IRISH GARDENING 



105 



known to flower. We have ventured previously 

 to describe this under the provisional name of 

 nobilis, and which we may add has thus far 

 escaped criticism. By comparison with the 

 well known tenax and Colensoi the latter, if we 

 dare say so, are hut poor things. 



As an Ornament. — As both P. tenax and P. 

 Colensoi appear so amenable to a variable soil, 

 and our climate generally, they are eminently 

 suited to create a feature when planted en masse, 

 each possessing a character peculiarly its own. 

 We notice them growing in both dry and damp 

 positions and in soil 

 varying from stiff 

 loam to spongy peat- 

 bog mould, although 

 to obtain the best 

 effect in a limited 

 time, for the particu- 

 lar purpose of form- 

 ing handsome groups 

 in the pleasure 

 grounds or the wild 

 garden, heavily 

 manured loam will 

 duly reward the 

 planter. There are 

 few more distinct 

 or conspicuous fea- 

 tures 

 than 



of P. Colensoi brist- 

 ling with stately 

 flower spikes and 

 peculiar, warm-hued 

 flowers. The re- 

 markable fecundity 

 of this species, owing 

 to the high fertility 

 of its seeds, is well 

 known. 



Economic Uses. — 

 Ever and anon the 

 question crops up as 

 to the feasibility of 

 New Zealand flax 

 cultivation as a factor in our industrial economy. 

 Both in the raw and finished article Phormium 

 fibre was one of a prominent trio of ex- 

 hibits on the New Zealand stand at the 1907 

 International Exhibition held in Dublin, 

 the others being magnificent examples of New 

 Zealand's native timber, and the remarkable 

 Kauri Gum both in its fresh and its fossilized 

 state. The writer, being interested in these 

 primary vegetable products of " God's own 

 country," spent some hours, at intervals, during 

 the run of the Exhibition among the exhibits, 

 and by the courtesy of the officials in charge 

 was enabled to get relevant information as to 



in planting 

 a bold group 



Photo by] 



Oxat.is ADENOPHYixA (See page 109) 

 Growing at Abbeyleix 



the possibilities which lie in this antipodean flax 

 as an Irish industry. This is mentioned as 

 pertinent to the somewhat vague notions as to 

 its value occasionally aired in the public Press. 

 What it is. — First, as to the prepared fibre. 

 The long strands — as manipulated by the 

 Maories from selected leaves, under the patient 

 and laborious method of maceration by stones 

 under running water, in shallow streams — after 

 many days produces an article of great tensile 

 strength and silky texture, from which over 

 long centuries they have woven a coarse cloth, 



fishing lines and 

 various goods suited 

 to their modest re- 

 quirements. C o m - 

 pared with the native 

 prepared product, 

 w h i c h, obviously, 

 cannot come into 

 the calculation of 

 an Irish industry, 

 the machine-wrought 

 fibre is coarse and 

 only suit e d for 

 manufacturing into 

 ropes, coarse cord- 

 age, and similar 

 subjects, for which 

 it is largely used 

 in the antipodean 

 colonies. This prac- 

 tically sums up the 

 possibilities and 

 capabilities of the 

 Phormium as an 

 Irish industry, and 

 as to what field there 

 is open for its de- 

 velopment in this 

 direction is another 

 story. In conclu- 

 sion, some have re- 

 cognised its useful- 

 ness in the garden as 

 tying material, and 

 even preferred it to bast. One merely scrapes 

 down the leaf on either side to disintegrate 

 the fibres, which are then readily stripped apart 

 for use. K.. Dublin. 



e^* ^* e^* 



Has anyone got the true Lord Anson Pea ? The 

 botanical name is Lathyrus nervosus, also known 

 as L. magellanicus, a native of the Argentine. 

 As figured and described in Sweet's British 

 Flower Garden, it has most beautiful deep blue 

 flowers, is a good perennial with triangular steins, 

 glaucous smooth leaves, the shape of which arc 

 arrowheaded ovate, and it grows 3 feet high. 

 Sometimes Lathyrus tingitanus parades as the 

 Lord Anson Pea, but L. sativus, a blue-flowered 

 annual, does duty under this name. — C. F. B. 



[M. Jlomihrook 



