1^2 



iinsii (i.\iM)i:.\i.\(i 



1I..U.IS ill til.' I'llMir |.-llks liii-hl .■;isil\ Im- ;. 

 Uivat evil." 



As suKK'^^t. .1. tlir ininili.atiuMs ..f (la.lr ;ii-.' (.... 

 ^ri'iit fnr lilt' w liter, ^>v .iiiy onr rlsf. \i> naiiuw 

 the Uiiii'^' down to (nu- or oilier phase, ad iniraliie 

 as such may he. liut. a relevant comiiient Iroin our 

 own juvss, which is takiiij,' ui> these iii.itters in a 

 spirit worthy of the cans*- luay he ijuotcd — \i/., 

 '• This is a time ami situation when ilu- spirits of 

 the people re<|uire to he maintaine<l. and if 

 l»)ssihle increaseil in huoyancy. and the siuht 

 of a well-spread liower heil conduces ^Mcatlv to 

 this desirahle end." Kxaclly : as my L..rd Maron 

 said centuries at;.. : '• Flowers are a I'efrt shux n I 

 to the sjurit of man." and {{uskin told us nioie 

 i-e<(ntlv: "Colour was ^Mvtn to us for our 

 comfoit." Indeed, it seems hard to realis<- 

 husiiiess lour liusincss) as usual without llowers. 

 includim: those tlial hloom in the sl)rin^^ 



Surely, it is l>ii,di tinu' that our leaders who 

 liromulsiate their ideas in the public lU'*'-'^^ >^" 

 jirt'ttilv should seriously considei- what the 

 elTects'of their sliort-sitcht* d poli.v would he- in 

 the injury intlid.d on trade. ..n tlu- piolessioual 

 >invi\t in v. and on I he pnh!i<-, and weigli tliat 

 ;ii,'aiiist the uain that might accrue in increa.sing 

 tiu' food supjiiies in the ])otty W'ay indicated, 

 ("annot they look farther afield and see the 

 countless acres of good land starved for the want 

 of tile human hand, caiiahle of yielding crojjs 

 of the iiighest food <piality witlunit interfering 

 with our gardens and disorganising the labour, 

 l)ot]i muscular and mental, and all t'oi — what ? 

 If they would only devote half tlu- energy and ipk 

 utilised for such a useless, and worse tlian useless, 

 liuri)ose to i)reaohing the doctrine of ])()tato 

 s]iraying, the Held culture of anions for wliicli 

 we have to rely largely on in«ports, parsnips, and 

 other sta]ile vegetables of relatively high food 

 vahie, it w^ould be better for them and for us. 



And — but enough, for 's sake let us have 



business as usual in all the comiirehensive sense 

 of which it is capable. Those who would liave 

 us do aw'ay with our flowers are no friends to the 



countrv at large in the o]iinion of 



K., Dublin. 



The Arboretum. 



\\'()1;k ill this department will soon become 

 imiiortant, as with tlie advent of Octoljer plant- 

 ing of evergreens must be jiroceeded with. It 

 is true that many kinds may be planted at any 

 time during the' winter when the weather is 

 oi^en, but there is little doubt that early planting 

 is beneficial to all. Hollies, for instance, are 

 very t)ften recommended to be planted in Sey)- 

 teniber, and in many parts of Britain this is 

 necessary. The comparatively mild, ojien 

 nature of the late months of the year in Ireland, 

 together with a greater humidity of atmosphore, 

 make it possible to carry out the ])lanting of 

 many things up to a later date. S])ecimcn 

 Conifers transplant with great success during 

 October, and no time should be lost in getting 

 this work in hand. If the present spell of fine 

 dry weather continues the soil may be too dry 

 in some districts, and it will be advisable to 

 defer transi>lanting until rain has come. Tlic 

 same ren>arks apply to young stock in the home 

 nursery. Seedlings Avhich have made good 

 growth must be transplanted regularly, and if 

 this is done in October, while the soil is still warm. 



