IRISH GARDENING. 



January 



value as a fence, and in llie meantime a temporary fence 

 must be erected, not alone to protect the g^arden, but 

 also the youns hedge, for if the tender shoots of the 

 latter are eaten off by goats or other animals the hedge 

 will never come to anything. 



Having secured the garden against trespassers, the 

 next point for consideration is what to grow, and the 

 following should find a place in evcrj' garden, however 

 small— viz., peas, broad beans, kidney beans, parsnips, 

 carrots, white turnips, onions, leeks, celery, lettuce, 

 cabbage, cauliflowers, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, 

 rhubarb, parsley, sage, thyme. There are many other 

 wholesome vegetables, but for a cottager the above are 

 enough to start with. In most cases a small package 

 of seed will be sufficient, but seed should be obtained 

 from a reliable source. 



The arrangement of the different crops in the garden 

 will claim attention, and it is often found that certain 

 parts of a garden are better suited for growing certain 

 vegetables than others ; thus, part of it may be higher 

 and more exposed to sun and air. Such a situation is 

 well adapted for growing early peas, beans, potatoes, 

 cauliflowers, and for seed beds. The lower portion 

 would be suitable for parsnips, turnips, rhubarb, cab- 

 bage, &c. A systematic rotation of crops is necessary 

 in the garden as on the farm ; and one great advan- 

 tage of rotation of crops is that it is a great means of 

 keeping injurious insects and fungoid disease in check. 



To conclude, let no time be lost in preparing the 

 garden for cropping in spring, and remember that the 

 two great essentials to success are deep tillage of the 

 soil and the use of suitable manures. Well-rotted farm- 

 jard manure should be used, digging it in deeply, and 

 this may be supplemented later on by the use of arti- 

 ficial maiuires, wood ashes, &c. 



Hardy Shrubs. 



Escallonia Exoniensis. 



IH-iWE been much interested in the notes " Hardy- 

 Shrubs" in the November issue of Irish Gardening. 

 There cannot be the least doubt about the present 

 importance of this subject, increasing variety in the 

 shrub life of gardens being everywhere noticeable, and 

 nursery catalogues are adding yearly to lists already 

 replete with names of beautiful, and none too common, 

 hard}' shrubs ; the writer of the notes alluded to 

 above most timely mentions a fact that is worth re- 

 membering -viz. , "hardiness in this instance must be 

 taken as an elastic term, for a shrub may be hardy in 

 one locality and not at all so in another." 



This complex question of hardiness would be to a 

 great extent resolved for many readers if others who — 

 in various districts — have experience in their cultivation 

 would contribute notes about rare or uncommon sub- 

 jects, giving an idea of their hardiness by a comparison 

 (not necessarily odious) with some well known and gene- 

 rally grown shrub that suffers more or less from the 

 severity of our winter and spring frost and wind, and yet 

 almost always make good the damage during the ensuing 

 growing season — Escallonia macratitha and Laurcstinn^ 

 for instance. I am sure the Editor would welcome 



such m.itter as being of interest and value to many en- 

 gaged in Irish gardening. 



Thinking thus I have ventured to write this, and 

 mention a shrub by no means common that would com- 

 mend itself to many if its merits were better known, 

 and trust that other readers with longer and wider 

 experience will give of their abundance. 



Escallonia exoniensis, said to be a hybrid, is here — in a 

 light gravelly soil of varying depth, resting on gravel, 

 and a position open to the south and south-east — a 

 hardy evergreen and handsome flowering shrub. It 

 attained a height and width of 12 ft. and 8 ft. respec- 

 tively in seven years, being about 20 inches high when 

 planted in this by no means sheltered garden, its white 

 flowers — in form and arrangement similar to those of 

 the well known E. macranilin, but smaller — are borne 

 on almost every branchlet m summer, and thence till 

 November, and sometimes later. It is rarely floweriess. 

 The leaves are smooth, glossy, and dark green, smaller 

 than and without the stickiness and odour peculiar 

 to those of the latter species. It forms a handsome and 

 well furnished specimen with little or no pruning, and 

 will readily lend itself to restrictive treatment if space 

 or taste require or demand it : and indeed where 

 E. macrantha is used to form screens, hedges, &c. , 

 E. exoniensis, being equally hardy, could be similarly 

 employed, and if both were combined in such uses the 

 result would be very pleasing. 



The plant above described has never suffered the 

 slightest injur\' from seasonal severity, but others 

 e.xposed to unbroken east winds are sometimes more or 

 less injured— in common with the better known species 

 mentioned — on the side so exposed, but so far the 

 injury has been partial and made good the following 

 growing season. 



This plant has seeded freely here, and self-sown seed- 

 lings came up around and beneath it for the past three 

 years. Thev varv in colour of flower, being mostly 

 pinky red. E. C. D. 



Royal Horticultural Society of Ireland. 



AT a special council meeting held at the societj's 

 offices, 5 Molesworth Street, Dublin, December 

 3rd, a nice vase of carnations came from the 

 gardens of Colonel the Hon. C. F. Crichton, Mulla- 

 boden, Co. Kildare. These were set up by that expert 

 camationist, Mr. W. J. Mitchison, to whom was 

 awarded a first-class cultural certificate on the unani- 

 mous vote of the council. The varieties consisted of 

 perfect blooms of Hritannia (scarlet) and .Mrs. Burnett 

 (blush). From an amateur's greenhouse came specimens 

 of the curious and interestiug climber, Physianthus 

 albens (see illustration), bearing green, corrugated, 

 irregularly shaped fruits approximating in size to a 

 lemon. The grower had raised the plant from seed 

 sent from South -Africa some five years ago, and the 

 plant, after being cut back at this sea.son, annually fur- 

 nishes the roof of a somewhat lofty house, producing 

 the peculiar fruit in profusion, which, by the way, is 

 not edible. As showing the good temper of the season 

 and locality, Mr. Gerald Carroll, gardener at Sutton 

 House, sent in a collection of various things cut from 



