JANUARY 



IRISH GARDENING. 



15 



for birds, which is minus [in a well pruned bush, which 

 should resemble a collection of nearly upright cordons, 

 well set with buds, but affording- scanty foothold or 

 shelter for birds, and I find the birds rarely attack the 

 buds under such condititms. 



The Vegetable Garden. 



By William Tvndall, County Horticultural Instructor, 

 Kildare. 



DURING the year 1910 in writing the month's 

 work in the vegetable garden I shall have 

 chiefly in view the wants of the amateur and 

 cottager, for all who possess a garden may make it a 

 source of agreeable and healthful occupation by taking 

 an interest in the working of it. 



Soil. — In the growing of good vegetables it is 

 essential that there should be a thorough preparation 

 of the soil, and how few working it know its origin and 

 nature. Soil is a mixture of mineral products— animal 

 and vegetable remains forming and collecting from 

 remote ages. It is nature's great storehouse of food 

 to meet the wants of the world. The easiest way to 

 secure for the soil the condition that best suits the need 

 of plants is to cultivate it deeply, for many advantages 

 attend deep digging. Labour is well employed in 

 stirring the soil deeply in winter and early spring, using 

 as much manure as you can spare, remembering always 

 to leave the soil rough so that it may be improved in 

 texture by the action of the weather. Recollect if soils 

 are wet they must be drained or most of the manure 

 applied to them will be wasted, for manure cannot be 

 used by the roots of plants in the absence of air. 



Seed. — The seed is a very important factor in good 

 vegetable growing, and the selection of the best types 

 is of the utmost importance. During the past few years 

 a very large number of horticultural societies have been 

 started over Ireland, and thereby many cottagers and 

 amateur gardeners are taking a much keener interest 

 in the production of high-class vegetables than formerly, 

 and good results cannot be expected from inferior 

 strains of seed. Catalogues are now arriving, and the 

 seed order must receive early attention. 



On account of the very severe weather during 

 November and December much of the trenching, dig- 

 ging, and other garden work is in arrear, and must be 

 pushed on as fast as the weather will allow, more 

 especially where such crops as onions, parsnips, and 

 carrots are to be grown. Manure the ground as the 

 work proceeds, as from now onwards each month will 

 bring as much if not more work than can be properl}- 

 done. In all gardens rotation of vegetable crops 

 should receive more attention than is given to it at 

 present, for if the same kind of vegetable be grown on 

 the same ground for several years it is liable to exhaust 

 the soil of one or more of the plant foods which it con- 

 tains unless very heavy manuring and probably also 

 liming the ground is done yearly as for onions, when 

 that crop improves instead of deteriorates. 



Where heat can be utilised either from pipes or hot-beds 

 many kinds of seeds will require to be sown in January, 

 if really high-class produce for home use or exhibition 

 is desired. Sow in boxes onion seed, .\ilsa Craig 



leek. International, Tomato Winter Cheer or Sunrise, 

 Cauliflower, Snowball or Dwarf Erfurt, Lettuce, Early 

 Paris Market and Pearl, giving a temperature of 50 to 

 60 degrees, with bottom heat if same can be given. In 

 a cooler house or frame early peas may be sown, Mul- 

 tiple and William I., being good early 3 feet high peas. 

 Useful sized boxes for raising all the small seeds men- 

 tioned, and for transplanting afterwards would be two 

 feet long, fifteen inches wide, and four or five inches 

 deep, leaving space between the bottom boards for the 

 water to escape, put broken crocks or cinders in the 

 bottom, and cover with leaves or moss, filling the 

 boxes with soil, &c., as follows :— loam two parts, leaf- 

 mould one part, decayed horse manure, as from a 

 mushroom bod, one part, and enough sand to keep the 

 whole porous ; mix thoroughly, and pass the whole 

 compost through a quarter inch riddle before filling the 

 boxes for seed, sowing which should be done thinly, 

 pressing the seed firmly down, and covering lightly 

 giving the soil a good watering after sowing the seed. 

 Cover the boxes over with paper or muft'ed glass to keep 

 light from the seeds till they germinate, when it. should 

 be removed. Once the seeds are up give air when the 

 weather is mild and favourable. 



Peas can be sown in narrow boxes 2^ feet long and 

 I foot wide and 8 inches high, using a compost made 

 up of loam two parts, and leaf mould and decaved 

 horse manure one part each, make firm. Use the same 

 mixture for filling 7 inch pots for French beans. Syon 

 House and Earliest of All are good varieties to sow. 

 Give a temperature of at least 60 degrees with some 

 bottom heat, and give a little water till seedlings are up. 



Clclmber Seed for an early crop should also be sown 

 in pots plunging in a bottom heat of about 70 degrees, 

 if soil is moist little water will be required till plants are 

 up. Early in the year some care is required in airing 

 and watering so as not to give the plants a chill. 



If not already done, box seed potatoes for growing 

 on hotbeds and put the boxes in a house having a 

 temperature of 60 to 70 degrees, and syringe to 

 keep moist. Select medium sized tubers, and don't cut 

 but stand them in boxes on their ends, and when growth 

 well starts rub out all sprouts but one, or at most two. 

 Hotbeds that are now made up for the forcing of 

 such vegetables as potatoes, radish, carrots, &c., 

 will require more material (leaves and manure) than 

 later on in the year when the days lengthen. Equal 

 parts of leaves and stable manure give a steady lasting 

 heat, more especially if prepared before hand by turn- 

 ing two or three times till the violent heat is given off, 

 but never let it lie so long before turning as to get burnt 

 white in the centre or the heat will not remain long in 

 the bed when made up. 



Seakale. — This is a very easily forced vegetable and 

 is often spoilt by being grown too rapidly in strong 

 heat. Formerly this vegetable was mostly forced 

 where grown in the open, first covering the crowns 

 with screened ashes or pots and then putting a couple 

 of feet deep of leaves and stable manure prepared as 

 recommended for hotbeds over the ashes or pots. 

 Now seakale is mostly lifted and put in boxes or pots 

 placed in a warm forcing house and the crowns kept 

 covered to exclude light. When lifting the crowns 

 secure the cuttings for planting out next April to keep 



