APRIL 



IRISH GARDENING. 



59 



The operation of stopping is often a puzzle to the 

 average amateur. The two main reasons for stopping 

 are, first, to regulate the time of blooming ; second, to 

 cause the plant to make a bushy specimen. For example, 

 take a collection of plants just potted into 5 or 6-inch 

 pots, these if not stopped would run to bloom in from 

 TO to 15 weeks time, and keep on blooming more or less 

 freely as long as kept in health. On the other hand if 

 they are to be grown on as specimens for autumn and 

 winter flowering it will be 

 advisable to start stopping 

 directly the plants become 

 established in 5-in. or 6-in. 

 pots. 



My method of procedure is 

 as follows : — Every few days 

 I examine the plants and stop 

 those shoots that have run 

 to more than 4 to 6 pairs 

 of leaves, snapping them off 

 to the fourth or sixth joint 

 according to variety. More 

 than one shoot should never, 

 however, be stopped on any 

 individual plant on the same 

 day. If this is observed, an 

 irregular break of new shoots 

 appear, and consequently a 

 more regular succession of 

 bloom in the future. 



As the pots become well 

 filled with roots, pot on into 

 7-in. pots, which in most cases 

 will be the final size. In any 

 case potting-on and stopping 

 should be discontinued by the 

 end of July. Experience has 

 taught me that moderately 

 pot bound plants give the 

 best results in bloom. 



If possible all plants should 

 be in their flowering quarters 

 by the end of August. A 

 good fumigation will be 

 necessary on the first still 

 night, following this up once 

 each week for three weeks, 

 and the result will be clean 

 plants through the winter. 



Feeding. — Wherever plants 

 are robust and healthy and 

 pots well filled with roots, - 



resort to weak liquid manure. For this take a^ 

 follows:— One peck of hen, cow, horse or sheep 

 manure to one peck of soot, tie this up in a bag and 

 put to soak 12 hours before use. There are manv 



Aloe Arborea 



Grown by Mrs. Rambaut, Killiney 



but space forbids me 



other methods of manuring, 

 mentioning them. 



Watering. — This is a point to be specially noted. 

 Either a very dry or a sodden state will cause quantities 

 of burst calyces. Alwaj's strive to strike the happy 

 medium. 



In conclusion let me urge my readers to be thorough. 



as no plant responds more readily to careful treatment, 

 and gives such a wealth of bloom as the perpetual 

 flowering carnation. 



Aloe Arborea. 



The accompanying illustration is taken from a photo- 

 graph sent to us by Mrs. Rambaut, Templeville, 

 Killiney, Co. Dublin, who states that the plant is 

 twenty-one years old, and is 

 now about to flower for the 

 first time. This plant is not 

 to be confounded with the 

 American aloe or Century 

 plant, which is really not an 

 aloe at all but an agave. 

 Aloes are allied to lilies and 

 agaves to crinums. Aloes are 

 mostly Cape plants found 

 especially on the dry Karoo 

 ilesert. The leaves, as shown 

 in the photograph, are borne 

 in dense rosettes at the ends 

 of the branches, and are 

 usually very fleshy and cov- 

 ered with a waxy bloom. A 

 drug is obtained from the sap 

 of the leaves. 



^^ ^* f^ 

 The Dogwood (Cornns) is 

 a native shrub found in hedges 

 and thickets, and is readily 

 distinguished by the reddish 

 bark of its branches. During 

 winter its bare twigs are very 

 decorative in shrubberies. Its 

 berries are almost black in 

 colour and ripen in Septem- 

 ber. They are ver}- bitter 

 lo the taste, but contain an 

 oil which in some countries 

 is extracted and used for 

 burning in lamps and also for 

 making soap. Its leaves in 

 autumn change from greeti 

 through purple to intense 

 crimson. There are several 

 species and varieties well 

 worth planting in addition to 

 the native species (Com us 

 sanguinea) and its variety C. S. 

 candissima, characterised by 

 its yellow bark. One of the most useful is C. alba, 

 a North .\merican species, with reddish stem and white 

 berries, and its variety Spcethii, with golden foliage, 

 especially beautiful in spring. Corn us mas is the Cor- 

 nelian cherry, and is a beautiful dogwood, some 

 varieties of which have variegated foliage, very effec 

 tive in lawns. 



t^ t^ a^ 

 If the oak"s before the ash, 

 Then you'll only get a splash ; 

 If the <ish precedes the oak, 

 Then you may expect a soak. 



