.-6 



IRISH OAKDEN'ING, 



llawkc's ClumiiiaKiK' ;iic twd l;(1(k1 x.iricliis for 

 forciiii:. IMa.r lli,. i-.m.Is tirarlv ch.sr fn-.tli.T. 

 •srall.T .1 little soil ;.m..iiKst tluMii. .iikI u.-.trr 

 occasional I. V. 



Skaka LI-;.— Place st-vrial roots iir,nl> close 

 iofjt'thcr in lar^i^ i)o(s. ;iri(l staiid t.liein in ;i teiii- 

 pcratuir of ITr l,o :)(l . l-lNchidc the li-hl l.> 

 turninic an cniijt.y pot over llic top: u lieu tlie 

 roots lia\f started into y;i-oulh rcnioNc ti'c pots 

 to a dark cellar, with a t einperat ure ol' .').">" to (in \ 

 .S,-akale will not withstand ;i li<,di t enipi-rat ure 

 at first, and heat should onlv he K'-Kluallv 

 a|.i)lie(l. 



(iKNKHAi, Hk.maiik-. Trench or di- all mound 

 as it heconies vacant. Ditiuini;- should he done 

 well and deeplv : a ^neater thickness than ironi 

 4 (o .") inches should never he taken before the 

 spade. Clear out all withered leaves and i iihhish 

 from among winter greens; this will help to 

 harden the plants and make tlie garden tidy. 



Value of Immature Potato 

 Tubers as Seed. 



J low TO OBTAIN I-MMATIKK SkiiI). 



It has been .suggested that, in ordei- to (d)tain 

 immature seed, planting should be done about 

 midsummer. Tliis plan was adopted in the 

 (iari'orth (I9(»0) experiments, the immature seed 

 planted that year having been obtained from 

 tubers planted on 20-24th June and raised on 

 18-19th October, 1905. The cutting off of the 

 tops when green, so arresting further develop- 

 ment of tubers and allowing them to remain in 

 the ground until autumn, has also been suggested. 

 but the best practice will be found to be to plant 

 at the usual time of the year and to raise the 

 crop early. 



The Wye experiments show that the disease 

 causing leaf curl can be largely checked by using 

 immature seed, and " blight " does less damage 

 to the crop on account of tlie more advanced 

 growth which has been made at the time of year 

 when the plants are attacked by the disease. 



At the present time the advantages which tlie 

 planting of home-grown immature tubers woidd 

 give should specially appeal to small holders, 

 market gardeners, allotment holders and others 

 having small plots of land, on account of the 

 difficulty in obtaining good seed. The extra 

 crop which could be obtained in the year would 

 probably compensate for any loss in weight 

 which might occur by raising the tubers before 

 they were fully grown. 



There is no difficulty in storing immature 

 seed. In the Wye experiments the early lifted 

 tubers were allowed to lie on the ground exposed 

 to the weather for about three weeks. When 

 dry they were gathered and placed in barrels, 

 which were afterwards stored in a covered shed 

 until the following year. In the autumn of the 

 year, 1 cwt. of these was put into a clamp along 

 with other seed. The tubers were quite sound 

 when taken out m the following sjjiing. 



The following account of the Cxperiences of a 

 Lincolnshire grower who has followed t lie practice 

 of using home-grown immature seed Avill be 

 found valuable : — 



•' 28th June, 1916. At first all potatoes go to 

 market in two grades as picked oft the field. 

 Later as the markets come down they are only 



taken aecordin- to. sav. a I ',-in. riddle. The 

 r.Mnainder are put on a I ' or I i in. riddle, ami 

 put slrai-hl into boxes ami k.'pt lor seed. 1 

 grew I Mike of ^(nk for- ten >cars in succession 

 Irdni tile same slock and in the same garden. 1 

 lonnd the\ grew more (piicklv and vigoroush- 

 than Ironi' matured seed. The crop was lifleil 



.it till' end of .111! I- as soon as (oi' before) any 



diseas,' showed ill the tops. The small ones were 

 taken out and the otheis |)laced in travs, 

 stacked in tin- open until October, when they 

 were brought in for the wititer. These I)uk(^ of 

 ^dl■ks did \er\ well every >ear. keeping heallhy 

 and \ iuorous. and ])roduciiig a good cro|). At 



II nd of ten \ears thev wei'c planted hi the 



lield and alloweil to mat me. The seed saved 

 was also planted in the Held, but did 

 not produce a good crop. and the cro|j 

 from that year's seed was practically a 

 failure. The stock quickly grew out when the 

 seed was allowed to mature. I later extended 

 my experimeid to the field, the variety being 

 l*;ciil)se. 1 found that several times gr(»wn 

 (fi'om Scotland) seed grew as strongly as Scotch 

 seed and weic icacly to lift a week soont-r than 

 olhei' matured seed. .My brotliei- has a few acres 

 of Shai'jxj's l<]xpress fi-om seed taken uj) in .Inly 

 last yeai-. and boxed in this manm-r. Tliey are 

 twice grown from Scotland, l)ut look sti'ong and 

 rank in top and are doing well, considei'ing time 

 of planting and weathei' conditions. They may 

 lift four or five tonsin about a fortnight. Compared 

 with mature seed, immature seed gives a 

 crop of more vigorous grow'th, more freedom 

 from disease and grub attack, an earlier and 

 heavier crop, and the tubers are larger. — 

 Journal of the Board of A;/riculturc, Sept,, 1916. 



Notes, 



Trials of Summer^fruiting and 

 Autumri'fruiting Raspberries, 



Trials of both summer-fruiting and autumn- 

 fruiting raspberrie.': will be held at Wisley. 

 Three plants of each variety should reach the 

 Director, E.H.S. Gardens, Wisley, Ripley, Surrey 

 (station — Horsley, L. «k S. W. Ry.), by November 

 lolh, 1916. accompanied by the necessary forms 

 of entry (one for each variety) which may be had 

 on application to the Director. 



Geranium x Russell Prichard. 



This lovely hybrid, which was exhilnted some 

 time ago at one of the R. H. S. shows in London, 

 is likely to prove popular with lovers of hardy 

 plants. When in England in July I had the 

 privilege of seeing a bed of it in Mr. Maurice 

 Pilchard's nursery at Christchurch, and was much 

 struck by the enormous number of flowers pro- 

 duced — so numerous in fact as to present an 

 unbroken mass of soft pink. The silvery leaves 

 inherited from one of the parents G. Traversii 

 formed an admirable setting to the flowers, while 

 robust ness of constitution ought to come from 

 the ot he I- parent, v\-hich I think wasG. sanguineum. 

 Certainly in the sandy soil and hot climate at 

 Cliristchurch it was one of the most outstanding 

 plants in a nursery full of good things. B. 



