124 



IRISH GARDENING 



roiilino, il.ish, or iliiliMi-, troin 

 for the ono-sliift system. 



For some time af(i»r poiiim; i 

 from 5° to lo more lioai ili.in i 

 require, and a close atmospliere 

 proceodinij 



ntil fresh .i;ii 

 lash from tlie s\ rinj,^e li ei 



freely. A 

 in hoi days, will be 

 of g^reat importance. 

 Every incitement to 

 g-rowth must lliiis he 

 i^iven ; ami when 

 that has been accom- 

 plished, then air must 

 be freely imparted, 

 drier atmosphen- 

 maintained, tiiat the 

 fresh wood so freely 

 made may be thor- 

 ou.afhl\- matured. 



In the case of all 

 lasting- plants in- 

 tended to be our com- 

 panions for years, 

 potting- should take 

 place from early 

 summer up to the 

 present, in order that 

 growth may be quickly made, and maturation of the 

 wood be effected before the short da}s of winter 

 come, when, in the generality of cases the low tem- 

 perature of winter will give them the res/ they recjuirc 

 before breaking, and flowering \igorously and pro- 

 fuselv the followiny season. 



St 



orino: Fruit and Roots. 



a mailer of exln 

 properly store 



IT will be readily agreed thai il i 

 importance lo know how lo properly store the 

 harvest oi surplus fruit and roots in order to meet 

 demands during the hungry months that succeed the 

 months of sunshine and plenty. Most gardeners recog- 

 nise this and act upon it, but there are many owners of 

 gardens that, so far at least as fruit are concerned, 

 entirely fail to get the full benefit from the produce of 

 the orchard. A correspondent, writing in one of the 

 numbers of the monthly circular, issued by the 

 Women's Agricultural and Hortii-ullural L'nion, gives 

 some useful hints as to the construction of fruit rooms. 



A fruit room, she says, should be dark, dry, and 

 cool. Evenness of temperature should be secured in 

 every possible way ; if specially built, wood is the best 

 material, being non-conducting ; but neither walls, 

 shelves, nor floors should be of deal or any resinous 

 kind of wood. The floor should be raised above the 

 ground level to ensure dryness. Shelves should be of 

 laths, not solid, for preference. If there is a greater 

 quantity of fruit to store than can be accoinmodated on 

 the wall-shelves, stands may be used in the centre ; 

 these can be obtained with iron frames (lightly made) 

 with fitted removable shelves of laths. The advantage 

 of these is that you can not only store many more 

 pears or apples on them than by coverings the floor 

 space after filling the side shelves, but you can move 

 around them easily and without disturbing the fruit to 



iiiiu'i-i>ss;iry liaiulling shouki 

 Ih.-il will lie fust ready for 

 such piisition tiiat they .-ire 

 ig the in hers. K;irlier and 

 e l.iyer ; hariier kinils in I wo 

 an dry fern between) ; late 

 apples may lie in 

 several layers. 



The room should 

 he quite clean ; iio- 

 tiiiiig ki'pl in it but 

 fruit. In times o( 

 frost, if co\ering is 

 necessary, never use 

 hay or straw — the 

 smell will be t.-iki-ii 

 up by the fruit. 



All this oi conisi- 

 involves time, trouble, 

 .-iTuI — in the first 

 i II si a n ce — expense. 

 Those who cannot 

 afford to fit up a fruit- 

 room may be able to 

 dig out a store cave, 

 in some dry bank, and 

 put up a strong, thick 

 door. Lastly, do not store any but good sound 

 specimens ; discard all misshapen. speckled or 

 damaged fruits; these can be put to some immediate 

 use — tarts, jam, jelly; or. at worst, can go lo the 

 pigs. It is very wisely pointed out in the Agrkultuml 

 Economist that many growers of good apples will not 

 be at the trouble of storing them. Their only idea 

 seems to be to market them as soon as possible, 

 regardless of kind or season. Thus they get a poor 

 price for fruit that would keep till March, when it 

 would command a high price ; not only do they lose 

 themselves by this want of forethought, but they keep 

 down the market for growers of earlier sorts. It is 

 this kind of thing which has given the foreigner his 

 opportunity, and he has not failed to take advantage of it. 

 Now, a few final words as to roots. Beets are the first 

 to be raised and stored ; they will not stand the same 

 amount of cold as carrots. Cut the tops a few inches 

 within the crown, not closer, or the roots will bleed and 

 spoil. Place in layers with a thin coating of soil be- 

 tween each ; put the thin end of the roots inwards, the 

 crown outwards. Carrots can be stored in the same 

 way, but need not be got up so soon ; parsnips should 

 be left in the ground as long as possible. If a sudden 

 severe frost comes on, litter may be spread over the 

 ground. Needless to say, the roots should be dry when 

 stored, and the soil used must not be wet. On the 

 other hand, it must not be dust dry, or the roots will 

 shrivel. If, for any reason, it should be likely that 

 frost has touched your stores, the only thing is to un- 

 cover and sort out any damaged roots or they will 

 cause the sound ones to rot. 



Jerusalem artichokes, a winter vegetable which is, I 

 think, somewhat undervalued, may be taken up ; if the 

 entire lot of tubers were lifted, stored, and the small ones 

 cut and planted apart, after the manner of potatoes, much 

 better results would be obtained than is usually the case. 



