruit trees liable to attack 

 by caterpillars should be sprayed before the pests are 

 noticeable. 



Paris green is used by many large fruit-growers. 

 It makes a most effective spraying mixture, but it is of 

 a very poisonous nature, and should only be used in 

 careful hands. Three ounces of Paris green is 

 sufficient for forty gallons of water, and where the 

 leaves are only opened two ounces to the forty gallons 

 will be sufficient. For large plantations Paris green 

 will be found much more economical than other 

 spraying mixtures, and where it has been applied no 

 caterpillars will exist. This material, which is in a 

 powder, should be carefully mixed to a paste and then 

 put into the required amount of water and thoroughly 

 stirred for some time. It should also be stirred fre- 

 quently during the spraying. Paris green may be 

 mixed with the Bordeaux mixture, in which state it 



will be effective against apple scab and other fungous 

 diseases, as well as caterpillars. It will also make a 

 better mixture when used with the copper sulphate 

 solution than if used alone, and does not require stirring 

 during application. The Bordeaux mixture should be 

 half strength only — /.f., 4 lbs. copper sulphate, 5 lbs. 

 washing soda to 40 gallons of water. It is prepared 

 by dissolving the copper sulphate in a wooden vessel 

 and mixing it with one-third of the water in a forty- 

 gallon barrel. The soda should then be dissolved and 

 added with water sufficient to make two-thirds of the 

 mixture, and well stirred. The Paris green, mixed to 

 a paste, is then added and well stirred, filling the 

 barrel with water to the required amount— viz., forty 

 gallons. This is an excellent spraying mixture to 

 apply before the buds open, when the bloom is over 

 and the fruit set, and again in three or four weeks' time. 



The Vegetable Garden. 



By J. G. Toner. 



LETTUCE.— A perfect succession can be kept up 

 J by sowing seeds every six weeks of any of the 

 cabbage lettuces from this date until the end of 

 July, or perhaps a little later. Crispy, tender heads 

 are produced by a system of very liberal culture, liberal 

 in all respects except in the number of seeds sown on 

 a given space. Very rich ground will be appreciated 

 by them, and transplanting is not to be thought sane 

 in the case of plants intended to stand the winter. 

 Standard varieties, like All the Year Round, require 

 quite twelve inches apart to do them well. Vegetable 

 gardeners who are courageous enough to practice this 

 will be quite surprised at the size, quality and excellence 

 of a crop so treated. 



Vegetable Marrows.— About the middle of the 

 month seeds may be sown in pots, one to each four inch 

 pot. Rather early plants these will be, and some con- 

 trivances must be at hand, such as small frames or 

 handlights for the purpose of protecting them after it 

 becomes necessary to plant them out. Be it known, 

 that vegetable marrows are tremendous gluttons, but 

 by a curious irony of fate none are starved so much, and 

 in a general way endure such hardships from the time 

 they fill small pots with their roots until their very 

 often belated transference to their final positions as 

 these. If there is no means of giving protection duringf 

 the merry month of May defer sowing until that time. 



Kidney Beans. —Adventurous persons are to be found 

 in the gardening community as elsewhere, and such 

 may chance the sowing of a few lines of kidney beans. 

 If the weather proves propitious afterwards a right 

 early crop will result, and in the case of a choice and 

 delicate vegetable such as this it is worth while to 

 take a few risks. The very end of the month, however, 

 will be the earliest period at which tbe work should be 

 undertaken. There is a better way, to be suie, than 

 sowing in the open. Pots or boxes ma\- be used ; the 

 former are much to be preferred, as the plants will sus- 

 tain no check by being removed. Ne Plus Ultra and 

 Canadian Wonder are two very reliable kinds. Should 

 the seeds be sown in the open they may be placed two 

 and a half inches deep and two inches apart, with 



