76 



IRISH GARDENING 



any shade (except pure yellow or black) from the purest 

 white to the deepest blue. The verbenas beloiig^ to the 

 same family as the common vervain, native to southern 

 Eiiijland, but rare in Irel.and, and almost unknown in 

 Scotland. X'erbenas are found wild especially in tro- 

 pical and siib-trc>pica! America, but the g'arden varieties 

 are mostly, if not all, the results of crossinif and selection. 

 Raised from seed they jfive endless variations as to 

 shades of colours, and this to many people is a source 

 of great interest and delijjfht. Grown in ligfht garden 

 soil enriched with either dec.iyed leaves or well-rotted 

 manure, they thrive wonderfully, while striking effects 

 may be produced by pegging down the stems along the 

 earth, so as to produce erect, strong-growing laterals, 

 each of which will end in a head of gay flowers. The 

 effect is magnificent during summer and early autumn. 

 Some people like to grow verbenas in pots, and for this 

 purpose the varieties Miss Wilmott and Scarlet King 

 are especially good, as well as Lovely Blue, Maiden's 

 Blush, Princess of Wales, Snow Flake, and Queen of the 

 Whites. 



Potash. 



Potash is one of the food substances required by 

 plants, and must therefore be present in all fertile soils. 

 If not already there in sufficient quantity it should be 

 supplied by the cultivator. With some plants potash 

 appears to be the "dominant" constituent of the soil, 

 and if this is plentiful the plant can, as a rule, forage 

 successfully after the other necessary ingredients of its 

 food. " Root" crops like turnips and beet, leguminous 

 plants (peas and beans), and to a considerable extent 

 fruit trees, are particularly benefited by potash. In all 

 cases it would appear that the starch-making power of 

 the foliage is very materially influenced by the presence 

 of potash salts in the sap. It will be well for gardeners 

 to remember that potash is especially required bj' plants 

 and shoots in their very early stages of growth and also 

 later in the season, when the flowers appear and the 

 fruits are maturing. Light sandy soils, chalky soils and 

 peaty soils are usually deficient in potash. Potash is 

 usually supplied in the form of kainit, but a much purer 

 form of potash "manure" is the sulphate of potash. 

 Kainit is a mixture of potash, common salt and magnesia, 

 and is entirely unsuited for summer work in the garden- 

 The soluble salt and magnesia are really harmful to 

 living roots, and should, therefore, only he applied to 

 soils in winter, when the poisonous ingredients are 

 washed out before the arrival of spring. With the 

 sulphate of potash we are dealing with a pure salt, and 

 therefore it goes much farther. While kainit is applied 

 at the rate of from two to four ounces per square yard 

 only about one ounce, finely powdered, of the sulphate 

 will be required for the same area. From some recent 

 experimental work it would seem that both potash and 

 lime fertilisers might be used with advantage in mush- 

 room culture, but care should be taken to apply the 

 potash in the form of the pure salt. 



Hoeing. 



There is no more eff"ective aid to the healthy 

 growth of crops than hoeing. It makes the surface 



of the soil loose ;iiul keeps open the pores leading 

 ilown into ilu- soil. Hence it encourages soil venti- 

 lation aiul that free interchange of gases that means 

 so much to working roots. The Dutch type of hoe 

 is the one to use. By using it the ground is not 

 trodden over after the hoeing. If hoeing is done when 

 and as often as necessary there will be no ch.ince of 

 weeds becoming the least tioublcsome. 



There is a further advantage in hoeing, inasmuch as 

 it tends to keep the surface of the soil fine-grained and 

 powdery, anti this in turn acts as a nuiKli ;inil pri-vents 

 loss o( wati'r bv i'\ aptiration. 



These delicious perfumed flowers should be grown 

 in ever}' garden about the end of July. Pot them 

 up in six-inch pots, about eight to ten bulbs in a pot. 

 The compost should be three parts loam, one part 

 leaf-mould, with a six-inch pot full of crushed bones. 

 Place the pots, which contain the bulbs, in a cold frame 

 on a bottom of cold ashes, and give very little water 

 till the bulbs begin to grow ; give just enough to keep 

 the soil in the pots moist. As soon as frost appears 

 remove the plants to a w'arm house, and place them on 

 a shelf near the glass. When they show their flower 

 buds, which will be about the first of January, they will 

 require more water. An occasional watering with 

 manure water will greatly benefit them. When the 

 bulbs have done flowering conline to water them till the 

 tops die off. Let the pots remain on the shelf in the full 

 light of the sun for at least four weeks after you stop 

 watering, for the secrets of success in freesia growing 

 is the ripening of the bulbs. J. Devine. 



Mr. Wm. Hannon, of Gourtacousin, Athlone, writes 

 to say that he has an exceptionally fine variety of apple 

 apparently new to orchards, which he is anxious to 

 introduce into commerce. It was in full flower on the 

 27th of last mouth, the fruit ripens in August, and is of 

 fine flavour and handsome appearance. He invites 

 correspondence. 



A New Irlsh Weekly. — We sincerely welcome the 

 appearance of The Irish Industrial Journal, a thoroughl}' 

 up-to-date and progressive weekly very much needed 

 in this country. Those of our readers interested in the 

 present industrial movement in Ireland will read its 

 pages with much interest and profit. We are glad to 

 note that the literary side of journalism is not over- 

 looked in its attractive pages. ' 



Mr. Wm. Baylor Hartland has sent us a box of 

 exceptionally fine blooms of the daffodil, bearing his 

 name. They seem to us to be much improved in sub- 

 st;ince and purity of colour in comparison with specimens 

 seen in former years. As we go to press a second box 

 has arrived, containing bunches of five varieties of 

 strikingly handsome Narcissi — Lorna Doone, Rosa Bed- 

 ford, Cressida, Oresko and King of the Poets. We have 

 no room left to describe these, but hope to refer to them | 



at another time. | 



