l82 



IRISH GARDENING. 



go, and let one's imagination skip over tlie 

 mtervening months, till one sees the awakening 

 of all the different little Bells, Trumpets, 

 Chalices, Cups and Stars— the very thought 

 has a joyous ring about it. 



Copying a beautiful patch 1 saw last spring 

 in a Rock Garden, I have planted a quantity 

 of Muscari " Heavenly Blue " — a very fine 

 variety of the familiar Grape Hyacinth — and I 

 think 'it is in its rightful place. Neither \nnk 

 or red or crimson shades are to approach its 

 vicinity; b\it French greys, bluey lilac and 

 other faint tints, represented by Phloxes, pale 

 Violas, and the exquisite Anevione Rohinsoni 

 and such like are distinctive, though pure blues, 

 such as Myosotis " Ruth Fischer," Omphalodes 

 and Scillas, are quite permissible, and the 

 toiit-cuse)nblc would by no means give one a 

 fit of the blues — quite the contrary. 



Fritillarias have a most graceful effect among 

 lai'ge stones, their wide bells swinging from 

 such slender stems. I woidd say plant bulbs 

 of F. alba for choice; F. )iich'agris sooner than 

 none ; but even before all these have bloomed 

 the lovely little miniature Daffodils and Hoop- 

 i'etticoat Narcissi will have made their welcome 

 ajipearance. These gems must not be forgotten 

 in the autumn, or even early December ])lant- 

 ing — early autumn for preference. 



Apropos of these little bulbs, my hopes are 

 centred in the following varieties: — juncilolius, 

 tlie tiny rich yellow miniatva-e Daffodil, 6 inches 

 high; its companions, BuJbocvditnii cifrinu.'i 

 (tlie sidphur Hoop- Petticoat), B. con.-ipicuHfi 

 (yellow Hoop-Petticoat), B. monophyllus, 

 snowy-white, scarcely to he counted on for 

 out-of-door flowering, and " Moschatns of 

 Haworth," another beautiful white, which is 

 vigorous. 



Of tlic Tiandrus Section (the Angels" T-ais' 

 Daffodils), T. alba, 7 inches, yellow, of tlic 

 same height and description. Any taller I 

 prefer in the borders among some of the di'light- 

 f\d large white Trumjiet Daffodils, the l)i-colour 

 anil yellow, and Narcissi, of different choice 

 lands. 



A Fine Viburnum. 



I.\ the garden of .Mr. W. \'>. IMii'cfoy thoc 

 is a remarkably fine Vibiiiiunn rliijtidopli ijllii ni , 

 which many state to be the largest they have 

 seen. It is ten years planted in Greenfiehls, '' 

 and covers a space of 12 feet by 6 feet. It is' 

 a handsome and striking evergreen, perfectly 

 hardy here in open situations. The creamy 

 white flowers are borne in May, followed in 

 autumn by red berries, which soon become 



black. If preserved until sjjring and sown in 

 a mixture of peat and sand, they soon germi- 

 nate. It was one of the novelties sent out by 

 :\Iessrs. Jas. Veitch in 1908. 



Liquid Manure, 



My ol)ject in writing these notes is to endeavour 

 to bring about the extended use and to further 

 popularise liquid manuring during the winter 

 months, and especially in relation to gardening 

 and fi'uit-growing out-of-doors. 



A popular fallacy exists, especially amongst 

 amateurs, that liquid mamu'e applied durmg 

 tlie winter months is more or less wasted, and, 

 consequently, valueless, but 1 venture to saj" 

 that such is far from being the case. 



No one denies that the feeding of plants and 

 fruit trees during the active season of growth 

 is of paramount imiJortance in good culture, 

 and, consequently, during the spring and sum- 

 mer months the supplies of liquid manui'e — 

 and by this I refer to the drainage fiom the cow- 

 sheds, stables and manure-heaps — are usually 

 in great demand, and especialh' for applying to 

 the various subjects grown under glass. 



In the same manner, I am going to urge that 

 the subjects out-of-doors would similarly bene- 

 fit, but, unfortunately, I am afraid in the 

 majority of establishments pressure of work in 

 other directions forbids this being carried out, 

 and so this work has to be relegated to the 

 winter and slackest months of the year, when, 

 fortunately, as a rule, supplies of this valuable 

 product are available in largest (juantities, but 

 1 fear in many instances is allowed to go to 

 waste. 



Reference has been made on more than one 

 occasion through the columns of Iiiisn G.^ude.n- 

 IXG to the great need of furthering the cul- 

 tivation of fruit in this country — that all-im- 

 portant ijianch of horticulture. Increase 

 in cropjjing and <|uality makes such a difference 

 to the owiusr, and is governed largely by 

 scientific and ii|)-to-date metliods of culture 

 with regai'd to pruning, s))raying and feeding; 

 the latter I am sure being the determining 

 factor, especially in relation to trees that are 

 advancing in years, and have carried heavy 

 crojjs during the ])ast season, whether it be 

 plantations of hush fruits, trees traiiu'd on 

 walls, or orchard trees of the various kinds, 

 and es]jecially those where the land is laid 

 down to grass. Young trees in fertile soil 

 are probal)ly the one exce])tion where this 

 ()uick-acting form of nitrogenous manure 

 would not be retjuiicd, and especially those on 

 the dwarfing stocks. Feeding of this descri])tion 

 is undoui)tedly best carried out during open 



