128 



IRISH GARDENING 



straw b.-iiy l..-ils >huul.l h,- i-lant..! tlii> numll. 

 if at all |»n"ssiMf. Assuming,' that tlw tiniuml 

 has h.'cn iirciiari'd as advisid hi '• .iuiir Notfs, ' 

 SI. stinii as the ruiiM.is arc \v<'ll rout.-d cIkm.s.- a 

 .lay wli.'ii th.- .artJi is in simIi a cuii.iit i..ii ..f 

 .livii.ss that it will ht-ar any aiiiuurit of (raiupliiiK 

 witluMit <l<.^:i;ii»i,' <>r stickiiiK' to the f.-.-t. and 

 tiaiiipU- tin- ^'roimd t h(.it.uuhly to make linn 

 and l.r.-ak down all hunps : after this rak.- th.' 

 uround i..'rff<tly U-vi'l aiul smooth (li^ht land 

 would hi- iniin-ov.-d hy ndlinv:) : trainidi- th<- 

 •iionnd over a st-tond tinu' if then- is any siisjiicion 

 of tlu' irrovmd hfiiij; s|)on>;y or soft ; thi-n draw 

 very small drills across tlic jilot hoth ways — i.e.. 

 froiu cast to west and soutli t^» north at 2\ feet 

 a J. art cacli way f«)r st ron^'-^rowinK varieties, or 

 •J feet apart for smalU-r ^'rowin^; varieties, jylant- 

 ini: the plants wliere lines cross, in tliis way 

 rcadilv ci\surin^,' tlie idants will he in even lines 

 every way. Make the jdants very lirm when 

 l.lantimr. leaving a sliudit depression round cacii 

 plant to r.'tain round tlic plant liberal allowances of 

 water oicasionally durin^r a couple «d' weeks after 

 j.lantinf; in case very dry weather may jirevail. 



Even should land not. he already in order, it 

 may still ]h- prei>ared without furtlier delay, and 

 plaiited in September : old Ix'ds after fruiting' 

 mav also he du^' up an<l. j,'iven reasonable time 

 t.o "luilverise aiul settle down, be i)lantcd in 

 Seiitember. Strawberries, like many oth«-r crojis. 

 do not neeii to he jmt on fresh ground whenever 

 new i>lantations are made : ffiven fairly deei> 

 (deep by preference) moderately heavy lanti 

 with irood drainai^e. which suits strawberries 

 best, they may be thrown successfully on same 

 ^M-oiind for many yeai-s. 



The Vegetable Garden. 



Hv A. I'KAHsoN, (iardeiuT to A. F. Sharman- 



("rawford. Esq.. Lota Lodge, Glanmire. Cork. 

 DiKixo tile i.resent month nmny of the s]»rin<i- 

 ami earlv s\immer supplies uuist be sown. Next 

 month will be too late f<.r the North, although inthe 

 Sout h many things succeed adinirably sown then. 



Every detail nuist be carefully carried ont, and 

 sowing before rain, if that can be gauged, will 

 accelerate germination, whereas if the soil l)e 

 very dry at seed -sowing the result^s will be dis- 

 appointing. 



Cabbage.- — The main .spring supplies are now- 

 sown either in beds or lines in an open quarter; 

 sow on first and third week of the month (medium 

 rich .soil suites them, and much depends on choos- 

 ing proper varieties). Every seedsimm has his 

 own s|)ecial sorts for autumn sowing. I recom- 

 mend as non-bolters and excellent quality the 

 varieties " April," " Flower of Spring." and 

 '• Ellam's Early." If good .selected stocks are 

 jirocured very few will seed [prematurely. 



Cautjfi.ower. — The best and earliest cauli- 

 flowers are cut froui plants sown now, say the 

 last week of the month in the South and a w^eek 

 earlier in the North. A south border is a suitable 

 ])lace, and the i)lants may be pricked out in an 

 open cold frame where i)rotection can be given 

 in wet or frosty weather. 



Celery. — Early plants may now be earthed - 

 up gradually, taking great care to prevent earth 

 entering the" hearts of the plants. Encourage the 

 growth of all celery by watering if the weather is 

 dry, and never earth-up unless satisfied that there 

 is plenty nioisture at the roots. 



