f^S 



IRISH (;ARI)KNINCJ 



.gardener who .lid, iimI ku..\\ Hum- >\ iiuii> ins 

 would lie ill .1 worsf |Misiti<m tliiiii Mark 'I'waiii. 

 wliii, ill his ijriinraiui- of the (ifriiian laiiirua.,.'. 

 oi-d.-n-d and paid for. lud t wo .lo^s (as lie iii(riid.-d) 

 hut '■ one dative d<>K I •'^- I'nihrosa. not \s it h- 

 staiuliiiir, is a chariiiiii^ phiiit. witli Iomlt. h'athciy 

 h-avis and S|iravs of pink llowcis. I ufV«i- 

 i-,-alisrd how Ix'autiful aphmt it was until last yiai 

 1 saw it ^Town as a yard wid<- i-ilv'inv' ;t Hiand^ 

 fort in this county. " It was in full llowir. and 

 its countlfss fairy-likf jiink sprays swayinu in 

 I lu' winci wi-r," indcscriliahly <diarniiuii. S. Ahl- 

 villfi is larger and rouiwh-r. S. Ccum is dis- 

 linu'iiishahh' hy its kidnry-sha pr.l wav-s. Thnv 

 ai-i" many inlcrnu'diati- forms hrtwri-n I iusc two. 

 and soml- distinct varit-tii-s. S. hirsuta is cov.r.d 

 with stilT hiistU's: var. dt-ntata has deeply in- 

 dented h>lia.re : var. varijLiata has white vaii 

 Liatioiis. 'l'ner>' are also hyhrid;s with other 

 sections. S. (iuthiieana and S. Andrewsi art- 

 crosses with .s. Ai/.oon : the formei- is tlie most 

 .ompact : hotli have fairly intermediate hdia^'e. 

 1 have also some curious phmts. the results of 

 ci-ossiiig S. Ilostii and S. Aizodii recta witli S. 

 ( ieuni. S. cuneifolia has rosettes of stout leat hei \ 

 leaves and white* flowers. Var. infuiulil'i'li 

 formis is as small as its name is large, and ha.-; 

 tiny rosettes of dark green leaves. Var. multi- 

 caul is has narr.nv foliage more yellow than green. 

 \a.r. itrimuloides has com])act and regular green 

 rosettes and pinky-white tlowers. Var. ap])enina 

 is larger : S. Hucklandi is nearer to S. umbrosa : 

 S. tayget.ea is a hyhrid like a minute infundi- 

 huliformis. and S. ta/.zetta. is a. hybrid between 

 S. (ieum and a j)laut of another section, namely. 

 S. rotundifolia. : it has larger rosettes of round 

 ■md thick leaves and white flowers. S. imnctata 

 is a North American like H. (reum. l)ut with 

 rounder foliage of a d,ark luscious green. S. Zini- 

 meteri is another Ai/.oon cross (a natural one, I 

 believe), with small rosettes like an Aizoon, but 

 of the leathery texture of the umbrosas ; it is a 

 l)ret.ty i)lanfc. but is a bad rooter and requires 

 constant rei)lanting. Another good hybrid is S. 

 Pseiido Forsteri Tiie umbrosas are, as a 

 section, useful rather than ornamental. They 

 will tlourish in shadv and dark corners where few 

 l.laiits will live. riider favourable .-onditions S. 

 umbrosa. S. (ieum. and their immediati- i-ela,tions 

 are si)rea(lers, and should conse(j[uently be kept 

 away from anything choice. The smaller mem- 

 bers of the section, such as S. Zimmet:'ri, never 

 encroach, and can be piaiitc(l anywhere with 

 confid,ence. 



Correspondence. 



Sii!, — -The ap])eal which you did us the honour 

 to i»ublisii on August 4th, urging the immediate 

 sowing and i)l anting of all vacant spaces in 

 gardens, &c., with suitable winter vegetables, 

 met with a response far beyond our most sanguine 

 expectations. There are few who woiild believe 

 what a vast ({uantity of vegetables was thus 

 added to the food stocks of the country. It was 

 a revelation to most people that siich line jiroduce 

 as was exhibited at the Royal Ht)rticultural 

 Society's Show on November ITlh from our 

 gardens at Wisley, and from Messrs. Sutton's 

 grounds at Heading, co\ild be obtained from crojis 

 sown or planted subsequent to the date of [)ubli- 

 cation of our letter. Encouraged by the remark- 

 able success of our former appeal we again ask 

 the assistance of your V-olumns in order to urge 

 the sowing and planting of vegetables in every 



available place. 'IMie unite. 1 ..|r.,r1s ,.f th.-maiiv. 

