IRISH GARDENING. 



45 



took place priiu-ipally on luainut'S and liiiiiiii;. 

 and the Icctiu'i-i- dealt very fidly with all (|uestioii.s. 

 The lecture proved most interesting, and tin- 

 thanks of the nieetiii^- to Mr. JMc(iiatli was 

 |)roposed by the Itev. (Miairinan and j)assed wllli 

 acclamation. Mr. Mc(iiatli liaviiiu;' snitahly 

 icplied, tile meeting ternunatcd. 



Allotment Observations. 



By J. HlRLEY, Supeiintendent. Corporation of 

 Dublin Ijand Cidtivation Comnuttee. 



W'oKK on allotments during llie past montli lias 

 liet'n steady and earnest. Despite cokl spells of 

 weather nnuiy plots are ready for planting when 

 a favourable opportunity arrives. Tlui Land 

 Cultivation Comnuttee has placed its oi'ders foi' 

 the \arious vaiieties of Potatoes with the seeds- 

 men, and these will be; dispatclied in due course. 

 Duiing the past week the Corporation i^and 

 Cultivation Committee has allotted the following- 

 lands in J-acre plots for cultivation : — Crown 

 Lands, Inchicore, 2(5 acres 2 roods ; lUdland 

 Avenue, Dolphin's Barn, :?() aci'es : Fairfield. 

 Clasnevin, 4 acres ; Dublin Distilleis' Co.. 

 Maii'owbone Lane, 'ii acres : Crovdon Park. 

 Kairview, 10 acres: Ilill Estate, White Hall. 

 5 acres; Eminett Road (Bentley's Jneld). Inchi- 

 core, 4 acres. 



To obtain a plot in any of tlie above areas each 

 applicant had to Ijallot, and in many cases for one 

 who received a plot five did not. At a time such 

 as this, when food is scarce and likely to be much 

 more so. some means should be given to men 

 who are willing to raise food to help in supporting 

 tlieir fanulies. If no more land is to be got In- 

 tile Corporation for allotments, and there are 

 l.UUO men who failed to get a plot each, it means, 

 at the very lowest calculation, that Dublin has 

 been deprived of 1,000 tons of Botatoes, which 

 Dublin men volunteered to grow at their own 

 expense. ^ 



The time is going ([uickh by. and ioughl> 20 

 per cent, of the applicants for plots are being 

 supplied. What is to be done for the remaining 

 80 per cent. ? The Coip oration has done its bit 

 beyond doubt, and though only 100 acres were 

 conipvdsorily acquired at the recent Local 

 tioveinnient Board inipiiry it (the Corporation) 

 will continue in its uphill fight to supply every 

 man who lilled in an applicalion form with a plot 

 of ground to cultiviite. 



Allotments and School Gardens. 



By I^. J. lirMriiuKV. 



TirK value of a demonstration jilol in connection 

 with allotments and school gai-th-ns depends ver\- 

 largely on the instructor who has charge of il. 

 The lesson it should teach is that better use can 

 I)e made of the soil than the majority of culti- 

 vators realise. It should not be regarded as an 

 experimental plot in which varieties of vegetables 

 are grown for the sake of comparison. Different 

 methods of cultivation may be tried to demon- 

 strate the advantages and disadvantages of each. 

 For example, the results of broadcast sowing as 

 compared witli sowing in drills may be shown l)y 

 a very simple arrangement of the plot. 



liie plot should be small, and the number of 

 plots under the cliargr of the instructor should 

 be lew m number in older tiiat he mav have as 

 niucii tree tune as possible to enable hini to visit 

 1 !«■ other plots and to discuss with the cultivators 

 the methods adopted. 



It is sometimes coidended that formal lectures 

 are of very little use, and that the onlv useful 

 instruction is that which is given bv actual 

 working demonstrations to each individual plot- 

 holder. But this need not be the case if the 

 lecture is clearly thought out beforehand. An 

 experienced lecturer used to outline his plan of 

 giving his lecture as follows :— Hi; would first 

 prepare a list of the points which he wished his 

 audience to remember. The points would prob- 

 ably be few in number, perhaps twelve to tweiitv 

 for an hour's lecture. Each of these points would 

 then be considered in detail and the lecture 

 would really consist of a number of live-minutes 

 lectures on each point. There are very few 

 instructors or gardeners who cannot talk interest- 

 ingly and to the point for five minutes, and by 

 listing up each of the five-minute lectures a 

 useful and interesting lecture can be given. 



In connection with gardening the easiest 

 1 net hod of arranging the lecture is in the order 

 in which the i)ractical opera.tions would be carried 

 out. Eor example, in dealing with the cultivation 

 of vegetables the first point to be considered is 

 the preparation of the soil. In lectures to 

 beginners the .simplest methods w^ould be de- 

 scribed and recommended, while in lectures to 

 more experienced cultivators other methods 

 could be referred to, discussed and compared ; 

 ])ut care must always b(! taken to avoid intro- 

 ducing matter which might tend to confusion in 

 the mind of any member of the audience. 



When a lecture has been thus prepared in 

 outline, the illustration of it can be dealt with. 

 Such illustration may be by means of actual 

 experience — of reminiscences of what has hap- 

 ] lined under certain circuimstances, or the 

 illustration may be I y means of lantern slides, 

 actual specimens of crops or soils, or i)lackboard 

 diagrams. All of these methods can be used to 

 very great advantage on occasion, but sometimes 

 one method will be right and sometimes another. 



Allotment holders in towns form audiences 

 very different from the labourers in the rural 

 districts. In the tow lis they will very often know 

 very little about agriculture, the effect of weather 

 or season on crops. l)ut they will usually be (piick 

 to take advice and instruction. Their town ex- 

 jieriences will have caused them to act according 

 to directions and to attach more importance to 

 leaflets and printed instructions. On the other 

 hand, the rural audience will usually include a 

 considerable proportion of agricultural workers 

 who are familiar with agricultural, if not 

 horticultural, conditions. The lecture, therefore, 

 which would be a success in the rural district 

 would not be appreciated in the towns, ami this 

 is a ]>oint well worth remeinbering when lectures 

 for plotholders are being arranged. The 

 important point, however, in each case is that 

 ]3ractical methods of working should be clearly 

 and definitely described and dealt with .so as 

 to leave no possibility of doubt in the mind of 

 any member of the audience as to the intentions 

 of the speaker. 



