IRISH GARDENING 



FKHRl-ARY 



Plan and Method of Planting 

 a Small Vcirctahle Garden. 



Vegetable 



IN the;irraiii;;iMiUMU or layiiij^ out of a small \i\i;-otahlo 

 jjardon it is a jjroat advantaifo for the workiiitf of 

 the plot to have it of a regular shape, preferably 

 oblon.v: or reetaiijfiilar. with the longer sides running 

 east and west, as then rows of vegetables would run 

 north and south, and thus be fully exposed on both 

 sides to the sun's rays. I'ruit trees arc sonietinu-s 

 grown on the same grouiul in eonjuiietion with the 

 vegetables, but this is not to be reconiniendetl. In the 

 eultivation of the soil necessary for the difTerenl 

 vegetable crops, the roots of the fruit trees often become 

 iniiired ; the shade from the trees is detrimental to the 

 production of good vegetables ; hence it is better if 

 fruit trees and bushes are to be grown to keep them in 

 separate quarters, or if the plot of ground to be formed 

 into a garden is of irregular shape ; plant the fruit 

 trees so as to leave regular plots for growing veget- 

 ables, the fruit trees then act as a shelter to the other 

 crops. 



Having decided on the shape of the gai-den, the next 

 important consideration is the fencing of it. A good 

 hedge of whitethorn and beech is, next to a wall, the 

 i>est fence ; but if such a hedge is planted it must be 

 protected for a few years from farm animals, otherwise 

 they graze on the tender leaves, and the hedge becomes 

 stunted, and never seems to recover itself. A wire 

 fence four feet high must be provided to protect the 

 hedge as well as the garden, and wire-netting is 

 necessary if fowl or rabbits are about the place, other- 

 wise seeds and plants will suffer. 



The garden should be divided into convenient sized 

 plots, and at least one walk three feet wide should run 

 down the centre to allow for wheeling manure, &c. 

 The walks should be well formed, taking out the soil to 

 the depth of at least six inches, and filling up with 

 broken stones, with a few inches of fine gravel or coal- 

 ashes on top. Walks may be edged with box, straw- 

 berries, arabis, or such like dwarf-growing plants. 

 Strawberries are both ornamental and useful. Even 

 round stones (whitewashed) make a neat edging, and 

 in most parts of the country slones are easily pro- 

 cured. 



In regard to cropping the garden, a border six feet 

 wide should be marked off on the side facing south for 

 the growing of early vegetables, seed beds, frames, 

 &c. All vegetables succeed best in a deep soil — that 

 is, a soil ot fairly uniform texture to the depth of two 

 feet or more — hence it should be the aim of every grower 

 to possess such a soil. Of course it is assumed that the 

 plot selected is properly drained, otherw-ise that should 

 be the first work to be attended to. A regular system 

 of rotation of crops should be practised in growing 

 vegetables for the same reasons, as the good farmer 

 rotates his crops, for although the same plot of ground 

 may by being judiciously manured produce for several 

 years in succession good crops of a particular vegetable, 

 yet in the end the soil would become exhausted and 

 refuse to produce that crop, notwithstanding the 



appiic.ilion of mainiie. Thus such vegetables as 

 parsnips, carrots, turnips, peas, beans, &c., should be 

 grown in one plot, and cabbage, broccoli, cauliflowers, 

 lettuce, &c., in another. Next season the latter shoukl 

 be grown where the former were this season, and vi,\- 

 -.^■rsti. Permanent crops, such as rhubarb, seakale, or 

 asparagus, if grown, should be ki-pt in a plot by them- 

 selves. 



No time should be lost in getting all the necessary 

 preparatory work completed, such as fencing, forming 

 walks, digging, manuring, &c., as many things niav 

 soon hi- sown. Read carefully the instructions given 

 under the heading "The Veget.ible Garden" each 

 nioiuli ill Ikisii c;.\ui)K.\in\;, ;iiul put it in practice. 



P. J. CiKAV. 



The Month's Work. 



Flower Garden and Pleasure Grounds. 



By E. Knowldin, E.R.H.S. 



COMING events are now evident in the [-xishing 

 of the earlier bulbs. Dare we, just for once — 

 only once, it shan't occur again— offer our subject 

 mixetl ? Pale snowdrops, the gay crocus, fragrant /)is 

 reticulata of surpassing beauty, and the aconite "that 

 decks its little merry face with gold," all may, or ma)' 

 not, enter into the scheme of the formal spring garden, 

 defining circles, squaies, triangles, ovals, stars, half- 

 moons, snaky evolutions, and other fearful phenomen.-i 

 with which, in some instances, the fair face of nice 

 bits of greensward are defiled ; but it is in the 

 pleasure grounds, which are such not only in name 

 but in nature that to these vernal heralds one's heart 

 goes out. Here, surely. Shelley caught his ode to 

 spring— 



" Thou art the child that wearest 

 Thy Mother's dying smile, tender and sweet. 

 Thy Mother, Autumn, for whose grave thou beare.st 

 Fresh Flowers, and beams like flowers, with gentle feet, 

 Disturbing not the leaves which are her winding-sheet." 



First the winter aconite {Erantliis hyei)i(tUs), with its 

 dainty lingerie of satin-green, each tiny bit bearing the 

 sun-god's kiss, happy in the hard clay under the leafless 

 elms, and oaks, and chestnuts, whilst in more open 

 spots spring patches of the native snowdrop (G. 

 fiivalis), ever spreading through the mossy turf, and, 

 like that babbling brook which haunts every gardening 

 pen, going on for ever. And then the Dutch crocus (to 

 come) in purple and gold, and white, w^armed up by 

 the orange stamens, the green sheaths of which now 

 pierce the mossy sward ! Who would grudge the first 

 small cost of sowing them, and ever after reap the 

 compound interest the vernal balance sheet discloses on 

 the credit side? Sow, we say, for that seems the more 

 natural disposition of these bits of gay colouring (crocus). 

 You take your bag of a thousand — if ten thousand, ten 

 times the better — choose your spots, and literally sow 



