IRISH GARDENING 



'23 



frosi ruined ii few of the Howers, but diil uol ilo uiucli 

 dani.-t)4o, aiul r.'isphfrrii'S wlto ripe very e;irly this 

 season. This year's fruit is elean, larjje and of ^;ooll 

 iiuality- A jfood suecession of canes is beiiijj produceil 

 for next year's erop. 



Strawberry plants started away rather weakly and 

 improved rapidly as the season advanced. They 

 flowered early, and thoui;li the flowers were not very 

 numerous they set well and swelled very rapidly. The 

 first fruits came in very early and were of gooil colour, 

 size and flavour, the warm, sunny days of May being of 

 great assistance to the plants. June, however, tolled 

 the death knoll to oiu' strawberry crop. The constant 

 rain and moist atmosphere prevailing at the time 

 caused the m.ijority of the mid-season and late berries 

 to mildew, and much of the crop was lost. Sonic 

 districts did not sulVer as much as others. It is some 

 years since strawberries in the Dublin markets main- 

 tained such a high price throusj'hout the season for 

 good fruits. 



Fungoid diseases are very prevalent this Near, 

 especially canker and spot or scab on apple and pear 

 trees, mildew on apples, and American mildew on 

 gooseberries. The vai iety of apple Hisniarck appears 

 to be most susceptible to mildew. .Silver leaf on plums 

 is being grjitlually clearetl out owing to the stringent 

 methods adopted. 



Where a large number of varieties of apples are 

 grown on the same kind of soil, a number of them are 

 almost certain to show signs of canker. It is, there- 

 fore, no great surprise to find that no less than twenty- 

 seven correspondents repoi t it as their worst fungoid 

 pest ; twenty-six of them report spot or scab as their 

 worst, and this, undoubtedly, is a bad pest ; eighteen 

 report that American mildew in gooseberries has 

 caused them most damage. Only one case of rasp- 

 berry rust has come under my notice this year. .\ few 

 days ago I came across a bad case of brown rot in .i 

 commercial plum tirchard in Weath ; this is very prt-va- 

 lent in the Evesham district, but not very common in 

 Ireland. 



Insect pests h.ive been very troublesome this year. 

 The harsh, dry weather of May was very favourable to 

 the spread of these pests. Caterpillars of the winter. 

 ermine and tortrix moths have done much damage to 

 the apple leaves, and those of codlin moth and apple 

 saw-fly to the apple fruits. 



Green-fly, which is reported by lor ly corresponilenis 

 as their worst pest, has undoubtedly been very bad this 

 year, as also has the Atiierican blight on apple trees, 

 which is reported by twenty-one correspondents. 



Caterpillars of the gooseberry saw-fly, which is 

 reported by twenty-one correspondents, and magpie 

 moth have been very destructi\'e oi\ gooseberries and 

 red and white currants; iind on the gth July I found the 

 caterpillar of magpie moth doing much damage to a 

 laurel hedge. 



Winter moth is reported by thirty-five correspondents, 

 codlin moth by fourteen, ermine moth by nine, and 

 apple sucker by twenty, as being very troublesome 

 pests. Aphis and sucker have done much to reduce 

 the apple crop. \\". S. lR\'i.\t.. 



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WI-; h.ivi- .m ide.i that at a rough estimate one 

 per cent, only of visitors to the shows held in 

 Lord Iveagh's grounds, Stephen's (Ireen, ever 

 explore them in their entirely. .More, what is missed 

 is really the prettiest part— the garden part, in fact, of 

 the grounds. This in allusion to tiie spacious panelled 

 garden in touch with the back of Lord Iveagh's resi- 

 dence, which, although quite approachable, is quite 

 secluded from the central space where tents are pitched 

 and battles lost or won. But there is one glory of the 

 show and another glory of the grounds for those who 

 know its geography. Naturally, visitors stick to the 

 hand, surely the inost melodious of all military bands, 

 and the band sticks to the big fountain, but there are 

 breaks when it would be well worth while for 

 visitors to extend the itinerary not only in the 

 d rection indicated but to all points of the compass, 

 njt forgetting that wonderful ivy-clad terrace walk 

 parallel with and close to the rear of the Royal 

 LTniversity. 



We have but few criticisms to oRer on this particular 

 show, which seemed to us essentially one of Koses 

 and hardy flowers. Respecting Roses, nevertheless, 

 aspirants for honours would do well to note that in 

 adding extraneous foliage to boxed blooms they run 

 the risk of disqualification. One exhibitor had adoined 

 his (or her) H. P. blooms with what looked like the dark- 

 liued, elegant foliage of Rosa rubrifolia, and, tell it not 

 in Gath, the situation was saved by its surreptitious 

 removal under the very eye of the legal luminaries. 

 The day was not a good one for the Rose under canvas 

 coverings, culininating as it did in that unkindly 

 shower when the military flew to the trees to finish 

 their warblings and the millinei'y to the lents pervaded 

 by that dim. religious light decidedly detrimental to 

 the display. Hardy flowers for the season we thought 

 well shown and eminentlj' satisfying, and, in a sense, so 

 was the fruit, for that big melon, which was so 

 tlexlerously dissected and lavishly ilistributed at 

 the close of the show, was so utterly innocent of 

 flavour or "smell" that a very little of it went a long 

 way. 



Is melon growing a lost art? Times were when at 

 similar shows one could "feel " melons "'shouting" 

 all over the show. .-Vs for the rest of the fruit it wanted 

 that ripening influence w'hich has since been vouchsafed 

 to us, and that is all there is to be said about it. But 

 what about vegetables? Have our' clever craftsmen 

 nothing but eyes for Sweet Peas ? ."Xnd is the connnou 

 old culinary kind, and all the things of the kitchen 

 garden which go to keep the cook happy, now too 

 commonplace? We have no fault to find with the 

 stands which Tfcre put up, it is with the stands xo/ put 

 up which makes us repeal ■■■hi', 'out vegetables? 

 Perhaps a little more stimulant ia wanted to make 

 them sprout at a summer show. Anyway, there is a 

 tine fertiliser in the form of Sir James Maokey's cup 

 bringing them on for the next merry meeting, and 

 hence nu rez'oir. Qf'Z. 



