IRISH GARDENING 



H3 



five-inch pots and took everyones fancy. A dry 

 season like this has just suited Verbenas. They 

 are often just raised from seed in March, but to 

 keep good sorts over the winter cuttings should 

 be taken without further loss of time and placed 

 in pots or boxes. An old spent melon frame is 

 an ideal place to strike the cuttings. Keep the 

 frame close for a time, and, of course, shade from 

 bright sunshine. 



Annuals. — It is well to keep an eye on the 

 Annuals that have suited the season for future 

 reference. Godetia and Clarkia have made a 

 glorious show during the past month. These, of 

 course, were sown in frames, pricked off and 

 transplanted into the beds during the first week 

 of June. This month is a good time to sow again 

 in frames for planting out in favoured situations 

 next March for early flowering. Try various 

 kinds for this purpose, and during winter do not 

 coddle, but expose to plenty of air, and so keep 

 the plants sturdy. In sheltered places many 

 annuals may now be sown thinly where they are 

 wanted to flower next spring. The ground need 

 not be rich, but make it Arm, and the growth will 

 be all the stronger. 



Shrubs. — It is interesting to be able to propa- 

 gate one's own shrubs, and this is a favourable 

 time to start. Make up a frame of loam, leaf- 

 mould and sharp sand, and in this cuttings of 

 Veronicas, Privets, Laurels, and things of this 

 sort will strike readily. Take half-ripened wood 

 with a " heel " if possible. Give a good watering 

 and keep the frame close, and shade when the sun 

 is bright. 



Chrysanthemums have enjoyed the bri'liant 

 weather. The growth is firm and dwarf. Feeding 

 should now be liberal and varied as often as 

 possible. Outdoor plants will require staking if 

 not already done. We may get winds all too 

 soon, and where they are not secured many fine 

 plants are ruined. Give manure water if at all 

 possible, and keep the hoe going between the 

 plants. 



The Fruit Garden. 



By D. McIntosh, Gardener to Alderman Bewley, 

 Danum, Rathgar. 



Vineries. — -Usually the worst pest subject to 

 the destruction of ripe grapes during this month 

 is wasps. Tiffany or fine netting is often used 

 over the ventilators to prevent these insects 

 getting in, but that remedy is not to be recom- 

 mended, because sufficient fresh air cannot reach 

 the vines, and the house becomes so hot that the 

 grapes soon shrivel. A better plan is to procure 

 several bottles, half fill them with sugar, diluted 

 in water, and hang them up on the wires here and 

 there throughout the house. These bottles 

 require to be taken down from time to time to be 

 emptied and refilled. If this is attended to when 

 the wasps first enter but little or no damage will 

 be done to the grapes. Young vines are some- 

 times so vigorous that means must be taken to 

 check their vigour in order to get the wood ripe. 

 This is best done by reducing the side growths 

 gradually until all are cut back to the main one. 

 Vines for early forcing, to be started in November, 

 should now be pruned back to two good eyes. 

 By pruning early, this gives the vines a more 

 complete rest than when they are left unpruned 

 until a later period. The loose ragged bark may 

 be pulled off, but vine rods should never be 



peeled closely. Wash the rods with Gishurst 

 compound, according to directions. This is a 

 safe and effective remedy for destroying insects 

 and mildew, and does not injure the vines. 



Gathering and Storing Hardy Fruits. — 

 Peaches, nectarines and apricots should not be 

 gathered until the fruits are fully ripe, as they do 

 not acquire their full aromatic flavour until the 

 exact period of ripening. It is possible to preserve 

 them for a week or ten days when fully ripe, by 

 placing them in a cold store, where a temperature 

 is maintained within a few degrees of freezing 

 point. To extend the season of these fruits as 

 long as possible, a careful selection of early, mid- 

 season and late varieties should be made, and 

 also by planting on different aspects. The above 

 remarks may also be applied to plums. Plums, 

 however, will hang somewhat longer on the trees 

 after ripening, and but little can be done towards 

 keeping them in store for dessert after gathering. 

 Early varieties of pears, such as Jargonelle, 

 Clapp's Favourite, &c, should be used almost 

 immediately after gathering. Second early 

 varieties, as Beurre d'Amanalis, Souvenir de 

 Congres, &c; if required a few days in advance 

 of the time at which they will become naturally 

 ripe, may be hastened by gathering and wrapping 

 each fruit in tissue paper and placing in a close 

 box or drawer amongst some sweet dry hay. 

 Pears should never be placed in the same storage 

 as apples. The cool and somewhat moist atmo- 

 sphere required by apples takes all the flavour 

 out of pears. Pears require a warm, dry room, 

 one in which hot water pipes have been intro- 

 duced, so that the desired temperature can be 

 maintained throughout the autumn and early 

 winter months. Later varieties should be\left 

 to hang on the trees as long as they are safe from 

 frost, and be careful to gather when dry and 

 without bruising. A simple test as to their fitness 

 for gathering is to raise the fruits gently in the 

 hand, and if the stalk parts readily from the 

 branch, the fruit is ripe. Another test is to cut 

 open a fruit and examine the pips. If these are 

 dark brown the fruit is nearly, or quite matured, 

 but if the pips are still white, it should remain 

 longer on the tree. If gathered too early they 

 shrivel and become tough and leathery, and do 

 not attain their full flavour. Early varieties of 

 apples, such as Early Juneating, Gladstone, &c, 

 have to be gathered and used direct from the tree. 

 Mid-season varieties may be safely placed in the 

 store for a short time. Late varieties should be 

 allowed to hang on the trees as long as possible. 

 Many people, alarmed by the falling of the fruit, 

 gather their apples much, too early. If these 

 fallen fruits be carefully examined, most of them 

 will be found to be maggoty and diseased. On 

 no account introduce artificial heat into the apple 

 storage. No anxiety need be felt if the tem- 

 perature should fall several degrees below the 

 freezing point, during a continued frost, but in 

 such a case, when the thaw sets in, keep the room 

 close for some time afterwards and allow the 

 temperature to gradually rise. Any sudden 

 change of temperature will affect the fruit more 

 than anything else. 



The Vegetable Garden. 



By J. G. Toner, County Instructor in Horti- 

 culture, Co. Monaghan. 



Cauliflowers. — If the demand has been cor- 

 rectly estimated, no great number will go to loss. 



