n8 



IRISH (JAKDE.NING, 



Notes for Novices. 



\'i:(.i:t.\1!1.i:s. i:nv\\ tliis hk.mIIi sow a Irw nu.iv 

 lilies ul' (.-abbagi- si'tnl on a w tll-pii'iiaicil Ixnilri'. 

 also several lines of the Tripoli onion, (iianl. 

 Kocca, which is one of the best vaiicties to stand 

 the winter. Draw out shaUow drills at I,") inrlus 

 apart, sow the seed niod('rat''l\ lliin. and iii\ci- 

 li^riitly with line soil. Mak.' a small sowin- 

 of wiutei- spinaeh in an opi-n sit nation, draw iti.n 

 out the diills 1 .] iuehes deep and at IS inches ajjait. 

 Tliii< out the seedlinj^s to .S inches asunder when 

 they have reached a heij^ht of 2 inelies ; stir IIk^ 

 soil between the rows freiiuently. Suppl\ 

 abundance of water to celery t reuclu's in di\ 

 weather. KarthiuK up of the earl> crop will now 

 demand att(>ntion. ijefore coiiiniencing this 

 operation firstly snap clean oil' all side growths 

 at the base of the plants. Around each plant 

 tie a piece of rallia in order to keep the growths 

 compact and to prevent the soil from eiitering 

 info Ihe heai't of the plant. Six inches of soil, 

 liroken up Mnely, will be sullicient tc earth ui) at 

 one ojx'ration. Keep the foliage clear of the 

 celery fly by frccjuent dustings of fresh soot. 

 First and second (^arly potatoes should at once 

 be lifted, the desired (luantity selected for seed 

 purposes, and the others put under cover for 

 immeiliate and future use. ^'acant ground from 

 which the i)otatoes have just been removed may 

 b(! jdanted up with winter greens, coleworts, 

 and late sowings of turnips. Runner beans 

 should now be in full bearing. The pods should 

 be kept picked regulai-ly. Mulch both sides of 

 the row with long littei', and water and feed the 

 plants with farmyard liquid manure from time 

 to time. Continue the sowing of lettuces and 

 radishes in small quantities every 10 days or so. 



Fruit. — As soon as raspberry canes have been 

 cleared of their fruits carefully remove the pro- 

 tecting net on a dry day. Cut out all the old 

 canes to more fully expose the young rods to air 

 and sunlight. Apply to the soil around the roots 

 a good soaking of farmyard liquid manure 

 diluted to a safe strength — one-third of the licjuid 

 to two-thirds of water. Two-year-old plants of 

 strawberries intended for bearing fruit next season 

 will also be much benefited by an application of 

 manure. Attend to the watering of young liquid 

 strawberry plants in newly formed beds. When 

 cherry trees have been cleared of their fruits 

 they should be partially pruned and the foliage 

 cleaned by means of the hose or garden engine. 

 Guard against the mistake of allowing the roots 

 to suffer for want of moisture. Peaches and 

 nectarines growing against Avails should be 

 attended to regarding the tying in of young 

 shoots, otlieruise they are liable to get broken 

 in the eviut ol ruu^h winds. Expose the fruits 

 as much as j)(,ssil.le to the sun and air, so that the 

 true flavour of each variety will be assured. 

 Keep the foliage clear and free from insect pests. 

 Remove all suckers that emerge from the roots. 

 Wall trees bearing fruit and approaching the 

 ripening stage should be securely netted in good 

 time as a protection against the ravages of birds. 

 Wood-lice at this season are often the cause of 

 much injury to the ripening fruits. 



Flower Garden. — Among alpine plants in 

 the I'ockery, those which have not made sufficient 

 progress should be carefully noted with the view 

 of increasing the stock, by inserting a batch of 

 cuttings in a cold frame. A great deal of time 

 can now be well spent in keeping herbaceous 

 borders neat and attractive. Plants that have 



liui.lied il,,v\.rin,- >iiould have liieii- d.Nid llowi-r 

 >leni- and deea\inu leaves cut off. Stakes may 

 also be remove. i. Later plants (>! a tall hal)it o'f 

 i^routli must be securely staked in ease of i-ough 

 \\iMd>. wiiieli are ,,l1en pre\alent dui-ing the 

 auliimii. Tie up the >tems liom time to time as 

 thes uain in iiei-iit. Alumdance of water must 

 be applied 1,, all moist uie-loving plants if the 

 best results aiv to be obtaine<l. .Mulch Dahlia 

 plants with decayed manure and feed with licpud 

 manure at least once a week. iM. i). 



Beekeeping. 



.ii 



so lar as it has gone, has been even more 

 ad\eise for bees than its predecessors — about 

 the worst on record, if not indeed the very worst 

 for the past thirty years, is the opinion of some 

 of our oldest bee-keepers. The best yields up 

 to this amount to about fifteen moderate quality- 

 linished sections in the; first crate, and this is only 

 to be met with in the best localities. Many 

 stocks are now — mid-.July — throvigh the long 

 continuance of cold weather, showing signs of 

 economising bv tin-owing out theii- drones. 

 Although some of them have from IT) to 20 lbs. of 

 honey in sections or supers very few have any 

 sealed honey in the brood frames; in fact there 

 are many large colonies perilously near the brink 

 of starvation, while some have and are still being 

 saved by feeding. The white clover was about 

 ten days later than usual in arriving at the best 

 stage for yielding nectar, and it bloomed very 

 profusely. But, instead of the much-needed 

 heat wave for all crops, with its accompanying 

 honey flow fi'om the clover, the tem])erat uic kept 

 too low, and, with the big woolpack-looking 

 clouds rolling up from the northern horizon, we 

 had cold winds and cold rain flows during the 

 most important period of the year for bees. The 

 prospects at present look gloomy from the bee- 

 keeping point of view, but it is to be hoped that 

 behind the dark clouds there may be a 

 silver lining when the blackberry, blackheads, 

 and lime come into bloom, and especially for those 

 sitviated in mountain disti"icts, where they get the 

 best honey flows in Augvist and September. 



There will now be a tendency, even with the 

 most vigorovis queens, to restrict the brood area. 

 This means that from now there will be an in- 

 creasing inclination to store honey in the brood 

 frames rather than in sections or supers. It is 

 therefore essential that crates or supers should 

 onl> be given to the extent that they can be 

 crowded with bees, and that they be snugly 

 covered with several plies of heat-retaining 

 material, so as to encourage the bees to store in 

 them and to hasten the ripening and capping of 

 the honey. Floor-board ventilators should be 

 kept closed, unless a period of sweltering heat 

 should set in, when it would be an advantage to 

 open them, but on no account should they be left 

 open on cold or chilly nights. Up to this there 

 has only been a few days this summer on which 

 there was any necessity to open floor ventilators, 

 and that only in hives with insufficient entrance 

 way. 



In late districts where the autumn flow is the 

 mainstay, bees should be fed during broken 

 weather, so as to have them well stocked with 

 brood and bees in anticipation of the hoped for 

 warm spell, when the heather comes into bloom, 

 and later on the wild scabious yields abundantly 

 in September. In districts where ragweed is the 

 principal or only source on which bees can forage, 



