IRISH GARDKNING 



lANLARV 



up till" supply, iiiltini; any roiMs llu> lliirUiii'ss ol ymir 

 finifiT into loiiifllis of six iiulu-s, lii- in hiiiKlli-s ami 

 place- ill lioxirs o( liiu' soil in a (Vaiiu- or lool lioiist-. 



Km iiAUH will foiii- iniK-li inoro i-asily now llian in 

 IX-oemln-i-, aiul as ilu- supply of «.ookini; appli-s i;t-is 

 small it iHHOims valuabK-. Liki- soakaK- it laii h>' 

 forci'il wIkmv vriowinvf in tlio i;rouiul by lovoiini,' with 

 barivis and boxi-s aial siiiiou-uliiii;^ with K-avt-s anil 

 stable maiuiiv to trivo boat, thoy may he lificil ami 

 broujfbt into a warm luniso ami kiH-p liark wlu-i\- tlu- 

 crowns start quickly. 



French Gardening. 



AT llic :uiiuial moctiiii;- o\ llio Women's 

 .\i,>-ricultur:il aiul I lorticullural Intcr- 

 national Union, Mr. 'riiomas Smitli, oi' 

 the I'cls Ciardcns, in Essex, gave an instruc- 

 li\c paper on the commercial outlook of the 

 French system of gardenini^ as practised in 

 England, with particular reference to the 

 methods adopted in the gardens of which Mr. 

 Smith is the manager. In the course of his 

 address he pointed out — 



That w^hereas this system of cultivation has long- been 

 in use for certain crops, or at certain seasons, in some 

 private gardens in England, it is only recently that it 

 has been adopted for market purposes. \'ery exag-- 

 gerated and misleading accounts of its results had been 

 put forth in some quarters, which led to many persons 

 taking it up under mistaken notions, and meeting only 

 with disappointment and failure. 



In spite of this the system opens up wide possibilities 

 if the limitations are also understood. While in many 

 Eng^lish g^ardens it is in use only at times, the French 

 pursue it all the year round. From six to eig-ht. and 

 even ten creeps per annum are often produced from 

 small plots of ground. This successful result is not 

 dependent upon climate or soil, but on method. It is 

 true that the soil of many of these French g-ardens now 

 consists of a layer, one foot deep, of lig-ht, rich compost 

 made by the slow decay of manures applied regularly 

 for years. In fact, this is so well recognised that it is 

 usual for the tenant of such g-ardens to stipulate on 

 leaving them that they may remove this soil. 



Low stone walls are erected to protect from the cold 

 winds, and cloches and mats used when necessary, but 

 not in the summer when the culture is entirely in the 

 open. The most important point is to never let the 

 crops receive a check, they must always be kept grow- 

 ing-. This is secured not only by the light, rich soil and 

 constant protection, but b}- ample walering-s. Not mere 

 dribblets g-iven when the weather is dr\', but thorough, 

 reg-ular soaking-s, given as conslantl}' as food is g-iven 

 to animals. Slight rainfalls are disreg-arded. 



Forcings in summer is kept up quite as regularly as 

 in winter. To gfrow a little of cver3thing- is right where 

 good all-round gardening is required, but the French 

 system means specialising- and can only be made 

 successful where crops are chosen which work well 

 together. The French g-row scarcely anything but 



salailings. ;iiul nu-ions and cuiiMiilnM s. These two last 

 .lie gem-r.illy iisi-il to till llu- li.imes in llu- late summer 

 ami e;irly .iiilumn, being followed .igain immedialeh- 

 with s;il;uls .-is soon ;is cle;ireil olT. Cloches ;ire often 

 used on only one qu.irler of the wiiole g.irden. but lli:it 

 plot will In- couiili-d on to give the largest profit. It is 

 .1 m.illi'r of c».>njeclure how this systi-m (irsl ilevi-lopeil ; 

 no iloubl some one man was struck with the idea 

 th.it he eouki get early crops in such a maimer and 

 he probably experimeiiteil .-i lillle ;ind succeeded so 

 f.ir .IS lo make others copy him. At any rale it 

 has now been larriiil on for several generations. 

 Similar attempts here must follow the .same method. 

 The essentials are ;—(;/) well-drained soil ; (b) pure air ; 

 ((-) sunny aspect ; (r/) cheap manure supply ; (<>) unlimited 

 supply and good water ; (/') vicinity of a good market 

 ov a station on a main line. 



In remote places it cannot answer. The cost of 

 manure and carriage needs careful consideration. 

 The two diflicullies that may arise in tiie future are the 

 decrease of stable manure as motors increase ; or possible 

 over-pioduclion. When the conditions described are 

 fullilkd we nuisi see wh.it can be done by this system. 



The loo-enthusiastic writers of whom we spoke 

 earlier were often led astray by mistaking rc/unis for 

 profits. They hold forth the alluring- prospect of making- 

 £'6oo per acre. As a matter of fact, £>^^o has been 

 made — or rather a certain plot has been specially worked 

 to bring in a profit at that rate. Of course this sounds 

 very attractive, but general facts are these — often if 

 3-ou get ;{^6oo per acre it has cost /"sgo to earn it ! 



The Parisian gardener calculates that this system 

 must be worked three or four years before any opinion 

 can be formed of the rale of profit obtainable. The Fels 

 Gardens showed a return the first j'ear of £^2^ 4s. 6d. 

 per acre, but the outlays had been £'ji.\ 15s. 6d. 



Those entering- on this plan of g-ardening niusl be 

 prepared to wait three or four years for profit, ;ind 

 then if they can average £~,o lo /i6o per acre lhe\- ma\- 

 think the}- have done very well. 



As a rule uncertainties of weather are of less account 

 in this way of culture than othens, but in such a season 

 as that just passed throug-h crops raised on the F"rench 

 s\stem suflered more or less. 



Lastly, il should be clearly understood that training- 

 is absolutely necessary for gardeners on this method. 



The subsequent discussion turned largel)' on manure, 

 several speakers describing the difficulty already exist- 

 ing in their neighbourhood of procuring stable manure. 

 Questions put to Mr. Smith elicited some valuable 

 information on this score. He said that last year he 

 used 1,500 tons of stable manure on two acres of 

 ground ; this coming year he should use 2.000. No 

 road scrapings nor any form of short manure are of 

 use ; long straw manure is essential. 



In one case where an insufficient supply of this was 

 a hindrance the experiment was made of using half of 

 stable manure and half good leaf mould out of a wood. 

 The result was surprisingly good. 



Celery was a very paying crop, came in renicirkably 

 early and sold well, averaging is. per dozen at Covent 

 Garden. Asparagus can be forced in this way, but is a 

 slow and costly business, only lo be achieved where 

 profits can be waited for. 



