IRISH GARDENING. 



77 



Migration of Gall Mites.— Fruit growers may be 

 reminded that the gall mites that have been passing the 



winter in the " big 

 buds" of affected 

 1 blackcurrant 



bushes will awaken 

 during the present 

 month, and leaving 

 the old and now 

 dried up buds that 

 sheltered them 

 seek the younger 

 buds that are now 

 in a fit condition to 

 receive them. May 

 and June arc the 

 only months of the 

 year when spraying 

 is of the least use 

 in preventing the 

 spread of these 

 pests. In case any 

 reader is unfamiliar 

 with the appear- 

 ance of a black 

 currant twig suffer- 

 ing from " mite " 

 we give an illustra- 

 tion of the top 

 of a branch photographed in March showing ver}' 

 clearly the big buds containing the hybernating mites. 



March Marigolds. ^We have often wondered why 

 the March marigold is not more highly prized, and 

 therefore more often utilised as a decorative plant. It 

 is one of our most handsome aquatics. Growing in 

 masses by the side of a stream or lake, it presents in 

 spring a glorious patch of colour that glows even more 

 brilliantly than burnished gold when the sunlight glitters 

 from its wealth of bloom, inlaid upon an almost tropical- 

 like foliage of rich green. 



Mr. T. Fisher Unwin will shortly publish Mr. \V. S. 

 Rogers' long promised book, " Garden Planning. " 

 Those who made acquaintance with "\'illa Gardens " will 

 welcome the larger and more comprehensive book, in 

 which the whole subject of garden designing is treated 

 fully and in a practical manner. A feature of the book 

 will be a series of plans to scale for all possible sites and 

 aspects. In all, there will be 150 practical drawings. 

 Horticultural Show Cards. — A neat series ot 

 Exhibitors' Show Cards has been prepared by the 

 management of Irish Gardening for use at Horti- 

 cultural Shows. These will be supplied (with name 

 of the Society printed on each card) free in desired 

 quantities to Secretaries of Horticultural Societies on 

 application to the Manager, Irish Gardeninc;, Ltd., 53 

 Upper Sackville Street, Dublin. 



f^^ fi^^ ^^ 

 The evening sun is sinking low in shades of deepening 



red. 

 The water-fowl is crooning softly from its willow bed. 

 Selen^ throws her sombre cloak about a world of sleep, 

 And through a curtain formed of clouds her nightly 



watch doth keep. —Country Life. 



Electricity in Relation to Plant 

 Growth. 



MR. J. H. PRIESTLEY, of the University of 

 Bristol, contributes an interesting article on 

 " Overhead Electrical Discharges and Plant 

 Growth " to the current number of the journal of the 

 (English) Board of Agriculture. This subject has been 

 before referred to in these pages, and the present paper 

 gives an account of the further experimental work 

 carried on as a continuation of the researches therein 

 summarised. The results seem to prove that " the 

 passage of small electric currents through the plant is 

 beneficial to it. and tends to increase the yield, and 

 often to lessen the time in which the yield is usually 

 obtainable." It is a well-known fact that the electrical 

 potential of the air is always higher than that of the 

 plant, and therefore it is highly probable that even 

 under normal conditions a slight electrical current 

 passes from air to soil through the plant. Furthermore, 

 there is experimental evidence that electrified plants 

 have their physiological functions quickened -the 

 passage oi the current through the tissues accelerates 

 respiration, transpiration and starch formation. It 

 heightens vitality also and increases the power of a crop 

 to resist disease. It has been further suggested that 

 electrification may also result in increasing the natural 

 supply of nitrate, and that the continuous suppl)- of this 

 extremely soluble and highly essential plant food in our 

 tillage lands is really kept up by the very slight but con- 

 tinuous discharges of current electricity from air to soil 

 through the growing crops. If it is so then it is logical 

 to believe that any artificial increase of this current 

 within certain limits would tend to accelerate the growth 

 and development of plants. 



The electrification is effected by a system of overhead 

 wires connected with a generating electrical machine, 

 which may be installed either in a greenhouse or in the 

 open ground. Some of the results obtained through a 

 series of years are given by Mr. Priestley, and the 

 following are taken as examples from his tables : — 



Year 



Crop 



Increase of electrified over 

 non-electrified 



The subject is one of considerable interest, and also 

 appears to be one of some practical importance to 

 growers, for although the present expense of an in- 

 stallation may not justify its immediate adoption in 

 practical market gardening it is certainly suggestive, 

 and may well develop into a special system of forcing 

 either for earliness or for increased yield. 



