l62 



IRISH GARDENING 



NOVEMBER 



llourn. ri.nK \i. 1-hn «. ai ion. 



Ill no branch of ;n;r'u-nltural dox elopnionl is a 

 well-trained statV o\ instrnctors more essential 

 than in thai o( liorlieuiturt-. WhiU- all those 

 reared on a t'arni know somethiiii; about tillage 

 and li\e stock, they nia\ know next to nolhinj; 

 about fruit culture. Fruit i^rowinj;- is, more 

 over, a hij^hly technical subject, and years ot 

 patient, inlellii^ent work must pass before aTuU 

 crop can be harvested and before the i;ro\\er 

 has learnt his business. Realisin": this and the 

 need for a well-trained staff, the Department in 

 1902 established at the .Albert .Ai^ricultural 

 CollejJfe, Glasnevin, a school o\' horticulture 

 where youni,"" men who already had a fair 

 practical traininj^- in y^ardeniny; could receive 

 s\stematic instruction in practical and technical 

 horticulture extending over one or two years. 

 Students work in the orchards and gardens, and 

 receive an equivalent of about twenty shillings 

 per week. The course at this college does not 

 aim at the highest scientific training, for which, 

 however, the Department have made provision 

 at the Royal College of Science. Scholarships 

 in horticulture, tenable there for three or four 

 years, and of the annual value oi' at least /,"6o, 

 are offered. 



At the Albert College forty-five men have 

 been trained, and are now engaged in fruitgrow- 

 ing under the Department or under county 

 committees of agriculture. At the Royal 

 College of Science, however, only two students 

 have obtained scholarships. Considering the 

 facilities and provided the prospects of emplo\- 

 ment for competent men the response must be 

 regarded as distinctly disappointing. Hither 

 there is a lack of well-educated young 

 gardeners or the provisions of the scholarship 

 scheme are not well known. 



horticultlr.m, instruction under countv 

 Committees. 

 As is well known each county council sets 

 aside annually out of its rates a sum of money 

 for agricultural development, including horti- 

 culture. To this the Department adds a grant 

 varying with the size and the needs of the 

 county. This fund enables each county com- 

 mittee to employ at least one horticultural 

 instructor, whose duties include the advising of 

 farmers and cottagers in the growing of fruit 

 for sale or for home consumption. Information 

 is diffused by means ot lectures, by demonstra- 



tion plots and b\ personal instruction in the 

 people's gardens. I he selection, purchase and 

 plantinj; ot Iriiit trees receive special attention. 

 Small orders for trees and bushes are collected, 

 tenders are iiuited and the gooils delivered 

 in bulk at con\enient centres i'ov distribution. 

 Thus, the trees are got at the lowest jirice. and 

 the cost ot carriage is reduced to a minimum. 

 The tiees are inspected b_\- an oHicer o\ the 

 Department while they are still growing in the 

 nurser} , and are seen again by the instructor 

 after delivery. 



Of deiionstration iilols containing truit trees 

 there are from eight to !itt\ in each county, 

 and lhe\- are b}' no means the least important 

 of the Department's educational agencies. 



The best evidence of the value oi' these 

 schemes is that every county authority under 

 the Department has put them in operation, that 

 local interest in them grows annually, and that 

 whenever money can be spared their scope is 

 extended but never curtailed. 



CO.MMHRCI.M. I-'rUH tiROWlNC . 



The work of county committees is mainly 

 confined to encouraging fruit growing for local 

 or home consumption. To this, however, there 

 are notable exceptions, particularly in Ulster, 

 where fruit growing is no longer confined to 

 gardens, but is practised in the open fields and 

 regarded as one of the ordinary farm crops. 

 There, it will be readily understood, the county 

 committees and their horticultural advisers have 

 a very different task. 



It is worthy of note, as confirming general 

 experience, that no part of the country was 

 more backward in seeking advice than those 

 districts where fruit growing was already 

 an established industry. The ability of an 

 instructor to render any help was doubted by 

 those engaged in fruit cultivation on a large 

 scale. This feeling is now disappearing. The 

 .Armagh committee, who had at first no requests 

 for the services of an instructor, now find that 

 two are scarcely sufficient to meet the demands. 



Of the achievements oi' northern farmers in 

 the production of fruit, particularly apples, 

 we cannot speak too highly. From small 

 beginnings at unlikely centres, fruit growing 

 has developed in some cases to a remarkable 

 extent. Open fields have been planted with 

 apples, and, notwithstanding the unpromising 

 appearance of the soil and climatic difiiculties. 



