140 



IRISH GARDENING. 



a piece of ground, planting the seeds of any useful 

 vegetable. Long before you are able to identify 

 the vegetable you will find the grass growing ni 

 beautiful natural masses without any effort on your 

 part whatever. 



To grow good potatoes requires much care and 

 skill. Personally, I intend in future to cultivate 

 for the stems only. 



The way to make a success of these is to plant 

 your seed potatoes in a nice shady spot, say under 

 some thick trees. Place the seeds not more than 

 two inches apart, and you will soon have the satis- 

 faction of seeing your potato stems soaring sky- 

 ward. 



The tender shoots could probably be eaten like 

 asparagus, and the rest of the " haulm " (as you 

 may call it if you can afford a penny guide) would, 

 no doubt, be quite as wholesome and nourishing as 

 rhubarb leaves. I should be glad to have confir- 

 mation of this from any lucky survivor. 



Another great advantage in handling the potato 

 crop in this way is that there is no necessity to 

 disfigure your garden by digging up the ground to 

 get the new potatoes. There won't be any. 



A very little common sense will enable you to 

 select the crops that can best be grown together. 

 It is, perhaps, unnecessary to say that cabbages 

 and caterpillars should never be attempted at the 

 same time. 



On the other hand, it is quite practicable to raise 

 snails along with potato tops. The snails are 

 reasonable, and will not interfere with the potatoes 

 iis long as the lettuce supply is kept up. 



In cage you are like " Toddie," and " don't want 

 to be boddered wif lots of fings," I advise you to 

 keep hens. If you give a dozen energetic birds the 

 free run of the garden you are not likely to be 

 troubled with any other crop whatever. 



Wati:raiahk. 



Reviews. 



The Kitchen Garden and its Management.* 



This little hook, ad;ij)tfd from the Freiicii work of 

 Professor Gressent, is presented to us with addi- 

 tions by David Garnett. The French origin of the 

 present work accounts perhaps for some of the re- 

 commendations regarding cro})i)ing being hardly 

 suitable for our climate, but tlie instructions on 

 the laying out of the kitchen garden are practical, 

 and the cultivation of the soil is treated in a way 

 that will meet with the approval of good gardeners. 

 Throughout the work the thoroughness of the 

 French in their methods of growing vegetables ia 

 evident, though the use of hot beds and bell- 

 glasses is not yet commonly practised in our 

 smaller gardens for the production of early crops. 

 The abundant use of well-decayed manure is 

 insisted on and is necessary in the pro(hiction of 

 high-class vegetables of the more succulent kind. 

 In digging it is recommended not to bury the 

 manure too deeply, nor to place it in narrow strips 

 ill the bottom of the trench, but rather to lay it in 

 layers along the face of each trench, the next spit 

 being thrown against it. It may be urged against 

 this method that being so near the surface the 

 manure is likely to become dry and usek'ss in 

 spells of drought, though in a French garden this 

 is provided against by an alnmdant supply of water. 

 The fact must be faced, however, that in the majo- 

 rity of cases water is not laid on to the kitchen 



*The Kitchen Garden. Is. net. Selwyii & 

 Blount, York Buildings, Adelphi, W.C. 2. 



garden, and. therefore, when the manure is in the 

 bottom of the trench it will remain longer moist, 

 and the roots of the plants will go down to it. 



The pricking out of seedling Cabbages, &c., into 

 nursery beds is recommended, and is a good prac- 

 tice, subsequently transplanting them to their per- 

 manent quarters. We are glad to notice that deep 

 cultivation is insisted on as well as liberal manur- 

 ing, since many amateurs seem to think that it is 

 qrrrte sufficient to manure heavily and dig lightly — a 

 fallacy that cannot be too often exposed. 



The whole concern of the vegetable grower 

 should be to keep his plants growing quickly and 

 without a check, and to do so requires an even 

 supply of moisture. To ensure this constant sur- 

 face cultivation and middling are recommended; 

 hoeing maintains a fine surface and prevents 

 cracking and the escape of moisture, and mulch- 

 ing has much the same effect. At page 63 is given 

 a table showing how a supply of vegetaV)los of the 

 cal));)age tribe may be enjoyed from January to 

 December. We are told that from January to 

 April we may have Winter Broccoli and Brussel.5 

 Sprouts from seed sown in July and August. 

 iSurely this is a mistake, as no one in this country 

 would think of sowing these crops so late. Sprouts, 

 to l)e any use, must be sown at least in April, 

 and late Broccoli in May. Ijikewise, in A])ril, Ma.y 

 and June we are to. enjoy Late Broccoli and Spring 

 Cabbage fiuwn in August. The Cab))age certainly, 

 l)ut hardly the Broccoli. 



The Adaptor has not given sufficient thought to 

 the climatic differences of France and the Fiiited 

 Kingdom, nor to the commoner practice of using 

 frames and cloches in France. 



Excellent notes are given on the cultivation of 

 the various vegetables and their place in tlie rota- 

 tion, while at page 77 begins a calendar of 

 monthly operations., starting with August. Here, 

 again, the reader will observe instructions which 

 seem strange to our own custom; the whole method 

 is based on the use of frames and hotbeds to have 

 young plants ready to plant out early. For in- 

 stance, we are recommended to plant out in March 

 Cauliflowers, Calibages and Broccolis interTilanted 

 with Lettuce and endive. Here Broccoli is looked 

 upon as a winter and early spring vegetable on 

 account of its hardiness, and most people would 

 see no use in having it in summer when Cauli- 

 flowers are avail al)le. 



Notwithstanding the discrepancies in the recom- 

 mendations, the book is well worth studying, 

 giving as it does many hints on proper cultivatioii 

 and successional cropping, and for the modest 

 price of one shilling we consider it good value 

 indeed. 



Transactions of the Royal Scottish 

 Arboricuhural Society. 



I'AiiT II. of Vol. .■;;! is full (if interest to all engaged 

 in forestry or arboriculture. The Scottish Society 

 is alive to thi> imjjortance of reforestation, and is 

 si)ariiig no effort to keej) the matter in the fore- 

 front. Kemarkalile enthusiasm is manifested by 

 landowners, ])rofessional foresters, and the officers 

 of the DepartiiKMit of Agriculture in Scotland. 



The oix'iiing ])ages are devoted to a report of 

 sjjeeches made by the representatives of the Board 

 of Agriculture and the Interim Forest Authority at 

 the Annual Meeting of th(> Soeiety in Edinhurgli, 

 8th February. 1919. 



Many interesting ;uul valiialile articles follow — 

 viz., Tlic Iffdlisdlilr Itcsdii rci's nf ilir (icrmmi 

 Fdit'sts: 'riiiilici lis It l''iiifnr in ihr J'licr nf foul; 



