IRISH GARDENING 



FEHRL ARY 



Note 



\Vk have roioivc-il i'lOtu Mossrs. Maimsi-l cV Co. 

 a copy of tlu- ivoiMilly piiblislied colloclioii of tl)c works 

 of tlio lato Miss Charlollo Ciraco O'Brien, with an intro- 

 iluetion bvhor kinsman. Mr. Stephen Gwynn. We hope 

 to refer to this volume more fully in our next number. 



Hki.ow in tiie town they were wrang-lingf and brawling 

 On the hii,'li hill of heaven the soft rain was falling - 

 The soft rain, the sweet rain, so silvery shining- 

 That it charmed us and lulled us till day was declining. 



TiiK AVti' BiiUctiti, in referring to the new Chinese 

 species of trees and shrubs collected by Mr. E. H. 

 Wilson, remarks upon the number of new and mono- 

 tvpic genera that there are amongst them: — "Apart 

 from whatever beauty of tlower or leaf they may 

 possess, there is always a peculiar charm and interest 

 attached to these solitary types." Ten monotypic 

 genera grown at Kew are botanically described and 

 two are illustrated by photographic reproductions. 



Dry Rot in Potatoes. — Miss Sibyl Longman, of the 

 University College. Reading, in a paper read before 

 the Linnean Society, gives the results of some experi- 

 mental work she has been carrying on with the fungus 

 (Fitsariuni so/ani} of ih\s disease. Miss Longman corro- 

 borates the work of Smith and Swingle as to the true 

 parasitical nature of this fungus, and of its ability to 

 attack both the stored tubers and the growing aerial 

 shoots. Further, it seems that there is no necessary 

 connection in point of time between dry rot and wet 

 rot. The possibility of sterilising affected tubers by 

 heat was tried, but it was found that the thermal death 

 point of the fungus was higher than that of the tuber, 

 so no remedy lies in that method. 



Destrlction of Moss on Lawns, &c. — The Corn- 

 wall County Council has been carrying on for several 

 voars experiments having for their object the eradication 

 of moss on grass lands. It has been found that the 

 application of new superphosphate (28-30 per cent.) at 

 the rate of 6 cwts. an acre, and applied in the month of 

 February for two consecutive years, entirely destroys 

 the moss, even in badly affected lands (in one case the 

 carpet of moss was an inch deep). A single application 

 seems to be sufficient where the growth of moss is not 

 very abundant. 



American Gooseberry Mildew.— In the recently 

 issued report of the assistant secretary to the Board of 

 Agriculture (England) detailed references are made to 

 the distribution of this disease in England and to the 

 remedies that have been applied to prevent its spread. 

 It appears from Mr. Middleton's report that, with the 

 exception of the county of Kent, it has spread very 

 little during the past season. The following are among 

 other suggestions offered to fruit growers : - (i) When 

 the disease appears in a garden it must not be assumed 

 that the plantation is ruined ; (2) neither must it be 

 assumed that mildew is not dangerous and may remain 

 untreated ; (3) spraying with liver of sulphur in June and 

 July will check the spread of the disease, and will 

 secure healthy shoots next season ; (4) when wood has 

 been formed it should be protected by spraying with 



Honli'.iux mixturi'. Boiileaux ni.iy In- usi^d instead of 

 livi-r of sulphur as soon as the berries have been picked. 

 It is to he preferred to liver of sulphur for use in 

 August ;ind September ; (5) diseaseil tips should be 

 removed as soon as active growth has ceased. The 

 earlier they are removed the better, provided that the 

 season is sufficiently advanced to ensure that the buds 

 on the siioiteiied shoots ilo not begin to grow ; (6) the 

 bushes should be carefully pruned during the winter 

 months, plants that have become too dense should be 

 thinned, and the last traces of the disease removed. 



Intensive Culture.— .An rxhibition on the results 

 of intensive culture will he lu-ki at Westminster, in the 

 hall of the Royal Horticultural Society of ICngland, 0:1 

 Wednesday, the 23rd of March. 



" The best things are the nearest : breath in your 

 nostrils, light in your eyes, flowers at your feet, 

 duties at your hand, the path of God just before you. 

 Then do not grasp at the stars, but do life's plain, 

 common work as it comes, certain that daily duties and 

 daily bread are the sweetest things of life." 



The Tallest Trees in the World.— According to 

 Professor Sargent the tallest American tree whose 

 height has been properly authenticated is the Mammoth 

 tree (Sequoia gigantea), one specimen of which (in 1882) 

 was 325 feet. Several specimens of the same tree rises 

 to 300 feet. The next tallest, it seems, is a species of 

 gimi-tree {Eucalyphts amygdalina) found growing in 

 Australia, the height of which approximately may be 

 300 or 303 feet. 



" So have I seen a rose newly springing from the clifts 

 of its hood, and at first it was fair as the morning, and 

 full of the dew of heaven as a lamb's fleece ; but when a 

 ruder breath had forced open its virgin modesty, and 

 dismantled its two youthful and unripe retirements, it 

 began to put on darkness, and decline to softness, and the 

 symptons of a sickly age ; it bowed the head and broke 

 its stalk, and at night, having lost some of its leaves 

 and all its beauty, it fell into the portion of weeds and 

 out- worn faces." — -Jeremy Taylor. 



A Serious Garden Pest. — A correspondent asks for 

 information concerning the eelworm, remarking that 

 gardeners as a rule fail to realise the extent and serious- 

 ness of the damage done by this pest. The eelworm 

 is especially destructive to seedlings raised under glass, 

 and we notice that our English contemporary — The 

 Fruit Grower and Market Gardener — \s drawing special 

 attention to its ravages in Great Britain. It attacks 

 amongother plants tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, Roman 

 hyacinths, leeks, and even young gooseberry bushes. 

 The eelworms enter the young roots from the soil, and 

 in some establishments the soil gets so plentifully inocu- 

 lated with ova and,hatched-out young of the "worm" 

 that it becomes entirely unsuited for the growth of such 

 plants as can be used as hosts for these particular little 

 creatures. The only remedy for such soils is sterilisa- 

 tion- that is, subjecting it to a temperature high enough 

 to kill off the microscopical worms and their eggs. 

 For particulars as to the life-history of this organism 

 we direct our readers' attention to the article by Pro- 

 fessor Carpenter in our next issue. 