lli.> uill qui. kl\ |-..i-m n.w ro.ds .(u.! -.t .'stab 

 iish..l iM-f.uv s.-v.iv w.-ather s.-ts in. In all 

 .ases. whether it he plants going out t.i their 

 iperman.'iil p<.sili..ns ..r small pl.-iiits in tin- 

 nursery m.T,l\ b..iiig I i;inspl.iiil. .1 1.. in. luce Ji 

 lihr.Mis r,M,| svst.-m. an . M,|.;i\,,m- sli..ul.l )..• 

 mad.' to ivl.-.in ;.s mu.li s.ul .-.Im.uI Hi.' r.M.ts as 

 possil.l... Tills im.l.iul.li.llv minimis, s th.' risks 

 of f:iiluiv ;,n.| assi>ts tin- plants to s.'ttl.' d..wn 

 in their ii. u .piarleis .it on.-.'. 



Am.iiiu' lives oth.r lliau ( '.ui ifeis, e\ .•ruiv.'ii 

 (»;.k> .nv iiot,,ii..u>l> h.-uf I r.insplant.'is.' and 

 should I..' -mI iiilo p.'rmam nt positi.iiis when 

 • pill.' small. Tli.iv is s.um- .lilTerence of opinion 

 as t.. wh.tli.i- .•.■.il\ autumn or late spring is the 

 h.ll.r lim<- to m..v<- evergreen Oaks, and jxis- 

 >ilil\ t it her season is suitable wlnn the work is 

 ...mp.teiitly done. If the weather is suitable 



in ().l.,l...r. g I r. suits usuallv f.dlow. but if 



not doiu- then it is bet ter d.-ferred till late May 

 .U' .ally .lune. when the roots are again active. 



Among evergreen shrubs there are inanv verv 

 hamlsome iilants valuable for their winter efTec"t 

 as well as f.ir giving shelter where a tree would be 

 imsuitabl... Th.- bush I vies, which are really adult 

 f..iiiis .if til.- climbing Ivies, are not so" freely 

 planted as they might be. Some have large 

 handsome leaves not excelled by any other ever- 

 greens, while the silver and golden vari.'gal.(i 

 sorts are unrivalled I'.ir pi.idu.ing a ch.'.iful 

 effect in wint. r. 



Other evergr.'cns d.'seiving of att.nti.ui are 

 the Osmanthuses, of which there are seviral 

 species, notably O. aciuifolium and its varieties 

 ilicifolius and i. piirpureus and variegatus ; O. 

 delavayi, with small dark green leaves and 

 beautiful white flowers in spring. The Phil- 

 lyreas are useful evergreens, the best being 1*. 

 decora, P. latifolia, and P. media. Shrubby 

 Veronicas provide great variety from the hand- 

 some V. traversii, wliich grows int.) a large bush, 

 to the smaller rock gar.l.n kinds, of which th. ]■.■ 

 is quite a number of spe.ics. 



Saponaria ocymoides. 



During tlie latter jiart of May and the lirst half 

 of June this was one of the showiest plants on the 

 I'ockery. For those who want big masses of 

 colour no more desirable plant can ))e f.uind in 

 its season. 



There are now in cultivation forms iiuuli 

 .su|)erior to tlie type in dejith of colour and size 

 of flower. Perhaps the finest form is that 

 known as H. ocy. grandiflora. which literally 

 smothers itself in dee]) rose-iiink flowers and 

 makes a wonderful show. 



There is, of course, a white variety which can 

 be used effectively in contrast with other rock 

 ])lants ; the flowers are not, h.iwever, ])ure white, 

 but usvially incline to ])ink. 



In the variety S. ocy. versi.olor we get a 

 combination of white and i>ink flowers ojien 

 together, the effect being rather pleasing. 



This Soa])wort is a very free grower, and, 

 thoiigh not coarse, should be given a position 

 where it can be spread freely without encroach- 

 ing on |>lants of more restricted habit. Propa- 

 gation is easily carried out by cuttings of tlie 

 >.iung growths" when the flowers are over, while 

 .seeds being freely fcu'med offer another ready 

 means, though varieties, (»f cours.-, will not c.une 

 true. 



