IRISH CARDFNING 



15; 



F.iici'vplii;i piniKititolin. 



A 1* TICK iiu>si siiiul>?> luivi.' tiiilslioil tU>woiiiij;, ihis 

 bo.iiilirnl Cliilian species produces a weallli of 

 blossom about Aumisl lime. The chaste white 

 (lowers are two ami a half to throe inches across, ainl 

 contrast well with tlark, tflossy, green leaves, some 

 Ihint;- like those of the Rose. In moist and favourable 

 spot-- it thrives ii\ a rich, loamy soil; in less favoured 

 places, inixintc plenty of peat with the soil will help to 

 establish it. It is very local anil r;ire in its native eonnlt y. 

 where it is said to ijrow 

 ten feel high. In the 

 north of Ireland it li.is 

 already exceeded ih.ii 

 height, aiitl is thirteen 

 feet high by twelve 

 feet through at Castle 

 wellan. 



Layering at one tinu 

 was the only nictlio.l 

 of propagation, bnt 

 many of the older 

 plants have ripened 

 seeds, and plenty o( 

 seedlings have been 

 I'aised. 



.Vbont the middle of 

 September Mr. Coey ot 

 Larue sent flowers of a 

 double flowered vari- 

 ety to me. Although 

 one misses the beauti 

 ful golden bunch ol 

 stamens in the centre 

 of the flower, yet this 

 new double is not too 

 heavy and solid, so 

 should make a useful 

 shrub if it proves as 

 free-flowering as tin- 

 type. 



The Kucryphias have 

 no neai" relatives, so 



various botanists have bufFeled them from onler to 

 order. .At present, I believe, they are placed with the 

 Rose ("amily, but have been in llie Lime. Sa.xilraga 

 and Hypericum families. 



Four species are known — two Chilian .-iiul two Aus- 

 tralian. E. pimiatifolia is the onl\' one which sheds its 

 leaves, but is the best of the family, with pinnate leaves ; 

 K. cordifolia, with simple leaves, something like an 

 evergreen oak, but not quite .so hardy as the lirsi. 

 Althou,^h this is a rarer plant in cultivation than !■!. 

 pimiatifolia, 3'et it is not so benutifnl. anil up tii the 

 present it has not proved so free flowering. I'.oth in 

 the north and south of Ireland specimens over eighl 

 feet high are to be found, but around Dublin it is not 

 a success in the open. The two .\usli*alians ar-e K. 

 Moorei, with pinnate leaves, but not cultivated in 

 Ireland; K. Hillardieri, with narrow .inil simple leaves, 

 saitl 10 grow to .'i tree ne.irh" one hundred feel high. 



C. F. H. 



Ciimp; 



miiLi ;u utiinuiila. 



but 



iinii 



.Alpines. 

 since then 

 the lime 



THIS new Ci'.mpanula has been greall) admired 

 .(I IVIasnevin by those who are fond of 

 July is about its lime to flower, 

 it has been giving a few flowers 

 the pholograph was taken, in the 

 uiiiliUc el September. l"rom a thick tap-root a dense 

 mat of foliage is produced ; the leaves are like 

 tiny ivv leaves, h.ilf an-ineh across, with stalks an 

 inch long. The llovver slenis hear one or more open 



star-like flowers each 

 an inch or more .icross, 

 ;ind the whole plant is 

 not more than three 

 inches high. The 

 Mowers .are of a good 

 bluish purple— in fad. 

 'he colour is very 

 similar, bul perhaps a 

 shaile deeper than 

 Campanula longistvia, 

 w h i c h is flowering 

 freely only a few feet 

 distant. The calyx 

 segments ;ire narrow, 

 with jaggeil margins 

 and parlly reflexed ; 

 both stem .md leaves 

 are gl.'ibrous. The 

 plants seem to love the 

 sim, .and are grow ing in 

 a gritty pocket in the 

 rockery; the moraine 

 would also be a suit- 

 able place for them. 

 Campanula acutangula 

 grows naturally in 

 open stony places in 

 the high .■\lpine re- 

 gions of north Spain, 

 and it seems easier to 

 grow than its near 

 allv, the Tyrolese C. 

 Morettiana, which yrows in Ihe cracks of calca- 

 i"eous rocks. 



^* s*'* ^^ 



BruS.SI'.L.s Si'KOl'T.S. 

 A WKll-KNiiWN grower and exhibitor of vegetables 

 recommends the following method for saving the best 

 seed of Brussels sprouts : — Look over your plot and 

 select four or five of the best plants with the firmest 

 sprouts, and do not pull ofla single sprout from these. 

 The plot of ground will probably be required for another 

 crop in spring, so take ;i barrow and a spade and lift 

 c.irefully with a good ball of soil those that have been 

 selected for seeil .ind plant them in a place where they 

 can ripen their seed. In March cut out tKe large termi- 

 nal growth. :u\i.\ only allow the side hard sprouts to run 

 to flower and seed. This of course means that you gel 

 i|ualily of seed at the expense of quantity, but the 

 grower of really good sprouts has proved thai it is 

 worth while going to this trouble. 



