^JA1 



IRISH GARDENING. 



47 



boards with about 8 inches of fine sandy soil, sowing- 

 the seed i inch deep in lines 6 to 9 inches apart. Towards 

 the end of this month a sowing can be made on a warm 

 border of Early Gem (a grand early stump-rooted 

 variety) in lines i foot apart. 



Radishes. —These can be raised early in the year in 

 frames on hotbeds, the same way as carrots, and often 

 when carrots are being- sown a few seeds of radishes 

 are sown through them, and tender roots can be had 

 fit for pulling before any injury would be done to the 

 carrots throug-h crowding-. 



Artichokes. — This is a good time to make a plant- 

 ing of Globe artichokes. They should be planted in an 

 open position and in g-ood rich ground that has been 

 deepl)' trenched and well manured for preference. 

 Secure well-rooted suckers, trim all broken roots and 

 leaves, not severely, as often done, and plant in rows 

 4 or 5 feet apart, and allow 2 to 3 feet between the 

 plants in the row. If a long succession of artichokes 

 is required a short row should be planted each year, as 

 these will give heads two or three months later than the 

 established plants, and thus give a good succession. 

 No time should be lost in planting Jerusalem artichokes, 

 and though they will grow in any ground and situation, 

 they will repay good cultivation. They are planted in 

 th^e same manner as the potato, selecting medium sets, 

 tilant in rows 3 feet apart, and allow i foot between the 

 tubers. The white variety is best, being much smoother 

 and free from knobs. 



Salsafy. — Another vegetable often grown by 

 amateurs, and useful as a winter vegetable, when 

 clean, straight roots, free from flower stems, are 

 secured. Best grown on ground well manured for a 

 former crop, when no fresh manure is required, which 

 is often the cause of this vegetable (as in parsnips and 

 carrots) forking into several roots, and consequently of 

 little value. Any time during April is soon enough to 

 sow in lines i^ feet apart. 



Turnips. — Make a small sowing of Early Milan on a 

 warm border, and protect from birds. This variety is 

 less likely to run to seed from early sowing than any 

 other variety I know. 



Asparagus. — If the beds of this highly esteemed 

 vegetable were covered with manure in autumn, remove 

 the strawy portion and fork in the manure left. This 

 will allow the young shoots to grow up, and also let in 

 sun and air. Neatly rake over the beds after forking, 

 and keep free of weeds. 



Note on SovviNt; Annlals. — Most amateurs sow 

 annuals entirely in a wrong way. They buy a number 

 of packets of seeds, sow them ever too thickly in small 

 clumps, and leave the seedlings to fight out the problem 

 of congestion among themselves. I think we have all 

 seen the result. Annuals should be sown thinly— so 

 thinly that the seedlings should be from half an inch to 

 two inches apart according to the kind. Then as they 

 grow up, and as more room appears to be wanted, 

 still other plants must be ruthlessly destroyed. When 

 mature most annual flowers will, at least, require six to 

 eight inches of space, and some even more, such as sun- 

 flowers and larkspurs. Thinning should be done early. 



Correspondence. 



Labourers' Cottage Gardens. 



Dear Sir, — I am much interested in your article in the 

 February number of your paper, on the administration 

 of the Labourers (Ireland) Act, in regard to cottage 

 gardens, &c. I hope you will pursue the matter up, and 

 get public opinion worked up in regard to the adminis- 

 tration of the Act. To my mind, the way it is usually 

 being acted upon now is a disgrace to Ireland, 

 especially in regard to the building of the cottages. 

 These buildings are exactly what a building of this 

 kind ought not to be There are exceptions, thank 

 goodness, but the whole of those that are being put up 

 in my immediate neighbourhood are (i) built so badly 

 that after heavy rains quite new buildings let in any 

 amount of water ; you will see this from time to time 

 from complaints made, recorded iti the councils' meetings. 

 (2) In the most exposed places there are hardly ever 

 any porches. (3) No weather boarding to protect the 

 pine ends ; never the slightest protection from the stormy 

 quarters, so that the very appearance of the house 

 preaches discomfort, and the want of a garden gives a 

 general air of misery to the place. Surely it would be 

 possible to get one or two simple approved cottage 

 plans, and get the buildings put up in these lines and 

 not on the vagaries of any council jobber with an axe 

 to grind. Around Fermoy, Mallow, &c., there are some 

 nice cottages built, that I presume are at about 

 the same cost, and these buildings have a weather 

 boarding and porch. One is reminded on seeing 

 these of Ruskin's dictum, that the useful and the 

 ornamental invariably work together for the benefit 

 of man. 



I am entirely in agreement with your most excellent 

 article about labourers" gardens. When one thinks of 

 the lovely cottage gardens you see elsewhere in the 

 British Islands, with, generally speaking, a softer 

 winter climate and more rain through the summer, every 

 sort of garden flower could be grown here with great 

 profusion (from the March daffodils onwards). With 

 young people growing up in many places cut flowers 

 would pay ; gooseberries, currants, strawberries, rasp- 

 berries, and other things could be easily grown. The 

 more fruit young people have the better. Show me 

 a Well-kept garden, and I will show you a happy 

 home. If the clergy generally would take up this 

 question of the home as their happy hunting ground 

 they would solve the temperance question more than all 

 the temperance lectures and drink laws of the United 

 Hllngdom as regards the country districts. As you say 

 at present the labourer does not utilise the opportunit}', 

 and we are reminded at the end of all these centuries 

 that if Adam and Eve were placed in the Garden of 

 Eden to till it, their prototypes in the Irish Adams 

 atld Eves of the present day do not carry out the 

 Instructions given. There is one thing to be said for 

 them — in those days the friend in human shape did 

 rtot construct cottages for them to live in. 



S. W. Cook. 



Greenmount, Ballydehob, Cork, 



