1^0 



IRISH GARDENING 



OCTORER 



and rain, develop into quite i^-^ood soil. All 

 subsoil, except in the case of sheer ^-raxel, 

 which must come out if too near the surface, 

 only wants exposure to the air to become 

 capable of supporting: plant life 



The size o( the y:arden will determine the 

 selection to be made. In the small iront 

 i^ardens of terrace houses wide - spreading- 

 species should be avoided, as they soon become 

 unsuitable. As a rule, shrubs which shed their 

 leaves annually are recommended as being- best 

 able to withstand the deleterious atmosphere 

 of smoky tow ns ; yet some everg-reens have 

 proved to be of g^reat value. 



For small g^ardens the following- may be 

 recommended : — ■ Berberis aquifolium, Euony- 

 nius japonicus, E. radicans, g-olden privet, 

 Olearia Haastii, which flowers freely as a small 

 bush. The common boxwood, Buxus semper- 

 virens, Hypericum calycinum, the smaller- 

 g-rowing bush ivies, Cotoneaster thymifolia, 

 Daphne laureola, &c., all the foreg-oing being 

 everg-reen. Of deciduous shrubs Berberis vul- 

 g-aris, Forsythia viridissima, Persian lilac, 

 Hypericums, Daphne Mezereun, the smaller- 

 g-rowing Philadelphuses, Spiraea japonica, Ribes 

 sang-uineum, &c., may be g-rown and kept 

 within moderate dimensions. 



For larg-er town g-ardens where there is a 

 considerable space about the house, which may 

 be standing- in its own g-rounds, all the fore- 

 g-oing- may be utilised and in addition : — Acuba 

 japonica, g-reen and varieg-ated ; Osmanthus 

 aquifolius and varieties ; rhododendrons, espe- 

 cially Anning-ham's White; the yellow flowering- 

 currant, Ribes aureum ; Jasminum fruticans, a 

 shrubby everg-een jasmine ; Lig-ustrum japoni- 

 cum, a handsome evergreen privet ; lilacs ; the 

 Guelder rose. Viburnum opulus sterile weige- 

 lias ; Philadelphuses ; Colutea arborescens ; 

 Kerria japonica, &c. 



The following list of shrubs, iiot including 

 those mentioned above, were shown and re- 

 commended by Mr. A. D. Webster, Superinten- 

 dent of Regent's Park, at the Country in Town 

 Exhibition, Whitechapel : — Phillyrea decora, 

 Olearia macrodonta. Clematis montana, Skim- 

 mia fragrans, Forsythia suspensa. Hibiscus 

 Syriacus (Althaea frutex var.j, Azalea procumbens, 

 Cotoneaster buxifolia, arctostaphylos uva-ursi, 

 Vitis purpurea, Vitis Cognetiae, Vitis Veitchii 

 (Ampelopsis), Aralia sieboldii. Almond, Sumach, 

 Cornus, Andromeda japonica, Ilex crenata. 



Senecio eleganifolius, Lycium chinense, Poten- 

 tilla fruticosa, and brown Turkey fig. 



It will be seen from this list that the choice 

 o\ shrubs lo grow in Loiuloii is considerable, 

 and many Irish towns couki accoiiiniodale 

 nian\ more in the warmer parts ol the counlry_ 



Plant Life in Autumn, 



T 



1>\ (i. O. Sm-KKAKP. 



1 1 !•; gradual cessation oi' the activities ol' 

 plants with the advance oi autumn is 

 e\ident on all sides in the changing 

 colours o( leaves, the lessening of the number 

 of flowers, and the stoppage of growth. 



During the spring and summer plants have 

 been actively growing, expanding fresh leaves 

 and flowers, and manufacturing vast quantities 

 of food material. It might be asked, "What 

 has become of all the plant food made during the 

 summer months — is it all utilised in promoting 

 growth ? " It is stored in the seeds and various 

 storage organs of the plant in the form of 

 starch, proteid matter or oil, ready in the case 

 of a seed to nourish the embryo plant during 

 the earliest stages of its growth, or in the case 

 of an old plant to build up fresh tissue with the 

 coming of spring. The tubers of a potato, the 

 bulb of an onion, the thickened root of a dock 

 or dandelion, the undergound stem of bracken, 

 and the pith rays in the trunk of an oak, are all 

 used as store houses and are all now packed 

 with food. Plants still have the monopoly ol' 

 the world's starch manufacture, and man gets 

 his supply from them by harvesting each year 

 so many million tons of the seed of cereals and 

 rice or the tubers of potatoes. 



The annual plant stores no food for its own 

 use, devoting all its energies to seed production, 

 after which it dies, leaving behind it a plentiful 

 off"spring. 



It is to the interest of a plant species that its 

 seed should be distributed over a wide area and 

 not all fall immediately around the parent. 

 Overcrowding is thus avoided and the range ol' 

 the species extended. Plants achieve this end 

 in various ways. Some rely upon the agency 

 of wind, others upon water, and more upon 

 animals, to effect the dispersal of their seeds. 

 In autumn this maybe seen taking place - the 

 thistledown carried in the wind, the birds eating 

 the brightly-coloured berries of hawthorn and 



