IRISH GARDENING 



'57 



Reviews, 



The Handy Book on Pruning, 

 Grafting and Budding.* 



The younger generations of ])r(>fessi()nal gar- 

 deners and ainatevirs keen on fruit growing 

 require no introduction to Mr. James Udale, 

 as his practical little handbook has been a vei'i- 

 table stand-by to scores who desired to know 

 the why and the wherefore of pruning, grafting 

 iuul budding, and who by i-eading laid the 

 foundation on which they built their ])ractical 

 experience. 



The third edition now issued maintains the 

 high standard of practical conunon sense which 

 (■haracieviscd former issues, and will be found 

 by the ]ircsent generation of young fruit growers 

 as useful and helpful as its predecessors were to 

 gardeners who are now jjractising what they 

 learned by study and practice conxbined. 



A feature of the work is the large number of 

 excellent illustrations, mostly from photographs, 

 which a] itly denionstrate the author's directions and 

 explanations. The pruning of all the chief fruits 

 grown in British and Irish gardens is ably dealt with, 

 including a]>iiles, pears, plums, cherries, and 

 biisli fruits generally. All the various kinds of 

 liruniug arc discussed and explained, such as 

 summer ])runing, pinching, disbudding, &c., and 

 useful cha])ters are included on pruning Roses 

 and flowering shrubs, the latter being but im- 

 perfectly understood by a great many gardeners 

 still. Grafting and budding are lucidly ex- 

 plained and freely illustrated, so that even the 

 novice after reading may try his hand with 

 every lioiie of success. 



At the end a list of stocks for various trees and 

 shrubs is quoted from M. Charles Baltet's book, 

 but we strongly disapprove of the advice to 

 graft Cotoneaster and Medlar on Seedling White 

 Hawthorn. Anyone who has had experience of 

 a large collection of shrubs knows full well the 

 wretched I'esult of grafting Cotoneaster on 

 Thorn, and there is no need for it, as cuttings 

 strike freely and seeds are usually produced in 

 abundance. 



Fungoid Diseases of Farm and 

 Garden Crops, t 



This should i)rove a useful work for the practical 

 farmer and gardener who wishes to know some- 

 thing of the life liistory of the chief diseases to 

 which cultivated plants are subject. It is not a 

 large volume, but mu(-h information, simi)ly and 

 lucidly set forth, is contained within the covers, 

 ai\d the illustrations of many Fungi and their 

 methods of reproduction are good, and supple- 

 ment the text admirably. 



'{'he work is divided into six chapters, the 

 lirst and longest containing general information : 



♦Published by W. & H. Smith Ltd., The Journal Press, 

 Kvcsham. Is. 6d. nett. 



thereafter five chapters are devoted to diseases 

 of various classes of plants, as cereals, legu- 

 mmous plants, potatoes, crucifers, mangels, &c., 

 while a useful appendix deals with diseases of 

 farm animals. An excellent index concludes 

 this little volume, which we have found most 

 readable, mosii informing, and which, we believe, 

 will prove valuable to all those whose business 

 it is to grow plants either in the garden or on the 

 farm. 



Irish Eclogues.* 



Tins little book of verse breathes the atiiu.s- 

 phere of the coimtryside and life on a farm. 

 The author has caught the spirit of rural life, 

 and evidently prefers the country to the city. 

 Cleverly he depicts much of the routine work on 

 a farm, and while not ignoring the hard labour 

 often entailed, yet expresses finely the joy of 

 work for its own sake. Much of the joy and 

 humour of country life is laid before us, while 

 the beauty which the author sees everywhere, 

 in sunshine and storm, on mountain, nieadow, 

 and lake, is brought home in the poems he has 

 given us. 



The avithor has added a footnote in Irish with 

 an English translation, the object of which 

 ai)]3ears to be to impress readers with the ad- 

 vance made in Ireland in the tise of the Ii-isli 

 language. We doubt if there is much real ad- 

 vance, and recent events do not make us hopeful 

 that the ancient language of Ireland will ever 

 return to its former place in the life of the nation. 



^* ^* ^* 



CEnothera Nuttallii. 



This (diarming little species, which was not 

 mentioned in the notes on " ffinotheras for the 

 Rock Grarden " in last month's Irish Gardening, 

 is one of the best, and was to be seen on the 

 rockery at Glasnevin, where it flowered for a long- 

 time during the summer. It is a dwarf grower, 

 flourishing in a loose sandy soil, and spreading by 

 \mdergroimd runners. The flowers are yellow, 

 scarcely exceeding the leaves, whi(di are narrow 

 and about (i inches long, in no way coarse as in 

 some species. 



Most catalogues describe CE. Xvittallii as having 

 ])ink or white flowers, but obviously there is some 

 confusion regarding the true species. 



A friend who is in an excellent position to get 

 first hand infornuition writes : — " Gray's type 

 specimens apparently have yellow flowers, and 

 in his original descri])ti()n he' puts two s])ecies — • 

 this and bi'cvillora- -in a section, and says (lowers 

 ]iale yellow or white. Leveille in his iiionogra))!! 

 of CEnothera says : (E. Nuttallii. \-ell()w. jtassing 

 to red. Howell in the Flora of X. \V. Americii, 

 says : I'sually white." 



It a])pears therefore that th(>re is more than one 

 plant known as (E. Nuttallii. hut as the ty])e 

 s])ecimens of Torr and (iray. who :\vo tlie 

 authorities for the name, aic yellow, (his plant 

 must be accepted 'as the tvnv oue. 



.1. 13. 



■j- Published by Longmans ,G!rocn & (' 

 How, London. Price 2s. nott. 



ISPatei-noster 



*Bv E. E. Lysaght. I'uhlishcd hy Jfaanstd & Co., 

 Ltd., 96 Middle Abbey St., Dublin. Price 3s. nett. 



