IRISH GARDENING 



43 



Mrs. BarLoii at Straffan JTouse, and entprod on 

 my duties lltli Xoveniber. 1875, and after 

 servins; the third j^ene ration of the Barton faiiiily 



1916." 



■1 liming to the scene 

 love, we may append 

 features which have 

 our memory. First, 



had to retire (itli .laiuiarv. 

 To tliis. moiiu-ntaiilv" r 

 of Mr. Bedford's lain., us .. 

 a note of tlios-' iiriuuuy 

 impressed themselves on 



the i^lants, and of those that superb specimen 

 (since broken vip) of Drynaria diversifolia, which 

 the late Dr. Moore, of Glasnevin, said he would 

 go all round the World if they would give him the 

 plant when he came back. Stove plants generally 

 were the features of Straffan, during the late lion. 

 Mrs. Barton's time, and watching the develop- 

 ment of new things, such as Anthurium Veitchii. 

 into the highest they were capable of, jieculiarly 

 attractive to our old friend and his visitors. 

 As for hardy things, undrr ninny jihascs if jilant 

 life we have 

 seen original 

 stocks, as rc- 

 ])resented, l)y u 

 solitarv bulb 

 of Sir 'Watkin 

 Daffodil, when 

 sold at a gu inert, 

 get oul of thr 

 gardens to be 

 re])resented by 

 millions, wv 

 may say, run- 

 ning over and 

 down the green 

 slopes of the 

 liffey's brim, 

 and the wild 

 garden on the 

 i s 1 a. n d with 

 its s t a t e 1 > 

 bamboos and 

 noble -fuli'Ufd 

 things, all ini- 

 tiated and ().,.- 

 v.d.,|.,.d nnd.T 

 th-sani,. mini- 

 stering hand. 

 These would 

 take a volume 



todnjnslireto. 

 W.. cannot re- 

 frain. h()\\('Ver, 

 from the mere mention of that glorious colony of 

 Cyprepedium spectabile in the old garden, nor 

 overlook ohe s|)lendidly trained and grandly crop- 

 liing wall trees which our old friend ])ersonally 

 tended and trained in the way they should go, and 

 those who have seen them will not need to be told 

 Mr. Bedford was a worker in the fvdl sense of the 

 term. However, these a,re memories we now 

 conclude in wishing him and Mrs. Bedford every 

 happiness in their retirement, believing that in 

 the q\uet consciousness of good work done 

 " Those joys will always last, and hope still 

 brighten days to come while memory gilds the 

 ])ast." K., Dubhn. 



Chionodoxa Luciliae alba. 



This lovely little bulbous plant is now coming 

 into bloom, and looks very beaaitilnl so early in 

 the year. Nothing ar.)uses interest in the rock 

 garden so nuich as (>arlv-l)looniing plants of all 

 kinds. 



P/iofo hii] 

 C'OTJ 



Irish Grown Fruit. 



In the January number of Irish Gardening we 

 gave illustrations of apples and ]X'ars grown in 

 the west and exhibited at th.' Clare ITorticultural 

 Society's Show. In the iircscnl issue we are glad 

 to illustrate what can be tlone ^\ith apples in 

 Kilkenny. The illustration sIkjws forty-live 

 dishes of apples in forty-five varieties, and it is 

 a matter for congratulation that eleven of them 

 won prizes at the Exhibition of British Grown 

 Fruit held in London last October. The apples 

 were grown in Bessbo rough Gardens, Piltown, 

 from whence a large number of first prizes 

 have been won at London shows during 

 the last six years. This musu serve as a 

 great incentive to gardeners and farmers- to 

 persevere in the planting of apples in Ireland, 

 csiieciallv at a time wln-n the necessity for pro- 

 ducing as mvich 

 food as possi- 

 l)le is being 

 urged on all 

 sides. There 

 seems no doubt 

 that the linest 

 finality cook- 

 ing and eating 

 ajiples can be 

 produced abun- 

 dantly in Ire- 

 land with rea- 

 sona])le care in 

 cultivation and 

 sele<'tion of 

 varieties. 



Beekeeping 



'J'O THK EDITOH 



Sir.— Fruit- 

 growing to 

 be successful 

 should be com- 

 bined with 

 bee kee ring, as 

 when bees are 

 kept in the 

 vicinity of fruit 

 gardens they 

 are not only 

 a source of profit througlvthe honey they produce, 

 but their presence is a matter of considera hie 

 importance in assisting the cross -fertilisation and 

 more regular production of perfectly formed 

 and developed fruit. Fertilisation is doubtless 

 assisted bv wind and other insects, but in many 

 cases where the blossom has not been fully 

 fertilised by bees, there is a deficiency in seed 

 formation which is largely responsible for the 

 premature droyiping of apples, pears, and plums. 

 This fact is now so Well recognised by many 

 fruit growers that they consider the presence of 

 bees an indisj)ensable aid to obtain the best 

 results. 



The past winter has, for the most part. Iieen 

 favourable to the bees. The weather, although 

 abnormally wet and windy, has been sufflcienlly 

 cold to keep them confined to the hive, wliilst 

 there has been occasional mild oppo i( unilies. 

 but not too frequent, for the necessary cleansing 

 flights, so that the consumption of stores and 



[Ciijil. Pfnrouc 



KCTioN OF 45 Dishes of Appi-es grown in the Gardens 

 AT Bessborough Park, Kilkenny. 



