174 



IRISH GARDENING 



be done every year whether the disease was 

 present or not, and it should be done even in a 

 season which promised well. ^Those of them who 

 were not growers found it extremely difficult to 

 buy in Dublin a decent Irish apple. His advice 

 to fruit growers was : — " Take your stuff from books 

 and other stuff from experience and mix it with 

 your own brains." They needed in this country 

 a good deal more experimentation on these various 

 remedies. Every grower should be an experi- 

 ments himself, on a small scale at any rate, and 

 let the Department know his experience. It was 

 only thus they could make extensive progress in 

 their knowledge of these matters. 



Mr. D'Olier stated that the worst foes which 

 the fruit grower had to tight was the fungoid and 

 not the insect. In Wexford recently he noticed 

 that the James Grieve was the worst cankered 

 apple in the whole orchard, though in his. own 

 orchard it was perfectly healthy. One of the 

 worst forms of fungoid attacks he had found was 

 mildew, which seemed to stop the fertilisation of 

 flowers. He had not been able to stop it with 

 spraying. 



.Mr. Brock (Fermanagh) said that the apple 

 sucker was one of the very worst forms of insect 

 with which they had to deal. There was one short 

 period — viz.. just before the blossoms opened — 

 when it could be coped with by using a simple 

 wash of paraffin emulsion. Another excellent spray 

 was tliat composed of lime sulphur. 



Rev. Mr. Martin thought that paraffin emulsion 

 was a dangerous mixture to use in unskilled 

 hands. Tobacco extract is a shilling per ounce, 

 and one ounce will make ten gallons of 

 solution, and in his case he found it was 

 effective. He recommended the application of 

 tangle-foot^grease. If an efficient^remedy could 

 be got for black spot he believed that there was 

 a great future for fruit culture in the north. He 

 believed that the cure lay somewhere along t he 

 lines of lime sulphur. They wanted something 

 that remained mi the leaf. 



Professor Campbell, in bringing the conference 

 to a close, stated that the results showed thai 

 interest in fruit growing was increasing, and it was 

 perfectly hv Lous t hat the count ry was a wakening 

 to the importance of the subject. They never 

 before had such a series of practical papers as 

 they had had at that conference. They had at 

 last coming to the front t he practical fruit grower. 

 The experts of the Department had all been in 

 the background on that occasion, and the prac- 

 tical men had come to the front. They had had 

 a whole sitting devoted to the subject of insect, 

 pests and plant diseases. All that was encourag- 

 ing to the Department and to horticultural 

 instructors throughout the country. Now that 

 they had got the practical men coming forward 

 he thoughf^it was time for the Department to 

 bestir itself in research of fungoid. They were 

 offering scholarships to young men to encourage 

 i hem in scientific work. He doped it would be 

 possible to have their conference annually. lie 

 wanted to organise good exhibits to go over to 

 Great Britain and sweep prizes everywhere, and 

 thus assist the officers of the Department who 

 were helping to sell Irish produce. If they could 

 succeed in striking the imagination of the British 

 people by carrying off prizes it would have an 

 immense effect on that side of their work. He 

 had no doubt that it would not be long before 

 they succeeded in that work. Before dispersing 

 they should accord a hearty vote of thanks In 

 the readers of the excellent papers they had just 

 heard. 



The Month's Work. 



Bv J. II. 



The Flower Garden. 



( V.mjiixg, Royal Dublin Society, 

 Ballsbridge. 



General Remarks. — Lawns in most 

 places may now get a final cut and 

 the mower thoroughly cleaned and 

 oiled before laying it aside. Leaves 

 that accumulate thickly on the grass 

 may be removed before they damage 

 it : but during leaf-falling, I think it 

 a great waste of time to daily sweep 

 up every leaf, as is done in some 

 places. The season should be taken 

 into account by those who are so 

 very fastidious and the " hands " 

 | employed at more important work. 

 Outdoor Chrysanthemums that have 

 not flowered, and have plenty of 

 buds, may be lifted and put in boxes 

 that have done service for tomatoes. 

 Water at the roots and an occasional 

 spray overhead will keep them fresh 

 till root action takes place, and the 

 flowers will prove serviceable later 

 on. Early Roman Hyacinths that 

 are under ashes should be examined. 

 and when the growth is an inch long 

 removed to a cold frame and gradu- 

 ally inured to the light before placing 

 them into a warmer temperature to 

 force. 



Liliums. — Everyone loves Lilies. 

 Their gorgeous colours, size, ^frag- 

 rance, and variation in form render 

 them the most useful of our bulbous 

 plants, and are very easily cultivated. 

 One of A the most beautiful we have is the old 

 English White Lily, candidum. I have seen a 

 lot of it in borders this autumn. It is thoroughly 

 hardy, is not too particular as to soil, and propa- 

 gates itself rapidly, and for weeks produces the 

 loveliest white tlowers imaginable. The Davuri- 

 niin group of crimson, orange, red, and other 

 similar shades are Lilies that will adapt them- 

 selves to almost any position or soil, lasting for 

 years in the same spot. Chalcedonicum is still 

 one of the best and easily grown. Auratum, of 

 course, is the grandest of all the Lilies where it 

 does well, but the others I have mentioned are 

 most suitable for the ordinary herbaceous border 

 and the ordinary individuals who want to add 

 Lilies to their holders. Early planting is of the 

 utmost importance, and when planted in autumn 

 will flower the following year. Avoid dry bulbs. 

 When received get them in at once. They like a 

 rich friable loam and prefer a partially shaded 

 situation. Bought bulbs for pots should never be 

 exposed long to the air. The earlier they are 

 potted the better they will do. The protection 



of a cool, airy shed is sufficient lib growth com- 

 mences in t he spring. 



Violets in frames should have the sashes 

 removed on all bright , dry days, and be kept clean 

 and \vri- from decayed foliage. Lor pot culture 

 the double sorts are the best. Keep the side 

 runners pinched into [about two joints from the 



base-. Winn they have well taken to the pots 

 after being lifted they should be placed in a warm 

 greenhouse for a few weeks. This causes the 

 flower to take the lead above the foliage ; then 



