IRISH GARDENING. 



^3 



iiiaiuii-e, ci'ops iiuu' \)r i)i()iluct_'d wliicli will ln' 

 far superior in health and (juaUty to tliese gi'own 

 with similar, or even larger, quantities of nianui'c 

 on badly dug or insufficiently cultivated plots. 



Crops often suffer and become unhealthy 

 tluouuli l)eing grown continuously on the same 

 giouiid. It is generally agreed that certain types 

 of plants take more of certain food elements from 

 the soil than do others, crops like Potatoes 

 taking up considerable ((uantities of potash, 

 wliilc others like C'a})bagcs use up quantities of 

 niliogen and not so inucli ])o(ash. In such cases 

 it is often found that when the one crop succeeds 

 the other better results arc obtained than when 

 crops of the same kind are grown continuovisly 

 on the same portion of the plot. Not only so, 

 but when crops such as Cabbages are grown on 

 t lie same ground continuously it is fovmd that the 

 soil is literally alive with the germs of the disease 

 oi' (>ggs of tlie ]3est when the new crop is planted. 

 Hence we have in the gard(>n some attempt at 

 any rate to rotate the crops just as in the farm. 

 (I am not going to pretend here that gardeners 

 in ordinary practice do not manage by means of 

 tiiorough cultivation, heavy manuring, the fi'ee 

 use of lime, wood ashes and other substances to 

 secure good crops of Onions en' Celery as the case 

 may be year after year on the same ground, but 

 tlu'se are special cases.) On allotments it will 

 jxn/ to shift about the crops each year, so that a 

 crop such as Potatoes is not grown for three or 

 more consecutive seasons on the same ground. 

 Of food elements which seem to have important 

 licarings pn the health of plants we have Nitrogen, 

 i'otash and Lime. When nitrogenous fertilisers, 

 such as Nitrate of Soda and Sulphate of Ammonia, 

 are used too freely, plants tend to become sappy, 

 just as when they receive too much water, growth 

 is over rapid and not consolidated : on such 

 ])lants disease and insect pests soon have a happy 

 time. Apart from which, the plants are more 

 easily bruised, and when sent to market travel 

 badly, and wilt or become stale quickly, although 

 looking extremely fresh at first. On the other 

 hand, when Potash or Lime is lacking, or present 

 in insufficient quantities, crops are specially 

 subject to attack by disease. 



The importance of Lime in this and other 

 connections cannot be to often emphasised. 



Overcrowding of plants, especially in the seed 

 l)ed, is a further factor which tends towards the 

 development of ill-health in plants. When plants 

 are overcrowded they compete with each ot'ier 

 below ground for root-room, food materials, air 

 and water, consequently eacli individual, except- 

 ing some one or two which happen to be well 

 placed, gets less than it otlicrwise would have : 

 while above ground this overcrowding results in 

 long-drawn specimens, each trying to get up to 

 the light and air with the utmost speed, the one 

 sliading the other, so that the leaves of most of 

 them do not get the usual amount of sunlight, 

 and consequently less food is made in the leaf! 

 (It is a well-known fact nowadays that the green 

 parts of plants, more especially the leaves, are 

 responsil)le for building njj tlie carbon compounds 

 which form the bulk of tlie material of which 

 plants are composed.) 



That under tlie infliu'iicr of sunMght the plant 



is able to take hold of the carbon contained in 

 the carbonic acid of the air and change it into 

 sugars, etc.,— -and at the same time setting free the 

 oxygen— thus purifjdng the air for animals. 



When seedlings are grown thinly, so' that no 

 overshading or overcrowding takes place? and the 

 necessary food materials are present, the growth 

 IS more sturdy, less liable to be affected by 

 damping off and other diseases, bigger and better 

 crops are produced. Overshading may also be 

 caused by trees, the eft'ect of which — especially 

 if on the south side of the garden, apart from the 

 extreme drying action of the roots and the water 

 thrown off by the foliage — prevents most veget- 

 able crops from becoming a success. Weeds 

 again contribute materially towards ill-health in 

 plants — first of all by acting as overcrowding and 

 food-robbing agents, as in the case of too many 

 plants of the one kind referred to above, and, 

 secondly, serving as host plants on which various 

 insect pests and diseases may exist or thrive until 

 (heir particular crop comes around to the plot 

 again. 



In towns and by roadsides crops are often 

 badly affected by the dirt which is deposited on 

 the leaves and stems of plants. This clogs up 

 the openings through which the necessary air 

 passes, consequently sucli plants become stunted 

 in character, not only so, but in speciallv smoky 

 towns and cities the amount of acid deposited 

 is very considerable, so much so that the surface 

 soil often becomes abnormally sour ; in the latter 

 case the free use of lime becomes an absolute 

 necessity, while in the former it often pavs to 

 give the crops a good cleansing by means of 

 garden hose or syringe. 



Apart from the actual clogging of the pores it 

 should be remembered that soot or other sub- 

 stances on the leaf materially affect the amount 

 of sunlight received, while fogs have a similar 

 effect in preventing light from having its full 

 effect, as is well-known to those who live in 

 districts affected by fog. It frequent Iv iiajjpens 

 that allotments have been placed on old dumping 

 places, where street and other refuse has been 

 deposited. Such sites often contain poisonous 

 substances, such as tar, in which cases good 

 health cannot be expected in plants. If plants 

 are damaged in any way — by rough handling or 

 severe frosts — they are more susceptible to decay 

 than would otherwise be the case. Apart froni 

 these questions, which are mainly those of 

 environment, other factors, such as "plant habit 

 and heredity, play a most important part in the 

 production of healthy or non-healthy plants. 

 It is well known that certain varieties of I'otatoes, 

 such, for instance, as Windsor Castle and British 

 Queen, are highly susceptible to Potato Blight, 

 while others, like Aran Chief, are not so quickly 

 affected. And again, the varieties like Up-to- 

 Date, are susceptible to black scab or wart 

 disease, while others, such as Great Scot, are 

 said to be immune. 



To sum up, choose first of all plants of a good 

 strain and habit of growth. Cultivate deeply 

 and thoroughly, then less will be heard of pests 

 and diseases in gardens and plots. W. H. J. 



{To he co)ifin>icfl.) 



