IRISH GARDENING. 



43 



necessary to water these plants, but if the Wall- 

 flowers, &c., are not well rooted, or have been 

 transplanted from their original seed bed, it 

 would be wise to spray them over if the autunxn 

 sun shows itself. Sometimes we have very bii^ht 

 days early in October. <'sp(!cially after a nifihts 

 frost. Summer Chrysanthemums which have not 

 finished flowering may be well watered, lifted, 

 put into boxes, and placed under glass in some 

 corner, when a useful lot of flowers may be got 

 for cut flowers ; the earlier flowering plants in 

 pots must be brought under glass as the petals 

 begin to show themselves or the blooms will 

 damp. All the main batch of Chrysanthemums 

 should be put in the greenhouse at the end of this 

 month ; between the last day of September and 

 the 7th October I consider a good safe time, 

 provided no plants have big developed buds ; 

 these are always put into safety whenever they 

 are ready. 



Double Violets should be in their winter 

 (luarters by the third week of this month. Plant 

 so close to the top of the frame that the leaves 

 touch the glass w hen first planted, and 

 thoroughly soak with water after planting. 

 Remove the lights altogether unless frost is 

 expected, and even then leave a little air on at 

 the back of the frame. Where damping is 

 troublesome during the dull winter days, a 

 covering of sharp sand between the plants and 

 put over the whole bed will be found a he!]) ; 

 the plants are easier to keep clean, and the sand 

 passes away all surface moisture down to the 

 roots. Often trouble witli Violets is caused by 

 the roots being dry and the leaves and flowers 

 hanging wet with fog, &c. I would also advise 

 trying a few plants in pots, especially the more 

 sliy bloomers and the Dovible White. I could 

 never get a crop of Double White Violets until 

 I started to grow them in pots. Of the varieties 

 I find Marie Louise still hard to beat, but Mrs. 

 J. J. Kettle, one of the newest varieties, is very 

 good, quite distinct from any other Violet and 

 decidedly the sweetest Violet grown. Mrs. 

 Higgins is another variety, but althovigh we are 

 pleased with it, it is early to say much about it. 

 Mrs. J. J. Astor is good, but I have been un- 

 fortunate in that several stocks from different 

 sources developed red spider, and I promptly 

 burnt the whole V:)atch. 



When red spider appears on Niolets I never 

 found any remedy except to burn the plants and 

 get a new stock from a clean source. This does 

 not happen unless faulty cultivation has been 

 carried out. but to introduce this pest into a clean 

 stock would be fatal among the other dovibles. 

 Ijady Ilume Campbell is lovely in colour, but 

 short in the flower stalk. De J'armaand Neopolitan 

 1 do not like ; they do not give me so many 

 floweis or so good as the other varieties I have 

 named. 



Where single varieties are grown in beds it is. 

 1 think, better to grow several beds and two or 

 three varieties. Princess of Wales is still the 

 best for size and colour if done w(>ll. as it does 

 on some soils, but tin; Czar follows it. and gives 

 flowers in mid-winter if the weather is at all iiiiid, 

 and a few Violets then are worth much more than 

 a plentiful supply when other flowers ai'c moic 

 plentiful. Admiral Avellan is of reddish cob mi : 

 it never flowers freely with me. Luxonjie is 

 spoken of very highly, but I have not grown it. 

 It is safer to grow a variety which does well in 



your own garden than another which grows well 

 in your neighbour's garden. There is often a 

 reason which is hard to find. Try all new things 

 a year before committing your old friends to the 

 nil)i>ish heap. 



C><lamen should be brought into the green- 

 liouse at once, and a temperature of at least 

 .J.3 maintained on cold nights until the middle of 

 winter, when another drop of 5^ to 50° will do 

 in cold weather. Avoid much fire heat, and 

 when first brought into the houses keep the 

 stages damped in the mornings. A trellis stage 

 is an abomination for Cyclamen or for any 

 plant except when in flower. Cockle shells are 

 clean, but not always obtainable ; of course 

 they must be crushed for the job. Small clean 

 gravel is also good, and the best plants grown 

 for Covent Garden stalls are grown with coal 

 ashes on benches. Watch the earliest potted 

 bulbs for forcing, and if roots have been formed, 

 shake the pots clear of ashes, and put in a cold 

 frame until far enough advanced for the forcing 

 house. Any flowering shrubs — Deutzias, Lilacs, 

 double flowering Cherines, Prunus floribunda, 

 &c. — that are to be lifted and placed in pots for 

 growing in the greenhouse in the spring should 

 be well watered and put into pots at the end of 

 the month, sprinkled overhead and encouraged 

 to make fresh roots before the leaves fall. 



The Fruit Garden. 



By T. E. ToMALix, tiardener to the Earl of 

 Bess borough, Bessborough Park, Co. Kilkenny. 



Early and mid-season varieties of apples and 

 pears should be gathered during this month as 

 soon as the stalk parts readily from the spur 

 without breaking, but the late kinds should not 

 be gathered until October, and even then they 

 should be allowed to hang on the trees as long as 

 possible. Sometimes the whole crop of a tree 

 is gathered because a few are dropping, but it is 

 better to lose a. few in this way than to pick before 

 the fruit is perfectly fit, as fruit gathered too 

 soon always shrivels badly long before the 

 proper season to use it arrives. Early cooking 

 apples, such as Lord Grosvenor. (irenadier. and 

 Karly Victoria, should be disposed of as soon as 

 possible, as they only lose weight and (piickly 

 become spotted if stored. The same ajjplies to 

 early dessert kinds, such as Beauty of Bath. 

 Lady Sudeley, and Irish Peach. Early pears, 

 too. should be closely watched, as they will keep 

 but a very few days when mature, and where 

 marketing is practised, these should be packed 

 a few days before they are (juite ripe. If exhibi- 

 tion fruits are required the trees should be gone 

 ovei' carefully, and a small piece of an old straw^- 

 Ix'nv net sliould be tixed \inder each of tlie verv 

 Ix'st specimens to catch them if tiu'V fall. These 

 will swell considerably when the rest of the crop 

 has lieen picked off. Never pick for storing 

 uidess the fruit is perfectly dry. foi- the skin is 

 much more easily bruised when moisture is 

 adhering to it. Pi-ovided that apples are quitch 

 dry when picked, there is nothing against storing 

 tliem in heaps on the fruit-room shelves, or even 

 on the floor of a cool cellar, but thev must be 

 placed in i)()siti(.n by li.uid carefully." and not 



