17: 



IRISH GARDENING 



Mr. Richard White (Gowran) complained that 

 no provision had been made for packing large 

 Bramley apples such as he grew. They were told 

 that they should pack in standard bushel boxes. 

 He suggested that the Department should treat 

 growers as the Americans did. In America they 

 had different sizes of standard boxes. As things 

 stood at present in Ireland they were debarred 

 from packing huge Bramleys. If the Department 

 could not provide for that, perhaps they would 

 explain how t<> grow small Bramleys. The large 

 ones could nol be packed without putting a slip 

 under the lid of the box. He had a box in the 

 show, and anyone who liked could unpack it. 

 but lei him just try to pack it again ! Another 

 question which the Department should consider 

 was the difficulty of getting barrels. He failed 

 to get barrels in order to enter a competition for 

 the show. There were only two firms who could 

 provide barrels — one in Belfast and the other in 

 Portadown. He wrote ten days before the show 

 for two barrels, and he was quite prepared to pay 

 the carriage, but he got a reply saying that the 

 w<i ce was too short. The Northerners evidently 

 did ii"t want the Southerners to get too strong. 

 Last year he had apples at Belfast show, but they 

 were disqualified because the barrels had hoops. 

 Ilf thought it was very hard on these in the south 

 to have to go to Belfast to get barrels. 



.Mr. Brown (Sligo) stated that by varying Un- 

 packing in the bushel box almost any apple could 

 he put into it. 



Mr. YV. White. — You will not get the weight. 



Mr. Brown mentioned that the Americans were 

 doing it. Three or four packs were recommended, 

 lie thought that more explicit instructions should 

 be given by the Department in its pamphlet. 

 They did not till them about how to vary the 

 packing. He wrote sometime ago to the Depart- 

 ment on tin- matter, and after worrying them they 

 sent him a magnificent pamphlet that had been 

 issued by the Canadian Government. He sug- 

 gested that that pamphlet should be widely issued 

 by the Depart merit . 



The Chairman mentioned that there was one 

 objection of which he could dispose. Mr. White 

 thought that the parking barrels were only made 

 in the north. The simple reason was that until 

 quite recently apples were only grown in the north. 

 By Mr. White's calling attention to the matter 

 the Department would take a note of it. 



Mr. M. .1. Byrne (Dublin) did not believe in 

 Mr. Logan's plan of allowing the grass to grow 

 round t he tree. It siimt In-red the rays of t he sun. 

 All fruit 1 ices should be carefully cultivated, and 

 nothing should he allowed close to them. As to 

 planting, the tree should be planted at the same 

 depth as it was planted in the nursery. The tree 

 should he carefully pruned ami st akedj SO as to 

 save it from being blown about. 



The Chairman said t hat they would like to know 

 what progress had been made by those under- 

 taking the Department's plots in the smith. 



Mr. O'Donnell (Piltown) agreed with Mr. Logan 

 about the grass. He manured the trees well over 

 the grass. Anyone could see in the show hall the 

 fruit that came from Piltown, and there was no 

 reason to be ashamed of it. They in Piltown 

 would continue their present methods. They 

 sprayed twice a year. 



The Chairman asked Mr. O'Donnell if be was 

 satisfied that fruit growing was a profitable in- 

 vestment. 



Mr. O'Donnell. — Certainly I had a very fair 

 ■ ■I'm; last year. I had about an Irish acre, and it 

 yielded £t"). 



The Chairman. — It is gratifying to know that 

 an Irish acre produces £75 in the market. What 

 kind of apples do you grow ? 



Mr. O'Donnell. — There are different varieties, 

 but the best we find are Bramley "s and Lane's. 



Mr. Donnelly mentioned that he sold an orchard 

 at eight years old of less thai; three and a half 

 acres for £200 without putting a hand upon it. 



Mr. Traynor (Hoscrea) spoke of the growing 

 interest taken in the cultivation of fruit. He was 

 a small grower of about, one English statute acre, 

 lie was a business man. and fruit was largely 

 eaten in his household, which contained about 

 eighteen adults. After supplying fruit to the 

 household he sold the remainder of the crop for 

 £39. No one need be afraid of fruit culture. He 

 believed in following out the plan he liked best. 

 Everyone could adopt a plan for himself, and he 

 could guarantee that they would all have fruit. 

 The people nowadays were getting so educated 

 that they must have the best fruit. There was 

 one serious matter which he thought it right to 

 i ne nt ion, and that was that they had to wait to 

 know that they were getting the apple that was 

 named. They had to wait for two or three years 

 before they knew whether they were getting the 

 apple which they bought. 



Colonel Guinness asked whether anyone present 

 sprayed with sugar. In Louth, where he lived, 

 they said they had no apples. He had a little 

 garden, and he sprayed with sugar. The bees 

 came to the trees, and he had now a large quantity 

 of apples 



Sir Frederick Moore, in replying to points raised 

 during the discussion, thought that they had lost 

 sight of one of the main points of the paper, and 

 that was to get at the most suitable varieties of 

 apples. He complimented Mr. Donnelly on the 

 excellence of his paper. It was one of the most 

 thoroughly practical and useful papers that has 

 been read at any conference, and there was hardly 

 a point in it with which fault could be found. 

 Hitherto it had been rammed down their throats 

 that fruit growing did not pay, and that they were 

 only flogging a (lead horse. Now. however', they 

 heard a different tale, for they found north 

 against south vieing with each other as to which 

 got the larger price. He did not think that 

 anyone would now doubt that apple growing was 

 profitable. As regards cultivation, it all depended 

 on the locality. They wanted to be very clear 

 whether orchards were 100 feet above sea level 

 or plain level. He stood up for the cultivated 

 orchard and was opposed to grass. Those who 

 si ait ed at first in the grass system were not 

 successful, unless, like Mr. Logan, they were in 

 most highly favoured districts where they could 

 not help the trees growing. If they went to the 

 south west and east, and saw the successful 

 orchards, they would find that cultivation with 

 grass would be hut lighting a bonfire for them- 

 selves. He thought it best, tor people who could 

 afford to do so to start with trees two or three 

 years old instead of maidens, as they were, to use 

 a colloquialism, " vetted." It was the Depart- 

 ment's object to see that the plants supplied were 

 the plants that had been ordered. He thought 

 that there was a great deal in Mr. White's remarks 

 as to barrels, hut he wished to point out that the 

 Department had in no sense appointed two makers 

 of barrels. The apples which Mr. White produced 

 looked like the produce of \oung trees, and as 

 regards packing it did present a serious problem. 

 He was afraid that there would have to be two 

 standards. The reason why barrels were made in 

 the north was because the makers agreed to make 



