IRISH GARDENING. 



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The Reader 



Fruit Trees and their Enemies, with a Spraying 

 Calendar. By Spencer Pickerings and Fred. V. Theo- 

 bald. Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co., 

 Ltd. — .^ book on the treatment of fruit trees against the 

 attacks of insect and fungal enemies by two such 

 authorities cannot fail to command the attention and 

 gain the confidence of fruit growers. It is convenient 

 in size, and may be purchased at the modest price of 

 eighteen pence. It starts with two short chapters 

 giving the characteristics of insects and fungi, followed 

 by three others devoted to general advice on spraying 

 and on appliances and material, the latter giving clearly 

 worded instructions for the making up of 28 mixtures 

 recommended for use in the pages following. The rest 

 of the book is taken up with detailed descriptions of the 

 various " pests" and the remedies to be applied, con- 

 cluding with a spraying calendar convenient for ready 

 reference during the year. With the exception of the 

 vine, out-door fruits only are dealt with. We strongly 

 recommend all readers interested in fruit-growing to 

 obtain the booklet, and to follow the instructions therein 

 given whenever the occasion arises for its advice to be 

 sought. 



The Friit Growers' Year Book (1909). The 

 Cable Publishing Co., Ltd. — This is a shilling annual 

 devoted to the fruit growing and market gardening in- 

 dustrv, and as it is in its seventeenth year of issue it 

 must have a well established "sphere of usefulness" 

 among fruit growers. Its contents include a calendar of 

 gardening operations, a review of legal cases of the 

 past vear, list of leading trade societies, and numerous 

 articles upon subjects of special interest to market 

 gardeners. It is illustrated with sepia-tint plates. 



Handbook of Hardy Trees and Shries. By 

 George Bunyard. Published by George Bunyard & 

 Co., Ltd., Maidstone. — The scope of this little publica- 

 tion is described in the sub-title, "a popular guide to the 

 most useful park trees, evergreen and flowering shrubs, 

 and ornamental trees." The use of shrubs and trees in 

 decorative gardening is getting more and more popular 

 every year, and an inexpensive reference handbook, 

 written by an author who has devoted much time and 

 attention to the subject, will be welcomed by many 

 gardeners, professional and amateur. The increasing 

 popularity of flowering shrubs is not far to seek. " To the 

 amateur cultivator," as the author points out, "one 

 advantage they possess is cheapness, as for a £^ note 

 he may buy 100 distinct varieties or fifty of the choicest 

 for the same sinn. Further, they require no special soil 

 or position, except in a few cases which will be noted 

 hereafter, and for elegance, boldness, grace, and contrast 



with their evergreen brethren they stand out pointedlv, 

 and even without flower and foliage alone entitles many 

 of them to a position of importance, ranging as it does 

 from the mossy Tamarisk to the 18-inch leaves of 

 Paulo wnia." The first four chapters are devoted to park 

 .md paddock trees, specimen trees for lawns and gardens, 

 conifers and evergreen shrubs, respectively. Chapter \'. 

 is a reprint of the author's paper, read before the Royal 

 Horticultural Society of England, on a year's notes 

 on deciduous and evergreen flowering and ornamental 

 shrubs and trees, brought up to the present year. It is 

 an important chapter, interesting and instructive, and 

 contains a mass of information most useful to the 

 amateur. The book concludes with lists of shrubs and 

 trees under definite headings, such as trees and shrubs 

 for shelter, seaside planting, rockeries, &c. The pages 

 are brightened by illustrations drawn in bold outline by 

 Francis L. B. Bunyard. It costs 3s. 6d. 



Thirty-nine Articles on Gardening. By Emmeline 

 Crocker. London : Dulan & Co. — The thirty-nine articles 

 here brought together originally appeared in the pages 

 of the World newspaper, and are mainly descriptive of a 

 C3'cle of gardening operations in the flower garden and 

 pleasure grounds throughout the four seasons of the 

 year. The matter is simple, practicable, and pleasantly 

 written, but we fear that the too free use of italics will 

 prove somewhat tiresome to the reader. The writer is 

 a botanist as well as an enthusiastic gardener, and the 

 chapters are full of explanations of botanical terms and 

 flower descriptions, which are worked in w'ith interest. 

 She is also a traveller, and has made good use of her 

 knowledge of gardens in different parts of the world in 

 the descriptive parts of the book. Two of the articles 

 are devoted to the Botanic Gardens at Glasnevin, in 

 which the writer says : "In placing them second I refer 

 only to size, expenditure and staff'. As far as a collec- 

 tion of specimens, their cultivation and general organisa- 

 tion are concerned, they take no second place, but are 

 serious rivals to other botanical gardens all over the 

 world." The book is very attractively got up, clearly 

 printed, tastefully bound, and illustrated bj' seven 

 coloured plates, the work of the authoress herself. It 

 would make a pleasing gift-book for a beginner. 



Current Topics. 



By E. Knowldin, F. R. H.S., Secretary, Royal Horti- 

 cultural Society of Ireland. 



APROPOS of an action taken by the Department of 

 Agriculture against farmers for breach of agree- 

 ment by neglecting the fruit trees supplied to 

 them {/fish Times^ January l8th), the term of which 

 agreement one ventures to think reasonable enough one 

 is reminded of the troubles of those sent out by the 

 Department to preach the gospel of better things. Once 

 upon a time, it must be confessed, we thought the lot of 

 our horticultural instructors was cast in very pleasant 

 places, as Ihey glid (or glode) about the country roads — 

 we mean footpaths — on their " bikes " at the rate of a 

 penny a mile or whatever is allowed to grease the 

 wheels, and dropped in here and there to show Pat how- 

 to prune and to sample Biddy's buttermilk or other 

 dust disposer. One of our horticultural instructors, 



