IRISH GARDENING. 



Summer Spraying. 



Co.NTINL INi; our notes on sprayers and spravinjf «e 

 would draw the attention of fruit-growers to the 

 necessity of using: iis fine a spray and as stronj^^ a 

 spraying' force as possible for summer work. For 

 such subjects as the American blig-ht onlv a strong 

 spra^- is able to 

 force the k i 1 1- 

 ing fluid through 

 the woolly' ma- 

 terial that acis 

 as a natural pro 

 taction to the 

 sucking aphis. 

 Another point to 

 remember is that 

 when spra\ing 

 I rees in leaf see 

 that the under 

 surfaces of the 

 leaves receive 

 the spra}', as it is 

 usually on the 

 luider or shad\' 

 and damper side 

 of the leaf that 

 the fungal para- 

 sites push out 



THE "WARWICK -KV.iER.X OF SPRAYER j.^j^ ^^^^ ^-^ ^^^ 



liberate their spores. Again, spray foliage in the late 

 evening or early morning, never in brilliant sunshine. .As 

 to sprayers we give an illustration of another type suit- 

 able for spraying low trees or bushes (to a height of about 

 12 feet) called the " Warwick," and manufactured by the 

 " Four Oaks " Co. It has a capacity of six gallons, 

 and is listed a.t£i 7s. 6d. It can also be used for white- 

 washing walls, and seems to be an exceedinglv con- 

 venient little machine for the owners of small gardens. 

 .Attention to spraying will keep trees in health and con- 

 duce to fruitfulness. 



Notes. 



The March number of the journal of the English 

 Board of .Agriculture contains a useful article on nai-- 

 cissus cultivation. .According to the writer, the cultiva- 

 tion of narcissi for profit may be undertaken by those 

 occupying small holdings and allotments, and in con- 

 junction with other crops they may be grown with 

 " every prospect of yielding the grower a profitable 

 return on his capital." The article deals with the ele- 

 mentary principles of bulb growing, dealing first with 

 the growth of bulbs for sale as bulbs, and secondiv as 

 blooms. .A balance-sheet is published giving the in- 

 come and expenditure oii an acre, showing an annual 

 profit of £.32 13s. 2d. 



Late spring frosts are much more harmful to plants 

 than winter frosts, and are therefore held in greater 

 dread by gardeners. The difference in eflFect between 

 the one and the other depends upon the presence of 



water in the tissues of the leafy shoots starling into 

 growth. The cells, plump with sap during the day, are 

 unable to keep their full complement of water when the 

 temperature runs down to freezing. The water escapes 

 into the air spaces between the cells, and there gets 

 changed into crj'stals of ice. .-Vs a rule, the amount of 

 injury depends upon the rate of thawing of this intertial 

 ice; if slow, little or no harm will result ; if rapid, the 

 water resulting from the thaw spreads throughout the 

 air spaces and kills the tissues. This is why a warm 

 morning sun following a night of frost in spring is cal- 

 culated to do a considerable amount of harm to young 

 shoots. 



The Kilkenny Horticultural Society sends us the 

 schedule of its fifth annual exhibition of fruit, flowers, 

 vegetables and honey to be held at the Court House, 

 Kilkenny, on September ist. There are 107 classes, 

 with a generous list of prizes, including two silver 

 challenge cups, presented by the hon. sec, Mr. S. A. 

 Jones, of Gowran. One of these cups is for sweet peas 

 in the amateur section. The entrance fee for each 

 exhibit in the cottagers' cla.sses is id. All exhibits are 

 carted free from the railwaj' station to the show 

 grourds. 



Pots for plant-growing are in use (or ought to be in 

 use) in every home. But although so commonly used 

 comparatively few people, outside the ranks of profes- 

 sional gardeners, really know how to use them. Because 

 the pots are filled with earth many would-be gardeners 

 imagine that "dirt" on either surface of the pot does 

 not matter, because the^- unthinkingly imagine that 

 earth and dirt are one and the same, whereas Ihev are, 

 of course, as different as is homespun wool from shoddj-. 

 .A good pot is, and ought to be, kept porous, and nothing 

 should be allowed to collect on either surface to inter- 

 rupt the free passage of air. 



Perry's Slpplementarv List of Perennials is an 

 illustrated catalogue of new, rare, or specially attractive 

 old plants not given in his general catalogue. .A very 

 interesting list, all the more valuable becau.se of the full 

 descriptions given in so many cases. Issued I'roni Hardy 

 Plant Farm, Enfield, Middlesex. 



.Asp.VRBOUS requires special condition.s. It is a rank 

 feeder, it requires good drainage and a good depth of 

 liighlj-manured soil in which to grow well. Where these 

 conditions are wanting at the start, after-cultivation 

 fails to make it profitable. When planted properly it 

 produces good crops for many years. Whether grown 

 in single lines or in beds, in the good old-fashioned way, 

 it must have deeply-trenched ground, heavily manured. 

 .As well as this, to keep it growing to perfection, it 

 requires regul.tr feeding with liquid manure and a 

 monthly dressing of salt during the growing season. 

 It also requires an annual mulching of good farm- 

 yard manure applied before start of grow-lh. Where 

 the land is of a heavy, clayey nature, .sand and lime 

 rubbish incorporated with it is beneficial. The seed 

 may be .sown at the end of the month in lines about 

 eighteen inches apart, and the plants finally thinned to 

 about the same distance in the lines, or even less. The 

 time to transplant is when the growths first start, 



