IRISH GARDENING. 



hedges ; for that is another advantage tliey 

 possess over yew, they have a most deliciously 

 fragrant, fresh, pine wood smell that steals out 

 on the air after a hot summer's day in a most 

 refreshing manner ; and still another advantage, 

 the midges hate that smell. 



Plain hedges are best kept cut narrower 

 above than below. A five-foot hedge might be one 

 foot on top by three feet on the ground. This 

 lets more light to the foot of the hedge and keeps 

 it absolutely dense right down to the ground, 

 so that a mouse could not run under it or a 

 bird squeeze its way into it. Now, if you will not 

 have my pretty monsters and have no place for 

 a plain hedge, or have all the hedges you 

 want, you are still lacking in one thing for 

 which I am sure you can find room. Choose 

 a spot sheltered as well as may be from winds 

 and open to the sun — that favourite seat of yours 

 from which there is such a pretty view, but 

 which is often too draughty to enjoy, is just the 

 spot. Plant a Thuya hedge in a half or three- 

 quarter circle round it, with the opening' to the 

 south, if the view permits, and its back to the cold 

 Nor'-East ; keep it cared and clipped, and in a 

 few years (three or four) you can luxuriate there 

 on those first spring days when we began to 

 feel that the sun really has warmth in it, utterly 

 untouched by the searching winds that will find 

 their way through anything but a Thuya hedge. 



To go one better still — plant your hedge in 

 the shape of the letter X, for choice on an open 

 piece of smooth sward, grow it as high as you 

 like, and ornament it on top with such carving-s as 

 your fancy fashions — a model of a German air- 

 ship an it pleases you. Put a rustic seat and table 

 in each corner, and come sun, come wind, from 

 what quarter they may, unhaunted by the symbol 

 of that lurking terror that flyeth by night above, 

 you will find complete comfort in some one of 

 your four corners. 



Give Plants Room to Grow. — No greater mistake 

 can be made in gardenings than to permit plants to 

 crowd one another in their beds. They suffer both 

 below and above ground ; the roots are restricted in 

 development and range, while the work of the foliage 

 and the natural growth of the shoot system are 

 seriously interfered with. In crops raised from seed 

 thinning should be begun early, and carried out 

 gradually as the plantlets advance in size and strength. 

 The successful grower studies the space requirements 

 of his various crop plants, and takes care to give each 

 individual a fair chance to attain its natural develop- 

 ment. 



The Making of Our Home 



{Six//! Article] 

 By Charlotte G. O'Brie.n 



IT is not to be supposed that because 1 am 

 ignorant about roses, and because bought 

 roses are "cross" to grow here, that I 

 have none. Not at all. I have small roses and 

 large ambitions, and hope as time goes on to 

 have something to show. To begin with, I 

 could not be without the old friends, and moss 

 (pink and white), cabbage, provence, malinaison 

 and monthly, with many another of the sweet 

 Juners delicious for potpourri are here ; but be- 

 sides those, having found rose cuttings ver_v 

 easy to grow, I have been laying friends under 

 contribution, and find that whereas the budded 

 roses fail the cuttings do very well. Of course 

 the kinds are rather limited, as many of the 

 heavy exhibition roses are hard to grow ; but, 

 on the other hand, all the Ramblers and Teas, 

 and Banksians and Multifloras, are very free. 

 Then I have taken to growing from seed, and 

 this year hope to see bloom on a dozen Rosa 

 Rugosa seedlings, and in a year or two to have 

 a great set-oft" of handsome briar roses. I have 

 also sweet briars coming on, and a lovely rose I 

 got out of a ditch near Lough Derg that one 

 botanist says is Rosa Lucida — a lovely thing at 

 every season, large, flat rose pink blooms with a 

 big bunch of golden anthers, shining bronzy 

 leaves, and orange-red berries in bunches of a 

 peculiar shape, most helpful for autumn gather- 

 ing. It is planted close to sweet briar and 

 R. regosa, so I expect to get hybrids out of the 

 seedlings. Oh, yes! I look at my inch-high 

 seedlings and say to myself 1 will have briar 

 roses all over the whole place from the best 

 seeds. I will have them growing in the midst 

 of thorn and honey-suckle and furze ; even as 

 the wild briars grow, even so I will have them 

 uplifting on their thorny arms the glory of the 

 June summer. 1 will puzzle the botanists of 

 another generation, and when my bones are 

 dust and my good spade rust, when my house 

 is pulled down and my garden asphalt and 

 bricks, my extra special wild briars and my 

 daff"odils will still linger on the hillside and scent 

 the bloomy air for generations that know mc 

 not, nor mine. 



This place by the salt river has one great 

 advantage — the sub-tropicals are possible. New 