 .•.i.li .-..hlin- .-. mil.' 1.. 111.' -en.-ral st..ck. will 

 m.ik.' in 111.- a--r.L:.il.' a i,M-.-at and vaJuabl.- 

 a.l.iilion I.. III.' siippiv ,,i fo.xl. During t he 

 coniinu' season let there he no v.icant sp.ds in any 

 garden. As s.ion as one <rop is used let it be 

 su. •<•.•.■. I. Ml \,y anoth.T, and l.'t .'V.-rv elTort b.- 

 nia.l.' I.. ..Iilain p.-niiission I., plant up t h.' 

 i:ai-.l.'n> ,<( .-iiiptv li..us.-, an.l all small lia.ts ..f 

 ian.l i>iiig idle and uncare.l for. 



|This is not the place to advise what vegetables 

 in particular should be planted. Such advice 

 ma\ he uMv.'ii in a mm-e private and individual 

 wa>. 11 !ii.i>, li,.\M\.i'. be well to .d.serve tiiat- 



on I r iniiiianiii-..! lia.ts nothing is so likelv to 



su. •<■.■.■. I as potat.x's. an.l that other .rops that 

 may h.' grown on such land are t urnip-rootcl 

 li.'.t an.l turni|is. The .me thing essential is for 

 ever> on.' to plant u]) every availahl.' f.i.d ..f 

 gard.'ii with veg.dables of s.ime kind. 



W. Wll.Ks. Srrrrhin/. 



V. Kkkhi.k. K.i{.S.. />irrrlor. 



\{. II. S. (iar.l.-ns. \\'isl..y. 



Sii;. i-'iuit growing, an.l esp.-.iall v the .-.im- 

 m.Tcial branch of this in.lustry. has assumed such 

 an im|).)i'taiit ii.isiti.ui in li'eland that n.t ajHiLigy 

 is needed for .hawing attenti.tu to points .if 

 interest connected with it. In the (lardiiicrs' 

 ('Itroiiirlr for F.d)ruary 2,Hlh and March (ith, 

 suggestions are made that winter spraying with 

 the Alkali wash may be injuri(»us to the trees, 

 in fact it is definitely stated that such is the case. 

 As this is a matter of very great imjiortance for 

 fruit growlers generally, I would he glad to ascer- 

 tain the experiences of any of your jiractical 

 readers who may have acciirate observations oii 

 the ])oint. I am aware that statements are 

 frequently made without sufYicient ex])eriments 

 and notes to warrant seri.uis attention being paid 

 to them, [but when we llnd a. grower of the high 

 reputati.m <d" .Mr. H.'.kett . <d" .\ldenham. delinitely 

 stating that fruit ti'ees are injure.! by cmtiniuuis 

 si)raying with Alkali wash, and recommending 

 that the spraying should only have taken place 

 every three jyears, instead of ann\ially, we cannot 

 lightly brush the niatter aside. Personally I may 

 state that fifteen years (!ontinuous sjjraying has 

 iu no way been injurious to tlie fruit trees or 

 injuri.)us to the croj) ; in fact I would [go further 

 and state that b.ith trees and cro]) ha.ve lieeii 

 improved by it. This is _only my individual 

 exiierieuce in one gai'den, iii one district, ('limalc 

 and locality have so much to say to the growth 

 and behaviour of ])lants in general that n.> 

 definite rule can be laid down as absolutely 

 ajiplicable to every district, hence the desiic to 

 get. information from as many districts as ]).>ssihl.'. 

 It must also be remembered that the s.iils and the 

 clinuitic c.iuditions in most of the fruit gr.iwing 

 districts of Ireland are very different from those 

 prevailing at Aldenham. We have a moiste.- 

 atmosphere, and generally speaking we have m )re ' 

 moisture in the soil and a heavier rainfall. I have 

 seen the trees at Aldenham. They are as good 

 sjiecimens of orchard trees as anyone ,could wish to 

 see, in perfect health and condition. Another jioint 

 of inter.'st is that several varieties .if ajiples fl.iurish 

 at Aldenhaiu which are most unsatisfact.try in 

 Ireland. I consider Wellington (l)umelow's 

 Seedling) to be one of the most interesting cases 

 in J). lint. It is a variety highly ])rized andjargely 

 grown in_England. In Ireland, in almost every 

 fruit growing district, in all aspects, and in all 

 soils, it is one of the most unsatisfactory apples. 



F. W. Moore. 



