62 



IRISH GARDENING 



should prevent the growth of slums by adding 

 eonsiderably to the value of house property. 

 Whether in building houses for the working 

 classes an eighth of an acre should be allotted to 

 each house, or whether the houses should be 

 grouped together and gardens grouped separately 

 in allotment fields, is a question for experts to 

 decide. That a combination of the two will 

 possibly prove the best arrangement in practice 

 is possible. Since the Eepeal of the Corn Laws the 

 growth of allotments and the recent development 

 of small holdings have helped to keep wholesome 

 the life of the people in the industrial districts of 

 Great Britain, and have enabled them to bear the 

 strain of the past four years. The allotment areas 

 of the urban districts of Ireland and their rural 

 origins, the cottage gardens of our labourers, 

 offer an inviting field for the development of 

 agricultural organisation. The plotholders of 

 Dublin and Belfast have already made a self-re- 

 liant beginning in this direction in the co- 

 operative purchase of seeds and other raw material 

 The organised distribution and sale will doul)tless 

 follow. That the rural labourer will follow the 

 example of the town plotholder is devoutly to be 

 wished for. The extension of tillage is likely to 

 convince the labourer that his plot is a garden 

 rather than a miniature farm, that it is to be 

 laboured with the spade rather than the plough. 

 If our farmers are producing grass, corn, and 

 Potatoes labourers will realise that their interest 

 lies in keeping fowl and producing market gar- 

 den crops in their plots, while purchasing Pota- 

 toes, oatmeal and flour from their farmer' neigh- 

 bours. One of the hindrances to the spread of 

 co-operation amongst labourers is the diversity 

 of varieties of all kinds of vegetables and fruit 

 grown. Seedsmen and nurserymen could coml)at 

 this difficulty and at the same time simplify their 

 own work enormously by stocking only standard 

 kinds. In such small gardens intensively cultiv- 

 ated and minutely observed experience* teaches 

 that new and improved varieties have their origin, 

 and after a few generations have benefited by the 

 teachings of rural science in the schools. The joys 

 of the plant breeder will be added to the pleasures 

 of improved cultivation. If rural science is 

 adopted throughout the national schools of the 

 whole country as enthusiastically as it has been 

 taken up in the diocese of Kildare we can hope 

 that in a few years labourers will be imitating the 

 petite culture of northern Fra.nce and Belgium, 

 and a crop of asparagus and peas or bush fruits 

 will be as common as to-day are the inevital^le 

 CJabbage and Potatoes. The increased consump- 

 tion of fruit and vegetables should lead to a desire 

 to preserve this wholesome food for use in winter 

 and spring, and farmers and financiers could well 

 be considering the growth of Beet and the manu- 

 facture of sugar and bottles. Who has not 

 observed at this time of year the young shoots of 

 plants disrupt by the sheer force of their natural 

 growth, the hard pan of garden walks or even 

 asphalt paving. Much imagination is not required 

 to fancy that allotments in their natural growth, 

 may likewise break up strong vested interests 

 nimncal to the welfare and progress of our towns 

 and country places. J. E. G. 



Allotment Observations. 



By ,7. Hurley, Superintendent, Corporation of 



Dubhn Land Cultivation Committee. 

 The progress made on allotments during the 

 month of March has been very marked; this 

 applies especially to the newly allotted areas. 



Fields like Clonturk Park, which up to recently 

 were nothing but huge masses of bricks and 

 clinkers, are now cleared and a way made for the 

 Potato bed. These piles of bricks, &c., have, to a 

 large extent, been utilised in building roads at 

 the Marino grounds which were allotted last year 

 in one eighth of an acre plots. 



The ridge system, or lazy bed, as it is sometimes 

 called, is again very much in evidence this year. 

 Though the professional gardener does not ap- 

 prove of this method it must not be forgotten that 

 from it very good results were obtained last year. 

 Where plots were allotted late in the year there 

 is no alternative but to trust to the ridge for the 

 Potato crop. The most economical ridge, if 

 ridges are to be availed of, is one four feet wide, 

 and a furrow eighteen inches wide. This will 

 allow of three Potato sets being placed on the 

 breadth of the ridge, and allow sufficient space 

 between the edge of the ridge and the nearest set 

 to avoid the sunning or turning green of portion 

 of the crop should some of the soil fall away 

 during dry weather. On wet land the ridges 

 should not be wide, but rather an opportunity 

 given for surface water to escape by providino' 

 more furrows. It is not advisable to nut too much 

 covering on Potatoes after planting; 4 or 5 inches 

 IS ample, especially for the main and late crops. 



ihe idea of spreading manure (dung) on land 

 and covering it to a depth of three or four inches 

 with soil taken from furrows every four or five feet 

 apart, as a preparation for an Onion bed, is not to 

 be recommended. It should be borne in mind that 

 seeds do not require to come in contact with 

 nianure m order to germinate; on the other hand 

 It often proves fatal to the young seedling. The 

 Union plant sends its roots to a very low level in 

 search of food, and should it meet manure too 

 soon a crop of soft succulent stalks are produced 

 uistead of good firm bulbs 



Manure if applied to the Parsnip ground 

 should also be kept out of reach of the youn^ 

 plants; m fact, ground which was manured liber- 

 ally for the previous crop need not be again 

 dressed but double dug before seed sowing 



^h^f^r^ /'^"'^ ^'^^"^^ ^^^"^ . appearing over ground 

 should be protected by drawing a few inches of 



and sfaked" " ^"^^^ '^'' ^°*^ ^'^^^ °* *^^ ^^"^• 



No undug ground should remain so, unduly 

 but be prepared at once for the month's seed sow- 

 ing of winter Cauliflower (Broccoli), Beet, Carrots, 



SssS;:^ Ss""'- '^'^"'^^- ^^^^^"^^ -^ ^ 



Demonstration Allotments. 



St. Stephen's Green Park, Dublin. 

 Last year by direction of the Commissioners of 

 Public Works two small " demonstration " plots 

 of one-sixteenth of an acre each were cultivated 

 in St. Stephen s Green in order that those who 

 Had small areas of land available in gardens or 

 otherwLse might see how the best use could be 

 made ot them. The operations were watched with 

 great interest during the season by large numbers 

 ot amaiem- cultivators who will probably be glad 

 to see the following return of the produce of the 

 two plots from March to December last —334 

 stone Potatoes; 41 dozen Cabbages; 12 dozen 

 Cauliflowers; 12* dozen Parsnips; 12 dozen Car- 

 rots; 4^ dozen Celery; 7i dozen Beet; 5 dozen 

 Borecole; 46 dozen Turnips; 9 dozen Leeks- 3^ 

 stone Onions; 19 lbs. Brussels Sprouts; 5 dozen 

 Lettuce; 96 lbs. Peas; 44 dozen Broad Beans- 15 

 dozen Kidney Beans, also Parsley and Thyme 



