IRISH GARDENING 



X'Ol.lMIC \ II. 

 No. -r 



A .MON'IHI.V JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE 



ADVANCEMENT OF HORTICULTURE AND 



ARBORICULTURE IN IRELAND 



j.\M .\l<^ 

 191 -■ 



Notes on Gardens and Orehard 

 Work in Ameriea 



Hy Siu F. \V. .MoMisr., M..\. 



G 



AI-;i)i;Xl';i-lS and all lovers oF 

 nature who have given special 

 attention to plant life, and 

 who are famili.n- with the condi- 

 tions under which plant.s are culti- 

 \ ated in their native coiuitries, or 

 with the conditions under which 

 native plants g'row spontaneously, 

 on arriving' in a new coimtry natur- 

 allv institute comparisons between 

 the lionie country and the coimtry 

 visited. Such comparisons, if im- 

 partially and thoui^ditfully made, 

 cannot fail to he of interest and 

 also instructive to the visitors. In 

 such a \'ast countrv as .\merica there 

 is wide scope for variation, anil, in- 

 deed, so different are the conditions 

 prevailing;' in the different divisic>ns 

 of the United States and of Canada 

 that no one series of comparisons 

 could fairly be instituted. 



The present notes de;d onh' with 

 the Eastern, or okler and lons,'-est settled sec- 

 tions of these two countries. M_v visit to 

 America was paid in the autumn — September 

 and October — which ag'ain limited the scope of 

 observations and coniparisons. On first sjetting" 

 into the coimtry districts certain features im- 

 press themselves forcibly on the mind, and are 

 constantly obtruding; themselves to the ex- 

 clusion of lesser details. Three of these I may 

 mention : — 



1. The briifht colouring' of woods, plantations, 

 and gardens. 



2. The great difference in the native Flora. 



3. The absence of fences round private gar- 

 dens, orchards, and houses. 



The first of these is largely due to climatic 

 causes and partly due to the second. The 

 climatic conditions under which gardening is 

 carried on in the Eastern States and Provinces 

 of the I'nited States and of Canada differ widely 

 from those prevailing in Irel.'ind. Roughly 

 speaking, outdoor work is suspended from 

 November to end of .March ; all a year's work 

 must be crammed into seven months. The 

 ground comrnences to freeze hard earlv in 

 Xovember. and remains frozen until early .\pril, 

 added to which there is during most of this 

 lime a heavy coating of snow. With the ad- 

 \'ent of .\pril and the increasing heat o( the sun, 

 growth is rapid. Trees binst into leaf and llower, 

 and all is fair. Then comes the f\ill effect of 

 clear bright sim, often continuing unbroken for 

 weeks, with a dry atmosphere, becoming even 

 dryer as the summer advances, and hastening 

 on vegetation, so that it is thoroughly matured 

 before the end of autumn and the arrival o( 

 winter. The wood is thoroughly ripened, 

 foliage matures and rapidly changes colour be- 

 fore falling, the colours being of a brilliancy to 

 which we in this country are quite unaccustomed. 

 There is every shade ci' brown, red, orange and 

 \ ellow. There are the brilliant reds of the Red 

 .Maple, the scarlet Oak, and the Sumachs, sonie 

 of the first to change ; the yellows and orange 

 of other Maples, and of the Birches, Limes, and 

 Hickories ; the browns of some Oaks, and so 

 on, a brilliant spectacle commencing about the 

 middle of September and ending late in October, 

 when all the leaves are down. This is one 

 etfecl of the sun and clear atmosphere. Theie 

 is another. Early and thorough maturing of 

 the wood followed by complete rest tends to 

 the formation of abundant flower buds followed 



