io6 



IRISH GARDENING 



samly loam, until thry i-ra.h a (lci:i f lirrun.-ss ticaliv a iiia>s nf s>. (|iiil(' niouital.ir l'..r 



ni'arlv f(jiial tn tlir iin)iiiiil>. riD(|ii<-t m' Ifiiiiis. i'oi- uliidi |iiii|Hisrs it was 



ir *tli»- wint.T iiiaiiairfiii.iit uf lawns lias li.-cn int iri.l..l . Tin- .undit i..ns .MstMij.' at tliat tinn- 



1 li..r..u>ili. tin- smnm.T treat nu-rit is siiiipii- atiil Wfic lavoiiia li'.- foillic t;i(i\\tli .if iii.,ss ami mi- 



rasv. Til.' niltivati.m tli.-v liavr r.Mfi\ ..l has la vuuial.l.- f,.i- II,,. m,,\\||i ,,1' tmf. Ac .•..idiuulv 



traiiu'il tilt' -jjrasses to ^'.. tliruii-h \\m- li.al ..I t hr m.,>s \\a> liist kill.. I with a rli..mi,al pn-- 



siiiuiii.T an«l tin' season ..f plav. ll .itlirr lli,- |iaialiwM ami alt .iwanls iak..l .,tr. Then 



.lrouf,'ht is .•xcessive or the |.la y sr\ .iv. th.y ma\ ai„,lh.r rhrmi.al .iiosin- was a|>|>li.'.l to stiinu- 



.i,M't siinhurnt or fajiiifil. hut t h. y <|ni(kly rt'ro\ .r lat.- i;ias> growth. I.al.i- on. during April. 



altiT rain. TlnTc ini^'ht 

 wlH'i'f watt'iim,' lawns i 

 iremTallv it is h,ll,i- a 

 .•IT.'ct .lerivr.l liom r.iin 

 the rain itself as to tin 



•ptional 



^ l,r ii.M-essarv, hut 



,lr,l. The heiieli.i.-.i 

 not .lue so murh to 



ilteiv.l elimatie con- 



ditions and tlii' dissolved aii' which accompanits 

 It. Water api)lii'd to turf durini,' hot w.'athei' 



.auses the uM-assi's to retain their greenness ;il 



.M..wiNt;. 



Mowin- on-ht t.. h.' .'.mim.'m-.'.l as ..aiiy in 

 the seas.m as jiossihl.' : in f;i. 1 . it will not r.'ipiir.- 

 to h.' St :.pi»i'«l at all if th.' NViiii.'i' IS mii.l. Kut . 

 ass.iminii that the severity .d' wint.'i- lias stopj.. d 

 irrass i;r.)wtli. as soon as frost ami snow iiave 

 irone and ve.<.jetatiou reasserts itself m..w inji 

 sh..ald he proeeed.'d with .m the lirst fav.mrahle 

 ..ecasion. Tliis is an imp.irtant detail in lawn- 

 turf cultivati.m. If. as is fre.iuentiv done, the 

 urass is allowe.l to ,i;i'oW so loui,' that if has to h.- 

 . ut with a scythe hefore the lawn mower can !).■ 

 used, the enei'^i*''^ "I" the grasses are extended in 

 the wrong direction. 1 iiave seen lawns allowed 

 t.) fj:row until there were loads of luscious grass 

 taken fr»)ni tliein, and the surface that remained 

 was not turf at all, but miniature stubble. If 

 this practice is continued for any great length of 

 time, the erstwliile lawn degenerates into a mass 

 .d" moss, weeds, and undesii-ahle grasses. 



A suitably nourished, liealtliy lawn cannot be 

 mown too frecjuently. A I'un over every day 

 with th.' lawn mower when tlie weather con- 

 iliti.iiis will allow — witliout tiie collecting box 

 lieing attached — is not too freqiient. By adopt- 

 ing tliis method of culture the lawn is always 

 ready for any purpose that may be desired. 

 \.)toiUv tliis, but by doing so the energies of the 

 grasses are directed'into the right channel. The 

 manurial beixetits derived from tliis ])ractice are 

 nil, but the equalised growth obtained by it 

 conduces to make the line, close, compact growth 

 so desirable on a lawn. 



I'...w 



: N s . 



Hi 



Lawns. 



Sonietinies .dd lawns are ruthlessly dug up 

 because they have got into a bad c.imlitiou. 

 Before adopting this extreme measure it is well 

 to see closely whether they can be reforiued, 

 and unless the turf is too thickly overgrown 

 with weeds 1 have always found it possible to 

 do so. Where the lawns are very mossy they 

 are generally amenable to cultivation, but this 

 cannot be done by the agency of a garden rake, 

 although it is a practice commonly ado|)ted. It 

 is impossible to rake away moss without rooting 

 out grasses as well, and however closely the 

 teeth of the rake may be placed, they will not 

 clear away all the nxoss, and generally that 

 which remams grows away with renewed vigour, 

 so that in a short time the lawn is as bad as or 

 even worse than it was ,before. 



In February last w'e were called upon to im- 

 lirove a shady lawn. At that time it was i>rac- 



.\ iii'eat expeiis.' is fre(pientl> imun.'.l in the 

 .■ousliu.t i.in of bowling greens and importations 

 ..f seasi.le turf which verv fre(|Ue)itlv degenerates. 

 A far less exiien.sive and e.pially el'IVctive method 

 is to sow a good variety of Kescue oix gi'onnd tlii.t 

 has been carefully prejiaicd ami dressed with 

 chemical maiuire that will retain the ro.ds on 

 th.' surface. Turf of this ilescription can I..- 

 obt.iined in six months from sowing if tin- 

 weather conditions are favourable. It may he 

 slow at lirst. but all greens of this nature are in 

 th.'ir .'.'U'ly stages. 



Tiie cultivation of lawn turf is a most fasci- 

 ruiting occui)ation in itself, and if it develops 

 into a study of grasses the work is rendered 

 doubly attractive. Many years ago Professor 

 Marty n wrote : " (irass vulgarly forms one 

 single idea ; and a hxisbandman, when he is 

 looking over his enclosure, does not dream that 

 there are upwards of three hundred sjjecies of 

 grass, of which thirty or forty may be jiresent 

 under his eye. These have scarcely had a name 

 besides the general one until within these twenty 

 years, and the few particular names that have 

 been given them are far from having obtained 

 general use ; so that we may faii'ly assert that the 

 knowledge of this most common and us.-fui 

 tribe of i)lants is yet in its infancy." 



Some of these woi'ds might be re-wrillen to- 

 dav. 



My Shrubs.* 



I roNFKys that at lirst 1 

 to lind on the title pag. 



•ceived rather a shock 

 <d' the latest work on 

 arljoriculture the name of a well-known and 

 favourite novelist, though, of course, there is 

 really no reason why Mr. Eden Phillpotts should 

 not excel in two subjects as divergent as fiction 

 and arboricultvire. I believe both Dr. Salmon of 

 Trinity and Dr. Taylor of Camliridge were in 

 their day recognised authorities on both theology 

 and mathematics, and I think the ]>regent Provost 

 of Trinity at one time was an examiner in classics 

 and music. At any rate, having just read for the 

 first time Mr. Eden Phillpotts' delightful book on 

 shrubs I look forward to further works of a 

 similar nature from his |)en. 



Mr. Phillpotts will, I am sure, not misunderstand 



* By Eden Phillpotts. 

 Published bv -John Lane. 



With 50 Illustrations. 

 10s. net. 



