IRISH GARDENING. 



87 



Prunus Sargentii, 



A NATIVE of Japan, this Cherry, one of the 

 Cerasus group, flowers during April, in advance 

 of the popular pseudocerasus and serrulata 

 varieties. In most years — 1919 being no ex- 

 ception — the trees are a wealth of blossom. 

 The individual flowers are about one and a half 

 inches in diameter, arranged in clusters up to 

 six in number, a glowing rich blush jiink in 

 colour. The fruit is a small, black Cherry. 



Prunus Sargentii was first received at Kew 

 from Professor Sargent of the Ai-nold Arbo- 

 retum in 1893. Numerous packets of seeds 

 have come to hand since. Native Japanese 

 trees are said to attain a height of 60 feet to 80 

 feet, furnishing valuable cherry-wood timber. 



A. 0. 

 Crataegus tanacetifolius. 



(The Tansy-leaved Thorn.) 



This handsome Eastern thorn is not by any 

 means common, and yet it is one of the most 

 ornamental and useful. Slow-growing, form- 

 ing a much-branched roundish head, it is emi- 

 nently suitable for planting as a lawn specimen 

 in public parks or pleasure grounds. The much- 

 cut leaves are hairy on both surfaces, and the 

 fragrant white flowers, produced in typical 

 clusters, are often an inch or more across. 



Fruits are freely produced, and are nearly as 

 large as small crab-apples arid of a yellow colour 

 when ripe. They are sweetish when matvu'e, 

 and in a public garden are much sought after by 

 the small boys cf the neighbourhood who are 

 not content with those lying on the gi'ound, but 

 have recourse to frequently drastic methods of 

 augmenting the supply. Although fi'uiting 

 freely, the percentage of fertile seeds produced 

 is small, accounting, perhaps, for the unfortu- 

 nate fact that most of the plants offered for 

 sale are budded or grafted, and indeed other 

 species altogether are often offered imder the 

 name of C. tanacetifolius. 



Apple Blooming Periods. 



The first variety to flower this season, amongst 

 a collection of nearly 200, was Irish Peach, which 

 commenced to open on the 1st May. The last 

 variety to open its flowers was Eoyal Jubilee, on 

 18th May. This fact is of interest as showing a 

 difference of nearly three weeks in the periods 

 of blooming of these two varieties. Bramley's 

 Seedling, Bismarck, Allington Pippin, Golden 

 Spire, and many others were in full bloom about 

 the 12th May. At the present time (24th) the 

 following are in full bloom and quite fresh : — 

 Annie Elizabeth, King Edward VII., Sandring- 

 ham and Royal Jubilee, the latter, however, being 

 the last to open. D. 



Housing, Healthy and Horticulture. 



More than one writer in Irish Garukntng has 

 before now advanced the view that the light 

 place for a man's plot is beside his house. 



Not long ago we made the suggestion that the 

 housing difficulty and the allotment difficulty 

 might be conveniently solved by restricting the 

 number of houses on an acre to )3uch a number 

 as would allow of a decent sized garden being 

 attached to each. 



It is satisfactory to find that our Parliamentary 

 representatives rightly place great importance on 

 the provision of gardens and open spaces in any 

 L^cheme of housing adopted in Ireland. In the 

 debate on the second reading of the Irish Housing 

 Bill Sir Edward Carson pleaded for care in the 

 selection of sites for houses; "he had seen street 

 after street in schemes which had been carried 

 out most uninteresting in look with no play- 

 (jrounds, not a particle of garden, or flowers, or 

 trees anuwiiere visible." Mr. Joseph Devlin 

 followed and likewise emphasised the importance 

 of flow'ers. " One of the finest things the London 

 Covmty Council had done was when tJiey got a 

 vacant piece of ground to grow flowers." Con- 

 tinuing, Mr. Devlin said : " But in Ireland they 

 rushed up a series of commonplace buildings, like 

 a great workhouse, with neither flowers nor grow- 

 ing grass nor anything of beauty to flre the cJiildren, 

 witti a sense of u-Jtat was beautiful." Here, at 

 last, is a genuine attempt to make the garden 

 city movement compulsory. 



Gardening people and flower lovers generally, 

 whether amateurs or professionals, will heartily 

 endorse the claim for more garden space whether 

 in the form of yjarks and playgrounds or a-? 

 gardens in connection with the proposed new 

 dwellings. Apart from the general uplifting in- 

 fluence of fresh green grass, beautiful flowers and 

 trees, gardening is the most unselfish of hobbies, 

 consequently those who are fortunate enough to 

 possess gardens, large or small, are always ready 

 to help other., to acquire a garden, and generally 

 assist in stocking it when obtained. 



This question of public gardens, children's play- 

 grounds and street trees has a profound interest 

 and importance for the Councillor.5 of our cities 

 and towns. Beyond doubt the time is at hand 

 when every city and town in Ireland will have to 

 organise and maintain its gardens and play- 

 grounds, and the planting of street trees can no 

 longer be left in a haphazard sort of way, but 

 must be done systematically by skilled men who 

 know their bivuness. Large cities like Glasgow, 

 Edinburgh, Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, 

 &c., and hundreds of smaller towns, find it neces- 

 sary to have a properly equipped Parks Depart- 

 ment controlled by a Parks Committee. Belfast 

 has a system of parks with a superintendent in 

 charge, and Dublin has recently made a move in 

 the same direction controlled from the Borough 

 Engineer's Department, and skilled men are being 

 employed to carrv out the horticultural schemes 

 of the city council. Street trees are now becoming 

 a feature in Dublin; disused space.s, formerly a 

 reproach and an eyesore, are being cleaned and 

 formed into playgrounds for the children and a 

 new park is in course of formation at Clontart. 

 All this is to the good and an encouraguig sign 

 of an awakened interest in ^something more than 

 bricks and mortar. ■ -r t j 



The opportunities for gardening in Ireland are 

 unrivalled, and in the great housing scheme which 



