32 



IRISH GARDENING 



sprayings with Concentrated Alkali or \'. riiiiLl. \'lhi 

 must use brushes and rub tiie fluid well into the bark 

 and all over the strong shools and spurs, then with 

 care it can be banished. 



General Remarks. -Fill up .ijaps in strawberry 

 beds with strong" plants out of four or six-inch pots, 

 as vacancies spoil the effect when viewed from the 

 walks, and then give your beds a mulching of half- 

 decayed manure before the growing season, as it 

 prevents the bed from becoming too dry. and also 

 assists in keeping the fruit in a clean condition. 



The Vegetable Garden. 



Bv \Vm. TvNIiALI., HorticviUural Instructor. Co. 

 KiUlare. 



DIKING the past month it has rained so continu- 

 ously that it has been almost impossible to get 

 the winter's work of trenching and diggitig 

 completed, as it is a bad practice to work soils when 

 in a wet condition, especially those of a clay nature. 

 Immediately the weather permits, get all your vacant 

 ground trenched or deeply dug", so as to leave as small 

 an amount of work as possible to be done in the busy 

 time, now near at hand, to the vegetable grower. If 

 you have not already sent jour order for seeds do so 

 at once, and any of the firms advertising in Irish 

 Gardening can be relied upon, only remember that 

 good seed cannot be grown and sold at a low price, 

 so that cheap seed is often dear seed in the end. Plants 

 in frames on hotbeds, in w'hich such vegetables as 

 potatoes, carrots, radishes, lettuce, &c. , are being 

 grown, and cauliflowers, Brussels sprouts, onions, 

 leeks, and half-hardy annual flowers being raised, will 

 require careful attention to be paid to airing and water- 

 ing ; it is too often done in a careless manner. Give 

 air to such frames on tine, mild days, before the tem- 

 perature has ver\' much increased, then gradually give 

 more as the day gets warmer, but do not give full air 

 at once, as many growers do, thereby causing a chill. 

 Close early to store sun heat, and if the glass is covered 

 with mats it will increase the protection and keep the 

 plants warmer, especially if we get frosty nights. As 

 the plants raised from seed sown last month become 

 fit, single them out into other boxes a couple of inches 

 apart. The compost for filling the boxes may be the 

 same as that used for sowing" the seed, except omit 

 the sand and mix about one and a half gallons of fine 

 bone-meal to each barrowful of soil, and ag^ain, over 

 the leaves covering the drainage put a layer of sweet- 

 ened horse manure, passed through a half-inch riddle. 

 and make firm, then a couple of inches of compost 

 pressed firm. After this preparation, no diflnculty 

 should be experienced in lifting the plants with good 

 balls of soil attached to the roots, and such always 

 start growing freely, especially those of the Brassica 

 .family, as cauliflowers and Brussels sprouts. If large 

 leeks are required, put a few of the strongest into 

 four-inch pots, potting deeply. 



Tom.\toes. — I'oloft'singly into three or four-inch pots, 

 and place on shelves near the glass, so as to expose 

 them to good light to prevent them from becoming 

 drawn and weak. When read}' re-pot into six inch 

 pots, using more loam and reducing the amoimt of 

 leaf-mould in the compost. When the plants have got 

 over the check of potting, give air on .ill favourable 



occasions. As the earliest and finest fruit is always 

 got from plants grown on single stems, Cordons are 

 recommended grown in boxes, three plants in each box, 

 two feet long, fifteen inches wide and deep. 



Celery. — Towards the end of February is a good 

 time to make a sowing of celery for early use. A frame 

 on a good hotbed is the best place for raising the 

 plants ; here they will be close to the glass and not 

 drawn up weakly, as often happens if the boxes are 

 placed in greenhouses. Sow thinly and cover lightly. 



French Be.vns. — Make a couple of sowings during 

 the month in lO-inch pots, puttings 8 or lo beans in each 

 pot. Over the drainage put some decayed manure, and 

 fill with good rich soil. W^hen the beans are 6 or 8 

 inches high put some light dead spruce br'aiiches, or 

 those of birch, around the sides of the pot to keep llie 

 plants from falling about. The stakes may be about 

 2 feet high if a dwarf variety, as Canadian Wonder, is 

 grown ; but I prefer a climbing variety, as Tender and 

 True, which gives a heavier crop over a longer season, 

 and will require stakes 6 or 7 feet long^. or, better still, 

 train the plants on a wire trellis. 



Pe.\s. — During this month, if the weather is suitable, 

 get in some early variety of pea, as Pilot or William I., 

 selecting a border facing south and well sheltered. 

 The ground should have been manured and turned up 

 roughly early in the winter, giving a dressing of lime. 

 On account of the ground being" so wet this year, I 

 would advise co\"ering the peas with fine light soil, as 

 siftings from the potting bench, mixing: '' with ;i little 

 lime and soot. Any one having a dry, well-sheltered 

 border facing south sliould sow a small amount of 

 (.iradus pea, a grand earl_\' marrowfat, growing 4 feet 

 high, but not so liardy as the round-seeded sorts. 

 Peas raised in boxes, as advised last month, should 

 now get plenty of air, so as to have them strong and 

 sturdy when planting out in a month or six weeks, if 

 the weather permits. 



Broah Be.vns. — These can be raised like peas in 

 boxes and then planted out. Treated this way, the 

 plants commence bearing much earlier. Fine pods are 

 obtained, while there is no fear of the failure of the 

 crop from bad weather causing the seed to decay. If 

 such means are not a\ailable. a sowing of one of the 

 long pod varieties, as Exhibition Long Pod, should be 

 made in the open ground. Sow the beans in a double 

 line b inches apart and the same distance in the line, 

 and cover 3 inches deep. 



Potatoes. — A small sowing of these can be made 

 towards the end of the month on a warm, sheltered 

 border in front of g"lasshouses or at the foot of a south 

 wall. I'se some light soil for covering the s,.'is, which 

 should ha\"e been sprouted, as recommended for forcing 

 last month. Look over all seed in boxes, and disbutl to 

 one or at most two growths on each tuber, unless they 

 are lo be cut before planting, tilve plenU" of light and 

 air lo get strong sprouts. 



SriNAc H. — .Make a sowing of X'ictoria rovnid spinach 

 in the middle of the month on a warm border, and con- 

 tinue sowing .'It intervals of three or fom' weeks for 

 succession. 



Parsnips. — .\ny time during the monih lliai ihcgroimd 

 permits this crop may be sow'n on grountl deeply dug and 

 Iteavily nianmed for a former crop ; the roots fork or 

 branch if the ground is manured the same season as 

 the seed is sown. .Sow in lines two feet apart, though 

 some prefer one and a half feet ; tir.'iw lines oiie and a 

 half inches deep, sow thinly, cover In and press the soil 

 firmh'. 



.Spring Cauhage.— In fine weather hoe between the 

 lines of plants, first giving a dressing of nitrate of soda^ 

 a teaspoonful for each plant ; this causes the plants lO' 

 grow rapidly and heart quickly. 



