IRISH GARDENING 



187 



fr<anu'S .should be examined, removing dead or 

 dei-ayint;- leaves and loosening the soil. Afford 

 water with care, but in most cases it will only 

 be neees.sary where hot water ])ipes are euiployed. 

 Ventilate freely on every suitable occasion, and 

 see that the glass is thoroughly clean. 



The Fruit Garden. 



By Alfred Barker, Gardener to Lady Fitz' 

 Gerald, Carrigoran, Co. Clare. 



J UDGING by the weather conditions in this locality 

 so far as November has passed away, it is very 

 doubtful if such operations as planting, lifting, 

 root pruning, &c., can have been carried out to as 

 satisfactory or desirable extent as could be wished 

 for in November ; the first three or four days here 

 were favourable enough for any kind of work 

 auiongst fruit trees, but quite suddenly a period 

 of unusually stormy and wet weather set in, such 

 as we rarely experience so early in November ; 

 during the week ending Saturday, 13th, the rain- 

 fall here was nearly four inches, inchiding hail 

 and snowstorms, this rendering the ground un- 

 pleasant to survey, and working on it quite out 

 of the question. Wherever such conditions have 

 delayed planting, &c., no possible opportunity 

 should be lost for pushing on such work as far as 

 possible before Christmas, and I would recom- 

 mend even getting throvigh the work with the 

 ground somewhat on the wet side, rather than 

 allow it to hang on over to the new year in the 

 expectation of better weather conditions with the 

 turn of the season, as a wet November does not 

 by any means portend a drier termination of the 

 winter. All kinds of i)runing should also be 

 ])ushed on qtiickly, so that tlie requisite manuring 

 and digging niay not be unduly delayed, and have 

 to be carried out too late for the soil to be well 

 pulverised and settled down before new growth 

 commences. 



Bush fruit squares and borders should be dug 

 as soon as cleared of prunings, &c.; currants of all 

 kinds should receive a reasonable allowance of 

 decayed farmyard manure annually, if they are 

 to be kept in robust growth and carry heavy 

 crops of fruit and gooseberries such as are requu'ed 

 to produce fine ripe fruit for dessert or exhibition, 

 &c., should be liberally manured, otherwise a dres 

 ing of farmyard manure biennially will surficc for 

 gooseberries. As the digging of the sciuai-cs pro- 

 ceeds, remove the surface soil under the bushes, to 

 about the spread of the branches, until a few roots 

 are met with, then spread the manure over the 

 cleared ground. The removed surface soil should 

 be deeply buried in the digging or trench between 

 rows of trees, and the manure covered over with 

 dean soil from the ground between trees. The 

 burying of this surface soil tends, to a great 

 extent, to ward off attacks of gooseberry cater- 

 •pillars. The larva? of the gooseberry sawfly 

 usually winters in the ground underneath the 

 bushes that have been infested, so that the 

 removal and deep burial of the surface soil 

 destroys this larvae, thus very largely destrojing 

 the embryo caterpillars. A liandful or two of 

 basic slag sprinkled around eacli tree over the 

 fresh digging is a very beneficial addition for all 

 bush fruits. 



It is very advisable to i>ut in a. bali h of cuttings 

 of bush fruits, so that a few bushes may be at any 



time available to rejilace worn out or sickly 

 bushes, and to increase any iiarticularly desirable 

 varieties ; this also means healthy clean stock, 

 an important matter in these times, while the 

 destructive^gooseberry mildew, currant mite, &c., 

 are so prevalent and troublesome Cuttings 

 should be made from straight clean shoots, of 

 moderate thickness, ot last summer's growth ; 

 cut tile shoots in lengths of about 18 inches, the 

 buds should be removed from lower part of red 

 and white currants and gooseberries, retaining 

 only a few buds at top of cutting, so that the 

 ultimate bush may have a clean stem over ground. 

 Black currant cuttings may be inserted as cut 

 from the bush, unless it is intended to i)r(iduce 

 bushes with a stem, in this case the lower buds 

 must be cut out, though black currants are more 

 satisfactory grown with branches from ground 

 level ; if grown with a stem and head of branches, 

 autunm winds frequentlv break many of the 

 young shoots awav. and siioil buslirs alloyvtlK r. 

 Wlicn inserting the nitlin-s. a pailia]l\ slia(l,.(l or 

 out-of-the-way position suits tlicni hcst ; they 

 may be inserted in lines a foot or more apart, 

 with six inches or more between the cuttings. 

 About half the cuttings should be inserted in the 

 ground, and all made quite firm, with surface of 

 ground left ciuite fine and well closed in about the 

 cuttings. 



As the larger fruits are finished pruning, any 

 favourable opportunity for spi'aying should be 

 availed of, and especially where trees are badly 

 infi sted with moss and lichens, &c., and which 

 are to be sprayed with a caustic wash ; in such 

 cases it is quite possible when spraying is left 

 over to the new year that the weather ((uiditions 

 may prevent thorough spraying until the season 

 is so far advanced as to render the use of cavistic 

 si)rays injurious to swelling buds ; early spraying 

 of such subjects also gives an opportunity of 

 detecting such ])arts (if any) as may have been 

 missed, or not sufficiently wetted to destroy 

 lichen, &c., and these could then be sprayed a 

 second time to complete the destruction of pests. 



Where apple and pear scab has been prevalent 

 during past season, winter spraying is also a very 

 valuable preliminary to spring spraying for this 

 troviblesome fungoid ])est ; and for this 1 think I 

 may, without transgicssing on tlie s|)ecial claims 

 of any maker's coiiiiiounds. leroninieiid a com- 

 plete spraying of apple and pear trees, with a 

 solution of sulphate of copper, 1 H). of the suljdiate 

 t^> ten gallons of water; this spraying to be 

 followed up in si)ring-time, as advised, with one 

 of the nuiny compounds prepared to combat scab 

 attacks. The sulphate of copper, in such 

 quantity as may be deemed sufficient iov the trees 

 to be sprayed, may be tied up in a piece of canvas 

 or fairly porous bag, and susjieuded in the water 

 vmtil comijletely dissolved ; the mixture is then 

 ready for use. It should be dissolved in a wooden 

 tub or barrel. Carefully s]jray every i)article of 

 the tries. ])aying jiarticular attention to old 

 coriugated stems and coarse bark. When 

 applying to wall trees, if the branches are loosened 

 from' the wall to ensure back of branch being 

 sprayed, so jnuch the better, but in any case 

 spray all that can i)ossibly be rt>athed of the ])arts 

 of trees next the wall. Trees in the open must 

 also t)e thorougJd_\ sprayed. 



I'runing antl nailing of wall trees should be got 

 through so far as possible this month, making 

 the most of any time when weather ])ermits ot 

 this work being carried on. A piece of board or 



