FEBRUARY 



IRISH GARDENING. 



27 



The Reader. 



The Culture of the Chrysanthemum. By \V. 

 Wells. Revised Edition. 1910. is. 6d. Published by 

 the Author : Mersham, Surrey. This is a practical 

 handbook written specially for amateurs by a specialist 

 in chrysanthemum culture. That it has well served its 

 purpose is evidenced by the fact that it has now reached 

 its fiftieth thousand. After an interesting- introduction 

 the author takes his reader in hand, and guides him 

 step by step along the road leading- to cultural success. 

 The different classes of these popular flowers are 

 described and their special cultural requirements noted. 

 The exhibitor is well catered for, and all necessary 

 information is given concerning choice of varieties, 

 dressing of blooms, and other matters demanded by 

 the requirements of the exhibition table. The pests and 

 diseases of the chrysanthemum are also referred to, and 

 advice given as to their prevention and remedy. Two 

 chapters are given — one entitled "' Hints on what not to 

 do" and " Hints on what to do'" — that ought to prove 

 exceeding-ly useful to beginners. Speaking about the 

 early flowering chrysanthemum our author says — "Of 

 late newer chrysanthemums easy to cultivate have re- 

 ceived considerable attention, and great strides have 

 been made — more particularly with the early flowering 

 varieties. This class of chrysanthemum has much to 

 recommend it. It may be raised by persons of the most 

 limited means ; it makes a fine autumn display for beds 

 and borders, or it may be grown in thousands for cut 

 flowers for market. The initial cost is not more than 

 that of the usual bedding-out plants, and therefore early 

 flowering chrysanthemums are within the reach of 

 thousands who cannot cultivate the large indoor 

 varieties." The book is well arranged, clearly written 

 and nicely illustrated, and seems to us to be just the 

 type of manual that would best serve the purpose of the 

 amateur. 



Monthly Gleanings in a Scottish Garden. By 

 L. H. Soutar. 6s. T. Fisher Unwin. "An old Celtic 

 rann says that in the month of September God created 

 Peace, and Fiona McLeod tells a quaint island tale in 

 which it is related that Christ as a Shepherd and the 

 months as sheep strayed upon the hills of time. Over 

 this old-world tale hangs the mystic glamour of Celtic 

 musings ; the names of these twelve wandering sheep 

 form the headings to the twelve chapters of ' Monthly 

 Gleanings.' " Thus the authoress introduces this 

 delightfully-written volume to her readers. The whole 

 round of the year is taken month by month, and the 

 shifting panorama of the' seasons as observed in a 

 Scottish garden is described with rare appreciation and 

 insight. It is in no sense of the term a cultural hand- 

 book, but is what in its way is far better— a stimulating 

 work giving the observations and impressions of one 

 who is a true garden lover and close student of nature 

 through all her moods of the year. Its chatty and 

 descriptive chapters form excellent reading. The 

 humorous side of Scottish coimtry life is not unnoticed, 

 as for example in the following extract :— " In a garden 

 in the far north of Scotland the winter cabbages are 

 blanched and preserved by putting them in the early 

 winter into a trench lined with straw, roots up. heads 



down, and I can remember the merriment and astonish- 

 ment of a south-country visitor on beholding the 'daft- 

 like process of growing cabbages in a Highland garden.' 

 The old gardener was a wise man, and might have 

 been credited with quoting Dr. Arnold when he replied. 

 ' It is a daft man, am thinking, that laughs, but it's a 

 wise man that'll be knowing what's good for ating." " 

 The book is handsomely illustrated ,with a coloured 

 frontispiece and 24 half-tone blocks inserted as plates. 

 It is a work that ought to find a place in every country- 

 house library. 



Illustrated Guide to Tree and Flowers. By 

 H. G. Jameson. 2s. 6d. Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, 

 Kent & Co. —Professor Robertson's dictum that "we do 

 not know a thing properly until we know its name " is 

 taken as the motto for this useful little handbook. Its 

 professed intention is to " help the ordinary nature 

 lover, who may perhaps have little or no special 

 knowledge of botany to find out the names of such trees 

 and flowers as he meets with" in his rambles in the 

 countr}^ In accomplishing this task the author makes 

 use of a continuous series of small marginal drawings 

 throughout the whole 136 pages of the guide, so that 

 the work of the student in finding out the name of any 

 particular flower is considerably lightened. The idea 

 has been worked out before with respect to genera, but 

 we know of no other book where the plan is carried out 

 so far as species are concerned. To nature-study 

 students and to any young gardener prepared to go 

 through the discipline of studying the destructive 

 characters of the wild plants of the country-side this 

 little volume is just the kind of book he wants, and to 

 all such we cordially recommend it. 



Note. 



Finger and Toe Disease.— It is now generally 

 recognised that the only remedy at all preventative 

 against this most destructive pest is quicklime. The 

 minute organism that causes the trouble is a species of 

 slime fungus that exists in affected soils, and readily 

 attacks the roots of any cruciferous plant (either crop 

 plant or weed) that live in such soils. It has the 

 peculiarity of preferring acid to non-acid soils, and thus 

 there is one reason at least why quicklime is a specific ; 

 it corrects all acidity if applied in sufficient quantity. 

 Land frequently dressed with large quantities of farm- 

 yard manure is very liable to become acid, as is also 

 land manured with artificials of an acid nature, such as 

 superphosphate of lime. A further verification of the 

 utility of lime is forthcoming in the published results oi 

 a series of garden experiments conducted in Worcester, 

 shire on land on which a crop of Brussels sprouts was 

 completely destroyed by finger and toe disease. The 

 next year it was treated with 13 tons of quicklime to the 

 statute acre, 6|^ tons the next year, and 3^^ tons the 

 next two following years. The lime was applied as a 

 top-dressing over one half and dug in on the other 

 half and the surprising thing is that the former appears 

 to be the better method, as it is reported that in the 

 former case 77.8 of the plants were free from the 

 disease, and in the latter 66.7 (the others being only 

 very slightly affected). Gas lime, apatite and vaporite 

 were also tried, but without any effect. 



