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IK1ISH GARDENING 



Surface Cultivation of the Soil. 



By Andrew F. Pearson, F.H.I1.S. Lota Lodge, 

 Glanmire, Co. Cork. 



July is the hottest month of the year in the 

 British Islands ; the great radiation of heat from 

 the earth's surface makes it extremely trying to 

 vegetation and renders incessant surface culti- 

 vation imperative if high-class produce is desired 

 in the garden or field. 



After such continuous wet weather as we have 

 recently experienced a hot prolonged drought 

 will have a more serious effect on vegetation than 

 it would have had if the |>ast few weeks remained 

 normal in point of rainfall. 



In gardens, therefore, the Dutch hoe cannot be 

 plied too often : it is an indispensable tool at all 

 times, serving the primary purpose of destroying 

 weeds : it renders the soil more friable and uniform 

 in texture, cheeks excessive eVa | lorat ion. makes 

 the soil's surface readily receptive of rain, and so 

 creates an even luxuriant growth in all vegetation. 

 In very hot weather, with scorching sun and 

 parching winds, one hour's thorough hoeing will 

 do as much good as ten bonis watering over the 

 same area : the moisture held in the lower levels 

 of the earth which, by reason of capillary attrac- 

 tion, is always moving upwards to the surface, 

 whence it is drawn into the atmosphere by the 

 process of evaporation, is arrested by the 

 stirring of the surface, the thirsty roots readily 

 assimilate the moisture into their system, and 

 the result is seen in the robust appearance of their 

 owners. Even when lawns and meadows have 

 turned brown by force of drought, well tilled soil 

 remains in possession of healthy green growth. 



If deep cultivation has been practised in the 

 past he who cultivates his surface soil vigorously 

 during the dry summer months may rest assured 

 his crops are secure, provided the ordinary 

 attention has been given to manuring, and no 

 ardent cultivator of the soil ever neglects that 

 where it is possible to secure a supply. 



An excellent tool for stirring the surface to a 

 greater depth than the hoe is the Buco Cultivator: 

 A five-tined, light, handy tool, easily adjusted to 

 different widths and eminently suited to work 

 between potatoes, turnips, cabbages, &c, it is 

 much quicker than the hoe. much liked by 

 workmen, and even after rain can he run through 

 a plot of ground where the hoe would clou and 

 retard progress. 



The Planet .1 unior hoe is an American invention, 

 and is supplied in sizes suitable for a man to a 

 horse : it has attachments which may be used for 

 raking and hoeing simultaneously, making 

 furrows, or deeply cultivating : like the Buco, it 

 is certainly a handy tool, as one can override a 

 line of turnips, beetroots, or even medium-sized 

 cabbages, and hoe two lines al a time without 

 injuring the plants, and on line soil the work is 



rapidly carried out. It is not. however, so easily 

 worked on tenacious soil, and although a novel w a \ 

 of cultivating I led inclined t o (piest ion its efficiency 

 Besides tin- foregoing benefits derived from 

 surface cultivation many insect pests are 

 frustrated in their work : the eggs of the various 

 beetles responsible for the production of the 

 wireworm are laid bare to the searching eyes of 

 the birds; various weevils, as well as slu^s. and 

 the eggs of kindred depredators, are bothered by 



the hoe. Indeed all that I can say in favour of 



surface working of t he soil is. not enough : its value, 

 in my opinion, is inestimable, and only comes 

 second to deep winter cultivation. 



Some people rely on watering in dry weather: 



my experience has taught me to rely on surface 

 cultivation inst ead ; unless one can water regularly 

 and thoroughly ; do not water at all. It is well 

 known that water drawn directly from a well or 

 pipe system lacks the fertilizing properties of rain 

 or water exposed in an open tank to the atmos- 

 phere, and in dry weather, when water is needed, 

 the hot dry air draws off a great deal to the 

 detriment of the plants to which it is applied, 

 leaving the surface crusty and baked : ami if big 

 spaces must be watered the time taken is con- 

 siderable and generally at an hour when the sun 

 is at his strongest. Night is the best time to 

 apply water, but that is not practicable on a big 

 scale. Therefore I say put off watering until the 

 very last, and if it must be done do it thoroughly, 

 but. come what weather may, cultivate deeply in 

 winter, and keep your surface incessantly on the 

 move in summer, and. with mulchings of strawy 

 manure round favourite flowering plants, vege- 

 tables or fruit trees, the whole-hearted cultivator 

 will assuredly reap success in the hottest and 

 driest of sum mers. 



Such cultivation of outdoor crops is the sheet 

 anchor of the horticulturist. 



Glasnevin Notes, 



Diking a recent visit to the Botanic Gardens, 

 Glasnevin, I saw many good things amongst the 

 rock stuff. I fancied Pentstemon puniceus ; at 

 first glance the glaucous foliage looks like a 

 Sedum. hut the flowers are tubular and scarlet. 

 Aubrietia .Mrs. Lloyd Edwards is a line colour. 

 Scutellaria indica japonica grows only I to 6 

 inches high, and in most winters it is hardy. 

 Paul's Pink Aubrietia is good; while Dianthus 

 cal-alpinus, a hybrid between callizonus and 

 alpinus, is a, little beauty covered with flowers of 

 a. deep warm rose. I much liked the shape of 

 Umbilicus oppositifolia, a. quaint little plant with 

 Sedum-like leaves and drooping yellow (lowers. 

 Knipholia natalensis is a small poker plant. 

 The rock garden looks well. I never saw such 

 magnificent blooms as are on the Kamondias. I 

 much admired Katnondia pyrenaica rosea,. 1 had 

 not previously seen it. and it is certainly very 

 striking : the white variety was also very beauti- 

 ful. The pink-flowered Oxalis adenophylla is 



Very good indeed, and seems well at home. 



Draba pyrenaica 1 liked, also Veronica Whit tali 

 with beautiful blue (lowers, and the grand patch 



of Viola gracilis x Munbyana is worth seeing. 

 Veronica pyrolaeformis, from China, is well named, 

 a small grower about 6 inches, with porcelain 

 blue (lowers mimicing those of the Pyrola. 

 Dracocephalum bulla! um. a new Chinese species, 

 with Large heads of blue flowers, was good, as 

 also was a line lot of Aubrietia Peter Hair. The 

 Dracocephalum. Veronica and Roscoea cautlioides, 

 with pale yellow (lowers, are desirable introduc- 

 tions of the " Bees, Ltd." Salvia Souliei, a 



s what recently introduced Chinese plant, is 



a good colour, and Ajuga rep tans, pink variet y, 

 is a pretty little plant. Veronica teucrium dubia 

 rosea is good, and the white form is also pretty. 

 Some line Cypripediums were flowering in the 

 rock garden, a dwarf species with curious purply 

 slipper-like flowers was labelled < '• tibeticum. and 

 there was a, tall yellow one named < '. hirsutum, 

 with C. spectabile in another part throwing up 

 strong stems. In the bog bed Primula Unique 

 is a lovely colour: the Irises are also line. Iris 

 sibirica pallida being an especially nice colour. 



and Iris setosa. 1 was in the houses just a 

 hurried run through they look Al. The blue 

 Water Lily in the big tank is a grand colour a also 

 the ( 'a unas. " S." 



