DECEMBER 



IRISH GARDENING. 



185 



and we can generally find a situation in the garden 

 where the amount of light and shelter favours them. 

 Colour, height, and time of flowering are the principal 

 points to be attended to. The preparation of the 

 ground should be completed well before the lime oi 

 planting, and in the case of fruit and forest trees holes 

 should be opened beforehand. Before a wood or shelter 

 belt can be planted it is frequently necessary to cleai- 

 the ground of scrub and brambles. The best pre- 

 paration for orchard ground is to take oft" a crop of 

 potatoes the season before to clear the ground of all bad 

 weeds. Ground intended for herbaceous plants or 

 shrubs should be double dug and manured, a light 

 dressing for the shrubs and a heavier one for the her- 

 baceous plants. It is most important to observe correct 

 distances between trees, whether they be forest or 

 fruit trees. For timber production forest trees are 

 planted 4 feel apart, but for shelter a greater distance 

 is allowed. A half standard or standard apple tree 

 on the Crab stock should be J4 feet from its nearest 

 neighbour, but bushes on the Paradise can be planted 

 18 feet apart. At these distances horse labour can be 

 employed for a number of years to cultivate the ground 

 unless, of course, bush fruit is planted between the rows. 

 As soon as plants or trees are received from the 

 nurseries they should be unpacked and heeled in a 

 trench until such time as planting can be proceeded 

 with. If, after unpacking, the roots are seen to be ver}- 

 dry they should get a good watering ; it is most im- 

 portant that roots should never get dry or be exposed 

 to frost. In planting the roots should be keprt near the 

 surface, and the soil should be well firmed around them 

 by treading. Deep planting is a great mistake, for the 

 bulk of the plant food is in the top six inches of soil. 

 It will be necessary to stake standard trees after plant- 

 ing, and in exposed situations half standards will also 

 require support. G. O. SherrARD. 



Flowering Plants for Forcing. 



A CORRESPONDENT asks for the names of a few plants 

 that may be easily forced into early flowering during 

 the winter months of the year. The most useful, in this 

 respect, is undoubtedly the lilac. By placing the plants, 

 grown of course in pots, in a heated greenhouse, the 

 air of which is kept moist so as to imitate as far as 

 may be the natural conditions of spring, the dormant 

 life of the shrub will be called into activity, the mass of 

 flower buds already formed and merely waiting for the 

 right external conditions will duly burst in open flower. 

 T he best results are of course obtained from specimens 

 that have fully ripened their wood and are well set with 

 flower buds. The Siberian variety of white lilac seems 

 to be the favourite with at least market growers. If 

 the plants are grown in the open they must be raised 

 and polled, although commercial growers simply place 

 the dug-up plants together on leaves on the floor of the 

 warmed glass-house without further labour. 



Spiraea prunifolia florepleno is another shrub well 

 suited for forcing. It can be raised and potted and 

 otherwise treated as the lilac. The flowers are snowy- 

 white, and are produced profusely. They are excellent 

 for bouquets or for vases. 



Deutzia gracilis and D. scabra are great favourites. 

 They are best raised in pots if ihe object is lo have 



early forced blooms. Market growers seem to prefer 

 little plants, struck from cuttings in spring, and grown 

 in four-inch pots. 



Forsythia viridissima is easily forced into early 

 bloom. Its flowers are yellow and very striking It loo 

 is usually grown in the open during the summer and 

 then raised and polled before bringing it into the hou.se 

 It is propagated by cuttings from half-ripened wood, 

 under hand-glasses. 



Weigela rosea and W. amabilis are also said to be good 

 subjects for forcing. The potted plants are extremely 

 handsome when in flower. The abundance of bloom 

 along the flowering stems give these plants a dis- 

 tinctive appearance. 



We hope that these notes will meet the requirements 

 of our correspondent. 



Notes. 



Herhaceuls Borders. — In the formation of a hardy 

 plant border, the ground should be trenched to a depth 

 of two feet and a good dressing of farmyard manure 

 worked in. This being done, the planting maj- be done 

 any time during the winter months. Suggestions and 

 advice as to suitable subjects to plant may be obtained 

 by reference lo back numbers of Irish Gardening. 



Leae-Spot in Celery. — Mr. F. J. Chittenden ("Con- 

 tributions from the Wisley Laboratory") has been 

 drawing attention to the increasing prevalence of this 

 disease, especially during the year 1910. In our own 

 garden last year very considerable damage was done 

 through this fungal attack, especially towards the end 

 of the season. It begins with the appearance of liny 

 dark spots that spread, and eventually reduce the leaf 

 lo a dry, more or less papery consistence, and later on 

 lo decay. The cause is due lo the presence of Scpforia 

 ficfroscUni van Apit. and is most difficult lo check and 

 impossible to arrest when fully established. The greatest 

 care should be taken to destroy affected plants. Those 

 who have experience of the disease must have noticed 

 that it spreads from the blade of the leaf down the 

 whole length of the stalk, and if the plants are kept for 

 seed purposes the finigus may reach the fruits and 

 fructify there. Seeds may therefore be smitten with the 

 disease before sowing, so that the danger from this 

 source must not be overlooked. Potassium sulphate 

 spray (i oz. to 3 gals, of water) ma\ be used as a check. 



Obituary. 



Frank Hidson. — It is with deep regret we record 

 the death of Mr. Frank Hudson. Horticultural Instruc- 

 tor, County W'alerford. The deceased was one of the 

 early group of gardeners selected by the Department 

 of Agriculture for training at the Albert Agricultural 

 College, Glasnevin, in order to give them the necessary 

 technical experience to enable them to carry on the 

 pioneer work of horticultural instruction in this country. 

 Mr. Hudson was a constant contributor to these pages 

 from the first, his special subject being herbaceous 

 plants. Mr. Hudson was a keen gardener antl an 

 enthusiastic teacher. He was kind, gentle, unassum- 

 ing, lovable, and passing away will be sadly missed 

 by all his many friends. 



