XIV 



IRISH GARDENING 



Gardeners and Foresters under the 

 Department of Agriculture. 



Attention is directed to the announcement in 

 our advertising columns relative to courses of 

 training in horticulture and forestry to be held 

 during the yeai 1913 II under the Department 

 of Agriculture. 



The course in fruit-growing and general 

 gardening at the Albert College, Glasnevin, 

 affords an excellent opportunity for men who 

 have had some years' experience <>f garden work 

 in acquire a thorough knowledge <>f the subject. 

 Students are allowed 1I-. to 16s. per week in 

 addition to furnished lodging while in training. 

 Several gardeners who have taken out this course 

 have been able to secure employment as horti- 

 cultural instructors under the Departments 

 schemes. 



Applicants for apprenticeships in forestry are 

 not expected to have had any special knowledge 

 of forestry, bul preference is given to those who 

 have had experience of work in woods. Appren- 

 tices are allowed ll-. per week with furnished 

 lodging during the first year of their training. 



The Department also offers valuable scholar- 

 ships in horticulture and forestrj tenable at the 

 Royal College of Science. Dublin. The scholar- 

 ships are renewable for tour years to enable the 

 holders to obtain, free of cost, the most advanced 

 technical and scient ific t raining 



Primula Forrestii. 



Can an-, reader offer an explanation of the 

 following? Primula Forrestii seems to have a 

 curious habit of < I >i o •: off. From several parts of 

 the country we heai of good batches of strong 

 plants having passed the winter safely, then 

 suddenly a third to one half of the plants droop 

 and die, apparently without being attacked by a 

 fungus. 



George Forrest found this Primula in 1906 on 

 the Lichiang Range, at an altitude of 9,000 to 

 11,000 feet, and he gives the following account, 

 of how the plant grows naturally, in the " Notes 

 from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh": 



"P. Forrestii, of the section Callianthse, is a 

 curious as well a> a beautiful species, and a lover 

 of dry, stonj situations. The flowers are large 

 and numerous, of a rich deep -hade of orange, 

 and fragrant. The foliage is densely coated with 

 glandular hairs, and. in the fresh state, has a 



peculiar, hut not unpleasant, aromatic odour. 

 The plant is specially adapted to the situation in 

 which it is commonlj found i.e., the crevices of 

 dry, shady limestone cliffs, in having a long, in- 

 tensely ton-' woody root-stock of 2 to :; feel in 

 lengt h. The base of this is \ ery t apered, generally 

 oiil> a cw inches being enclosed in the crevices 



of the rocks. From this point the plant is pen- 

 dulous for almost the full length of 'he remainder 

 of the rootstock, a few inches of the growing apex 

 being turned out and upwards. The rootstock 

 for two-thirds of its length is covered uit), the 



induvia-^of previous year's foliage, which, at the 

 apex, form a dense matted mass, with the fresh 

 foliage and flowers arising from the centre. 

 Judging from the length of the rootstocks of 

 specimens seen growing, allowing two whorls of 

 leaves for one years growth, a liberal estimate, 

 some plants tnusl reach the age of 50 to 100 

 years. Another feature which pointed to great 

 age in the species was. the cliffs behind sbme of 

 the larger specimen- were scored and worn to the 

 depth of fully an inch by t he mo' ion of t he plants 

 in t he wind. 



Catalogues. 



Messrs. .1. Cheal & Son-. The Nurseries, 

 Crawley, send a catalogue of Dahlias. Spring 

 Flowers, and Bedding Plants. Their collection 

 of Dahlias is an ext remely good one and numerous 

 prizes and medals gained in competition at the 

 best -hows, -how how well the plants are grown. 

 The present day Cactus Dahlia, witli flowers held 

 well above the roliage on sturdy erect stems; is 

 an extremely beautiful flower, useful for cutting, 

 for borders, or for large beds. Novelties for 

 the present and for last year are followed by a 

 very full list of the older soils. For small 

 gardens and for beds tin- new Pompon Cactus 

 Dahlia- will he found of great use. Bulb soft 

 pleasing colour's and brilliancy are found in the 

 single-flowered and the Paeony-flowered Dahlias; 

 t ley are most useful for cut flowers and decorative 



purposes. The same may be said of the new 

 Collarette Dahlias, while in the Mighon Dahlias 

 will he found plants only about IS inches, suitable 

 for he ds and borders. At the end of the catalogue 

 will he found lists of early-flowering Chrysanthe- 

 mums, Violas and Bedding Plants generally. 



Weedy Walks. 



A LARGE user of a certain brand of weed killer 

 jokingly suggested to the Irish agent recent lv 

 that the particular preparation in question mighl 

 be made weaker, for he found that alter a few 

 years regular use the weeds had become much 

 less vigorous, and he looks forward to being able 

 to do without weed killer almost altogether in 

 a few more years. Tim preparation referred to 



was Smith's " Perfect " Weed Killer, but the 



maker has no intention of adopting i he suggest ion 

 to reduce the strength of his weed killer, which 

 has been SO satisfactory in results wherever used. 

 It is supplied either in powder or liquid both 

 being equally effective. The advantage of the 

 powder form is thai it is supplied in free tins, and 

 so saves carriage back on empty drums and 

 casks. Smith's " Perfect ' Weed Killer is now 

 known and used all over Ireland, and continues 



to increase in popularity on account pf its 

 uniformly good results. Mr. D. M. Watson. 

 horticultural eh. •mist, lii South Great George's 

 Street, Dublin, is the Irish agent for Smith's 



Weed Killer. Smith's Insecticides. Smith's 



Worm Killer, Smith's Summer Shading, Smith's 

 Lawn Sand. \c Weed Killer prices will be 

 found on page xiii of this issue, and particulars 

 of all Smith's goods can be had from the above 

 addi ess of ' he I ri-h agent . 