Carrot.— See last month's notes. 



Broccoli. — Brussels sprouts and other winter 



urei-ns. if not alre;id> ipl.inted in 1 heii' .pi.trters. 



lei it lie done at once ; att^Mid to earthing-up , 



earlier pl.mtirms. and prevent c.iterpill.irs sjiread- 



ing ovei- the cidjis ; if chibbing is pic\.dent. dig 



out alTected pl.'ints and burn root, and st.<-m. i 



1-:ni»ivi:. .S<.w the l.ist batch e.irly, and plant ; 



out the lirst sowings on a well-drained borilej-. { 



Ij-;tti( i:. Sow for winter use. All the-^'ear 

 Hound. J{lack-seede<l Math and Winter White are | 



good varieties for piesent sowing. Thin sowings 

 on lirm soil are most likelv to stand lli.- winl.r ! 



well. Hemove bolted lettuce; pmillry will 

 readily «'at up such slulT. 



Potatoes. — Most of the early crop will now 

 be lifti'd, aiul the grouml may be prepared for 

 s|)iiuuh. turnips or cabbage. Cnorthodox as 

 it nuiv seem U> recomnu'nd planting potatoes 

 at this season, the fact remains that it is not only 

 possible to harvest .inotlier crop in e.iilv wintei-. 

 but it is prolitable as well. Old i.otato.-i j.laided ; 



now will start active growth and reprtiduce thin 1 



rind by winter The pressure <tf war should 

 make every cultivator lax to the utmost Ins i 



econoMuc resources, and this is one. ; 



SiMNAcii. — Sow- once or twice more the prickly \ 



winter vaiiety. Spinach beet also does well frttni ' 



a present sowing. i 



TfHXip. — Sow good breadths of such varieties i 



as Orange .lelly, Chirk Castle, Black St(uie, < 



Snowball or .Jersey Navet. They will prove 

 useful, if small, next spring. Keep the hoe busy , 



on growing batches. 



Tomatoes. — See last month's n< tes. ■ 



Shallots and potato onions now ripe should be ' 



lifted and hung up to di\- thoroughly before storing. 



Onions. — If ripe, lay all thick necks a week 

 or so ]jrior to lifting, aiul hang or lay out on a i 



hot border to rii)ei. ami dry thoroughly. In our I 



moist clinuite heie we invariably have to re.<ol"t \ 



to drying under a glass coi)ing or fran\e lights, 

 thi-n hanging in bumhes in a peach case. j 



Thorovigh drying adds greatly to their keeping j 



({ualities. In many districts autumn sowing will ' 



iw('i\ to be untlertaken now- : let that be made in tw-o 

 sowings, one about the middle and another at the . 



end of the month. Here we find the best results 

 from a September sowing, a.s a big i)ercentage | 



of the Avigust sown jilants run to seed. I recom- 

 mend for |)resent sowing Ailsa Craig, Stirling i 

 Exhibition, and Lord Keeper, as well as the 

 Trijioli varieties, generally looked on as the only I 

 sort for autunm sowing. The former varieties ' 

 will be found to stand the winter quite as well ■ 

 as the Tripolis, and give more valuable kee])ing 

 qualities. Althoiigh not a keen advocate of , 

 intercropping as a medium l)y which lirst-clas.s , 

 results can be obtained, I would urge growers to I 

 sow autunui onions between newly-] )lanted lines 

 of .strawberries. Merchants found it almost 

 impo.ssible to procure so-called Spanish onions i 

 this year, and the likelihood is that the difficulty 

 w ill be greater next year. If for that reason only 

 one should adopt, for the time being, that system. 

 We have ]>icked a grand crop of strawberries 

 from a square on which the heaviest croj) of 

 onions I have seen here is growing between the 

 rows of strawberries. Naturally the soil is some- 

 what impoverished by such a method, but the 

 loss is easily made good to tlie strawberries by , 

 generous mulching in autumn when the onions \ 

 are removed, and the ])lants run their three ] 

 years' course apparently none the worse for 1 

 sharing quarters in their early career. 



Herbs. — Cut and save by drying any of the j 



herbs desired for winter use. 



