96 



IRISH GARDENING. 



JUNE 



healthy shoots are growing away, by removinir -iH 

 shoots but best one at base of last year's shoot. Oiii- 

 door figs may be treated in a similar manner, exeept 

 that tiiere is not usually any necessity to thin the fruits. 

 Towards the end of the month nail down the leading 

 shoots on trees that have not already filled their allotted 

 space, and pinch or clip away all the new shoots down 

 to five or six leaves, and where the young shoots are 

 too thick cut a number of them completely away. Go 

 through cordons, espalier-trained and yotnig bush or 

 pyramid trees, and pinch or prune the side growths ; 

 also cut out any ill-placed, superabundant or weakly 

 growths completely ; allow the leading shoots to extend 

 freely for some time. Older, fully grown, and orchard 

 trees may be left until later on in summer. This summer 

 pruning is especially beneficial in case of trees that 

 have not set good crops of fruit, and during summer it 

 may be much more readily seen where there is over- 

 crowding or superabundant growth. Whenever going 

 over fruit trees have n- hesitation in removing curled-up 

 leaves or points of shoots where the edges of leaves 

 appear drawn together and gummed up, for assuredly 

 some insect pest or other is lurking in such places, 

 carefully perpetuating their kind. Ciive all attention 

 possible to general work, such as mulching, watering, 

 and keeping down weeds ; this advice has been more 

 reiterated than almost any other operations possible. 

 "Keep the hoe going" is a phrase almost as old as 

 "the hills," but the great benefit resulting from close 

 attention to this operation under fruit trees is loo 

 frequently disregarded or unappreciated. Mulching 

 and watering ought to be a comparatively pleasant 

 operation to these well-equipped with such adjuncts as 

 a plentiful supply of water, hose pipes, manure, &c. But 

 wherever fruit trees are carrying heavy crops the above 

 is a most beneficial operation, in case of a spell of hot, 

 drj' weather setting in, and the greater the efforts in 

 this direction the greater will be the satisfaction at 

 results when fruit is matured. 



The Vegetable Garden. 



Bv William Tvndall, Horticultural Instructor, Co. 

 Kildare. 



MOST of the seeds of vegetables will now be sown, 

 but successional sowings of French beans, 

 spinach, turnips, and lettuce will require to 

 be made every two weeks, selecting a cool border for 

 spinach, turnips, and lettuce, so that they may remain 

 for a longer season fit for use and not get stringy or 

 run to seed. A last sowing of peas, the Gladstone and 

 Autocrat, should be made the first week of this month in 

 ground deeplv dug and heavily manured. Peas from this 

 sowing should be pulled until well into October. Towards 

 the end of the month make a sowing of an early variety of 

 pea, such as Gradus or Bountiful, for use about the end 

 of September. A sowing of scarlet runner beans may 

 also be made about the middle of the month to give a 

 late supply, as the early sowing, unless it gets very 

 good cultivation and plenty of feeding, often goes over 

 before frost cuts them down. A last sowing of Broad 

 Windsor bean should be made at once to give a late 

 supply. Plant out Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, savoy, 

 and early broccoli as the plants become fit and ground 



v.ii-.int. Mcfotc pl.iiiling the soil should be deeply dug 

 or trenched ;iiul well ni.iiuireil, .is all the members of 

 the Hrassica family dearly love manure. If the weather 

 is ilry one g^ooe/ watering after planting is generally 

 sullicient to give the plants a good start if they are 

 strong anil sturdy when planting. Towards the end of 

 the month plant out the winter and spring broccoli 

 on firm and not over rich ground, as they are then 

 much hardier and not so liable to be killed by severe 

 weather. This past winter has been one of the worse 

 I can remember on broccoli in this country, the plants 

 being killed wholesale, few being left in most places. 



The growing crops should now, with the warm 

 weather we are having, be making rapid progress. 

 Thin all crops as they advance, stake such crops as 

 require them, and keep the hoe going constantly. 

 Slugs, if the weather is warm and damp, cause much 

 destruction to plants, and probably the most effectual 

 way of getting rid of them is gathering by hand every 

 morning, and if heaps of wet bran or grains about the 

 size of your hand are laid through the growing crops 

 many can be caught quickly. 



CeI-EKV. Ciet your main crop of celer\- planted as 

 early in the month as the plants are strong enough to 

 ^o out. Plant in trenches fourteen inches wide and 

 twelve inches deep, putting eight or nine inches of well- 

 decaj'ed manure en bottom and a couple of inches of 

 soil on top of manure, making all firm ; plant about ten 

 inches apart. If a double line of plants is to be 

 grown make the trench eighteen inches wide and plant 

 zig-zag. Never let celery suffer from drought, but 

 give plenty of clear water till plants are growing freel\-, 

 and then liquid manure. 



ToMATi.1. - Plants raisetl under glass for growing in 

 the open should now be planted without delay, as many 

 of them will have some fruits set ; if carefully hardened 

 off and planted against south walls good crops of fruit 

 should be got. Keep the plants to single cordons, as 

 these give the earliest and finest fruit. 



Considering that last year was so unfavourable for the 

 harvesting of seeds they have germinated this season 

 much better than might have been expected, and where 

 failures have occurred it has generally been due to 

 insect pests, sowing too early the past cold wet spring, 

 &c. Never have I seen parsley come up so quickly as 

 in our experimental garden here. Sown the same time as 

 onions and parsnips it germinated sooner than these 

 crops. P\ir winter iLse a sowing of parsley seed may 

 now be made. 



Salad Plants. 



In order to keep up a good supply of these frequent 

 sowings are very necessary. The most popular kinds 

 are, perhaps, lettuce, radish, and mustard and cress. 

 Endive is also very useful. Salads ought to be quickly 

 grown, and in hot, dry weather close attention should 

 be given to watering, as everything depends upon 

 producing well-nourished, succulent, and therefore crisp 

 tissues. Radishes thrive best in a cold, moist soil 

 As endive is a winter salad it may not be sown unti 

 July. 



