IRISH GARDENING 



flower buds appear, feeding is commenced, liquid 



manure is given alternately with soot water. 

 Sometimes three or more flower buds come at 

 the end of a shoot, only one is kepi and the 

 others removed, only taking one in a day. A 

 sharp lookout is kept for the worm-in-the-bud : 

 it is not difficult to find him neatly rolled up 

 in a leaf at 

 the end of a 

 shoot, where 

 if not caught 

 and killed he 

 will soon 

 make his way 

 to the pre- 

 cious flower 

 hud and eat 

 its heart out. 

 As we prefer 

 to bring the 

 I! o - e s on 

 slowly, we do 

 not get many 

 blooms before 

 the beginning 

 of April, and 

 even then the 

 artificial tem- 

 perature does 

 not exceed 7."> 

 degrees by day 

 and 50 degrees 

 at night. It 

 is quite pos- 

 sible to force 

 R, o s e s into 

 b I o o in i n 

 t welve or t liir 

 t (■■■li \v e e k 8, 

 but if it is 

 d o n e t h e 

 blooms will be 

 nothing like so 

 sturdy a n d 

 will not last 

 nearly so long 

 w h e n cut. 

 Alter the first 

 blooming the 

 ]) hint s a re 

 rested tor a 

 short time, and repotted before the second 

 growth begins, using fresh, sweel loam, mixed 

 with bone meal and manure. The roof is taken 

 off the house early in dune, allowing the plant- 

 in the borders to grow under ordinary conditions, 



which is most desirable; the pot plants are 



plunged just over the rim of the pots in a bed 

 outside that is fully exposed to the sun and air, 



so that the wood mav become thoroughly 

 ripened for another year. 



Photo bi 



\i:i M 1. 11. II 



Arum Lilies ( Richardia africana) 



It will repay any one to grow these beautiful 

 Lilies, their treatment is so simple. Assuming 

 that the plants have been lifted and potted up 

 in October, they should now (early December) 

 have their pots full of roots. There is no reason 



w h y t h e r e 

 should not be 

 an abundance 

 of flowers by 

 Christ m a s. 

 which can be 

 easily kept up 

 until the end 

 of May if a 

 liberal supply 

 of liquid man- 

 ure be given ; 

 the drainings 

 from a cow- 

 shed are very 

 suitable. if 

 collected and 

 stored in a 

 tank. S 00 t 

 water will also 

 be found bene 

 fieial. As the 

 tcnipe ra t u re 

 rises to about 

 ."><> degrees in 

 the morning. 

 before the 

 ventilators a re 

 opened. give 

 the plants a 

 good syring- 

 ing when the 

 weather con 

 dit ions a r e 

 suitable. The 

 house should 



be kept closed 

 from a half to 

 t hree-quarters 



of an hour 

 afterwards, so 

 as to allow the 

 plants to get 

 t he full advan- 

 tage of the moisture in the'air. through their 

 foliage. Ventilation may be given at the top. 

 taking advantage of all sunshine during t he dull 

 season ; if the temperature of the house rises to 



00 degrees or more it will do no harm, and as 

 the days become warmer increase the ventilation 



and give re water. About the end of .May 



when the plants will nave"* ceased to flower 

 freely, they should be rested and hardened off, 

 and stood outside in a sheltered position. About 



