IRISH GARDENING. 



73 



junction with a dressing of tiung applied every 

 two or three years. 



Professor Percival has placed g-ardeners under 

 a debt of gratitude for providing them with 

 such a handy little book, so full of information, 

 so accurate, so lucid, and so cheap. 



Mr. F. \V. Hammond, a well known fruit grower in 

 Essex, writing' in The Garden, draws attention to a 

 tieslructlve fungal disease of the gooseberry, causing, 

 it is said, almost as much damage as the dreaded 

 gooseberry mildew. The trouble is brought about by a 

 species of Botrytris (B. rineria), which attack the young 

 shoots, and eventually kills them. A serious fact in con- 

 nection with this disease is that the fungus is able to grow 

 on "most garden plants and many kinds of weeds," so 

 that once introduced it is most difficult to eradicate. 

 \\"e will treat the subject more fully next month. 



A " Life of Philibert Commerson," the great naturalist, 

 traveller, and collector of plants, has just been issued by 

 John Murray. Commerson was born near the city of 

 Lyons in 17.^7, and dviring his life exercised a great 

 influence upon the study of botany and the art of 

 gardening throughout the countries of Europe. He 

 was a great traveller, and in his explorations in 

 Mauritius, Madagascar, India, and China collected some 

 3,000 new species and 60 new genera of plants, a large 

 number of which he himself described. He died in 1773. 



Larcje works have been laid down at Carnlough, 

 Co. Antrim, for the purpose of manufacturing sulphate of 

 ammonia from peat. The process consists of passing a 

 mixture of air and water vapour over the peat, kept at a 

 low grade of heat in specially devised furnaces. Dr. 

 W'alter-eck, the inventor, in a paper read before the Ro\'al 

 Dublin Society, said that a yield of 5 percent, of sulphate 

 of ammoni^l on actual dry peat may be obtained, and 

 that acetic acid and paraffin tar are also produced as 

 secondary products. The ash left behind contains 

 potash, lime, and phosphoric acid, and is saleable as 

 a cheap fertiliser. 



During last month the great international show of 

 the year was held at Berlin under the auspices of the 

 Prussian Horticultural Society. No such show lias 

 been attempted in Germany for the last 20 years, and 

 apparently everything was done that was possible to do 

 to make the show a success. The exhibition grounds 

 covered about 2]4 acres, and the show continued for a 

 fortnight's time. The Gnriieiiers Chronicle, commenting 

 on the exhibition, says — "Like most of the Continental 

 shows the Berlin show is remarkable for the good taste 

 evinced in the arrangement of the exhibits. In this 

 respect, though not in the excellence of the individual 

 classes, the Berlin show is superior to the exhibitions to 

 which we are accustomed in this country. In Berlin 

 each several exhibit contributes to the general 

 harmony. There is but little need for stages since 

 most of the plants are bedded out in natural groups. 

 The pots for the most part are hidden. There are no 

 obstructive labels, and any architectual features in the 

 building that are considered inelegant are either draped 

 with pleasing colours or covered with branches of 

 spruce." 



The Flowering Currants 

 Ribes. 



By J. W. Bi:s.\NT, Giasuevin. 



Tl 1 1'^ common name of i-'lowering Currant 

 is iisuall}' applied onlv tc"i Ribes sii/i- 

 t;iiinciim and its \arieties, hut, though 

 on the whole it is perhaps the most showy 

 species, there are others well worth growing. 

 The genus is important to gardeners, containing 

 as it does the gooseberry, the red and wlilte 

 currants, and the black currant. 



While all the species will respond to good 

 culture quite as readily as those grown in the 

 fruit garden, very special conditions are not 

 essential except perhaps for R. spcciosuin, a 

 Californian species which succeeds best when 

 grown against a sunny wall with sufficient 

 moisture at the base to ensure satisfactor) 

 growth. 



The flowers are commonly prciduced on shoots 

 of the previous year, as well as on spurs, so 

 that pruning should take the torm of thinning- 

 out of old growths, as is done with R. ))ign(iu, 

 the black currant. Propagation, too, may be 

 eff'ected by means of cuttings prepared and 

 treated in the same way as those of currants 

 and gooseberries in the fruit garden. 



The genus is now included in the natural 

 order Saxifrageac, all the species being shrubs 

 varying in height from 2 feet up to 6 or 8 feet ; 

 sometimes spiny as in the gooseberry, with 

 leaves generally lobed and the flowers produced 

 in few or many-flowered racemes. 



Ribes alpinnm. a European species said to be 

 found wild in some parts of Britain, attains a 

 height of about 4 feet, bears erect racemes of 

 yellow flowers, followed in autuinn by bright, 

 red berries ; leaves usually three-lobed and 

 hairy. 



R. alpiiiuDi pinnihun, a dwarter form, is a 

 suitable shrub for the rock garden. 



R. aniericanum, the wild black currant of 

 .America, is valuable for the beautiful purple 

 bronze of the leaves in late autumn. The 

 flowers are white and the leaves variously 

 lobed and serrate. 



R. auretivi, the Buffalo currant of N. W. 

 .America, is fairly common in gardens. Flowers 

 yellow, leaves smooth and threc-lohed, colour- 

 ing a beautiful clear yellow in autumn. Height , 

 T feet to 6 feet. 



