MARCH 



IRISH GARDENING. 



41 



but it is easier to order tlieni by name than to 

 get what you order. 



Strangely enouu;h, thoug"h this tree is so 

 hard)- and prolific with us, it is not a common 

 tree in its own home, and there these varieties 

 are almost unknown. 



Lawson's cypress is often contused with other 

 cypress, and with the different thuias. An easy 

 way to recognise a cypress is that its leading 

 shoot is always drooping over in a tassel, while 

 with a thuia it stands bravely upright. 



A WORK of much importance to fruit growers will be 

 published during the present month by Mr. Fred. \'. 

 Theobald, M.A., the well-known economic entomologist 

 of the South Eastern Agricultural College, Wye, Kent. 

 It is to be abundantly illustrated with photographic 

 illustrations made expressly for the work. We hope to 

 give a review of the book next month. 



In our issue of November last we published a letter 

 from Mr. Seabrook which commenced with the words - 

 "During my recent travels in Ireland I was much 

 struck with the terrible prevalence of the apple sucker 

 {Psy^a ma/i) in practically every orchard I visited." 

 Knowing that Mr. Theobald was making a study of 

 this pest in English orchards we asked him to write an 

 article for the benefit of Irish fruit growers. This he 

 has most kindly done, and we call the special attention 

 of gardeners and fruit farmers to his authoritative com- 

 munication in the present issue. 



W'e wish to draw the attCTition of secretaries of 

 local horticultural shows to a proposed series ot 

 articles which will appear in Irish Gardening in 

 the issues of June, July, and August next. The 

 articles are intended for the guidance of exhibitors 

 at Irish shows, and will be written by experts, who 

 will explain clearly the points of perfection to be 

 aimed at both in growing and in showing horticultural 

 exhibits. The idea was suggested in a letter from Mr. 

 Harold Smith, joint honorary secretary of the Midland 

 Counties Association, whose annual show at Athlone 

 has developed into an event of national importance in 

 the industrial life of Ireland. 



Mr. William Davidson, of the Carton Park Gardens, 

 Maynooth, whose contributions to recent numbers of 

 Irish Gardening have been so much appreciated by its 

 readers, is on the point of leaving Ireland to fill an 

 important appointment in the Plant Department at the 

 Dell Gardens, Englefield Green, Surrey. We sincerely 

 wish him success in his new duties, and feel sure that all 

 readers of Irish Gardening will join heartily in the same 

 wish, as also in the hope that Mr. Davidson will continue 

 his connection with the journal. 



Potato Tests, County Longford. —From the results 

 of a series of test experiments carried out by the county 

 committee the variety Dalhousie gave the best yield in 

 evarj- case (13 tons 4 cwt. per acre) and is, therefore, 



recommended as a good cropping potato for field use. 

 The most profitable manure for potatoes was found to 

 be 4 cwt. superphosphate, i cwt. sulphate of ammonia, 

 I cwt. muriate of potash, with about 15 tons farmyard 

 manure per statifte acre. Another series of experiments 

 showed the great advantage of using sprouted sets, 

 there being an increased yield of saleable potatoes equal 

 to two and a half tons per acre. In the recently issued 

 annual report on the agricultural scheme of the County- 

 Longford (from which the foregoing facts are extracted) 

 there is an instructive sub-report on the local progress 

 made in horticulture, together with a mass of very- 

 practical information on the subjects of fruit culture 

 and bee-keeping by the County Horticultural Instructor 

 (.Mr. Wm. Johnston). 



Mr. Wm. Bavlor Hartland, writing from Ard 

 Cairn, Cork, tells us that the first early daffodils 

 (Cernuus) have been in flower in his nursery since 

 February the 4th. .\ lot of .\rd Cairn-raised yellow 

 seedlings, loo, were in full flower during the 

 month. He adds that " this will be the first intima- 

 tion from all Ireland, I think. We h^ve had no 

 frosts all winter and very little snow." In the rest 

 of his letter Mr. Hartland himself bursts into flower 

 (of speech) over the supposed merils of this little 

 monthly, but modesty forbids their quotation. 



Bit we cannot resist the temptation of quoting an appre- 

 ciation received from over the seas in far away Canada. 

 Mr. James Bennett, writingfrom Ottawa, Ontaria, says — 

 "Of all the papers and journals that I peruse none 

 gives me so much satisfaction and genuine pleasure as 

 does your publication. It is an evidence uncontrover- 

 tible that with all its vicissitudes the love for the beautiful 

 still survives in the minds and hearts of the men and 

 women of mother Erin. ' 



" The Sweet Pea Annual." 



.All sweet pea lovers who were present at the great 

 show- of sweet peas in Earlsfort Terrace last August 

 will welcome the advent of The S^veet Pea Annual. It 

 gives full particulars of the varieties shown at the 

 Dublin exhibition as well as of those exhibited at the 

 London Show in July last ; these statistics are invaluable 

 to all growers of sweet peas, and especially to those 

 who grow for e.xhibition. The ".-Annual" contains 

 interesting articles on subjects most attractive to the 

 enthusiastic grower, such as "Winter Flowering and 

 Earh' Sweet Peas," "Recent Developments among 

 Sweet Peas," " Mendelism as Applied to Sw-eel Peas," 

 &c. &c., and it records the cultural experience last 

 year of most of the important growers in Great Britain 

 and Ireland, as well as giving an account of the sweet 

 pea trials that were held at Reading. 



The National Sweet Pea Society is flourishing. Its 

 membership is now nearly 1,000, and increasing 

 rapidly every year. The "Annual" is its official organ, 

 and it is sent free to all members. The annual sub- 

 scription is only 5s., giving free entry at the shows and 

 free admission, as well as copies of all the society's 

 publications. Outsiders can procure the " Annual " for 

 2s. , post free, from the hon. secretary, Mr. C. H, 

 Curtis, Adelaide Road, Brentford, Middlesex. 



