'44 



IRISH GARDENING 



In reality, of course, they are not lost, fowl and 

 pigs consume them : it does not pay. even 

 though eggs are scant' and pork at a high figure, 

 to cultivate them for that purpose. For a certain 

 short period their whiteness can be preserved by 

 breaking down sonic of the inside leaves over the 

 heads, and a desperate attempt to keep a few 

 until the next batch lias arrived can be made by 

 pulling them up and hanging them upside down 

 in a very cool place. When cut and placed in cold 

 water for a few hours before being cooked they 

 regain condition in an amazing manner. The 

 young plants from the August sowing must be 

 pricked out at a reasonable distance in the place 

 where they are to remain until spring. They 

 must be sheltered in some way during severe 

 w eal her in winter. 



CABBAGES.— It is not a, bit of use to select and 

 sow an early cabbage unless the plants are put 

 out in their final quarters during this month. A 

 detail of this kind is ap1 to be overlooked, while as 

 a. matter of fact it is one of the most important 

 fa-dors in the success of an early spring crop. In 

 fact every available spot might be so planted. 

 Il will be a new experience for many to find that 

 there are too many soft tender cabbages to be 

 had in April and May. Oh. the bareness of the 

 vegetable gardens iii these months! If a large 

 and a small variety are grown they can be so 

 planted that as the early ones are pulled out the 

 later kind has ample room to mat nre and provide 

 a, succession into the bargain. 



Kidney Beans. — Keep the pods constantly 

 removed whether required for home use or not. 



There are always friends glad to accept. If s Is 



are allowed to get on towards maturity in the 

 pods, 1 he plants feel t he st rain and fail to cont inue 

 making new pods, as they otherwise would. 



Tomatoes.— Luckily enough those who put 



out good plants in warm positions in the open 

 will be rewarded with fairish crops, thanks to the 

 good weather we have been favoured with of late. 

 Stop them at once, which just means thai the 

 growing point, for 1 here ought not to be points. 



is pinched out of each plant. There is no h »pe 



for Mowers setting much later producing fruit, 

 at least useful fruit. Peed them too for all the\ 

 are worth. Let clear water alternate with anv 

 good fertiliser and again before using natural 

 liquid manure. Even the green ones, if of fair 

 size, can be artificially ripened indoors later on. 



Lettuce. Thin out the rows thoroughly ami 

 transplant plenty of I he youngsters. Arrange, 

 if possible, some means of protecting the most 

 forward ones I ; 1 1 er on. 



Brussels Sprouts. The Later crops require 



to be we I attended in the matter of moulding 



up. They being so tall, and also carrying Large 



heads of Leaves, are otherwise unable to stand up 

 to the buffet ings of the winter winds. Scarcely 



any crop in t he green line tills t he bill so completely 



during the long stretch from October to April 

 as these, the old reliables that are always there 

 when called on. Wherefore treat them fairly. 



CELERY. Particular attention is paid by good 

 Vegetable growers to the blanching of celery. 

 One of the most Lmportaul matters is to see thai 



due preparation is made before any earth is 



placed to them. First of all the suckers or side 

 growths are entirely removed. Next, the leaf 

 stalks are so arranged that they entirely protect 

 tic hearts of the plants from particles of soil. 

 And again, water in most liberal measure, followed 

 by liquid manure, is given befor< the moulding 

 up process begins. Plants and soil must be dry 



too while the work is proceeding. If turf-mould 

 can be easily procured, it is a splendid material 

 for blanching, for while excluding the light it 

 offers little opposition to the enlargement of the 

 leaf stalks. Sand, too, is good. So solid has 

 celery been lifted from a covering of line sand 

 that it might easily have passed for one undivided 

 stem. Only the i'vw favourably placed, however, 

 can make use of these materials. A little at a 

 time is a golden rule in regard to moulding celery. 

 Onions. When signs that growth has become 

 less active are apparent the stems may be bent 

 down. This has a good effect on the swelling 

 up process. The harvesting follows. It is not 

 always easy to do this successfully in the absence 

 of open sheds or other suitable places for 

 thoroughly drying the bulbs under cover. Dried 

 they must be, however, and that completely, else 

 they will not keep their full term, which is mosl 

 disappointing. Keep the young Tripoli onions 

 quite free from weeds, which in some gardens at 

 any rate are allowed to almost smother the 

 right iul occupiers. 



Forestry in China. 



Deforestation has played an active part on the 

 surface of China, with the result that large forests 

 in China proper are rare. They are met with, 

 however, in certain districts of Central Asia, in 

 S. E. Tibet, and in Mongolia and Manchuria.. In 

 Eastern Turkestan are to be found birch, pine. 

 fir, spruce, larch, and poplar, while in the less 

 favoured districts artemisia and tamarisks relieve 

 the stretches of reeds and coarse grass that cover 

 the steppes. In S. E. Tibet may be seen juniper, 

 willow, pines, firs, cedars, elms and a large species 

 of holly: while in the sheltered valleys grow 

 wheat, barley, rice, fruit trees and vegetables. 

 The medicinal rhubarb tree is also a nati\ r e of 

 these plateaux. The tree grows to a height of 

 eight or ten feet and the rhubarb of commerce 

 is its root, dug up early in spring, cut into long 

 Hal pieces and dried. Dwarf elms and willows are 

 met with in the Gobi Desert. In Northern Mon- 

 golia and Manchuria the same trees reappear, 

 together with oak and walnut. 



Chinese timbers include pine, fir, maple, ebony, 

 oak, camphor, teak, mahogany, birch, plane, elm. 

 In this category may be mentioned the bamboo, 

 w Inch looms so largely in t he everv day life of t he 

 Chinese. With it they build houses and erect 

 temporary shelters: it is used for all scaffolding 

 purposes, and for the transport of all goods by 



human agency. In early life it is used for food ; 

 when full grown it supplies the vast water popula- 

 tion with masts, and from it are made chopsticks, 

 pipes, umbrellas, tables, stools and musical 

 instruments. Between forty and sixty varieties 

 of bamboo are said to be known to the Chinese. 



Among other trees worthy of mention are 1 he 

 varnish tree (Rhus vernicifera, I). ('.). the tallow 

 tree (Stillingia sebifera Michx), wood-oil tree 

 (Aleurites cordata Stend.), and vegetable was 

 tree (Fraxinus chinensis Roxb.). 



China has to import timber to satisfy its own 

 needs, nearly as much wood entering China from 



abroad (£539,730 worth in I'.tll) as is obtained 

 within its borders for purposes of local trade 

 through the Customs (in L910 6641,969). Foo- 

 chow poles Mir and pine) are the chief feature of 

 the industry. From the Monthly Bulletin of 

 Agricultural Intelligence ami Plant Diseases. 



