28 



IRISH GARDENING 



Midland and Northern Counties. 



By Mi;. !•'. Sti!KKTi;i!, (lanlcncr to \i. H. IJaitoii. 



Esq., D.I.., Straffan House, Straffaii, 



("o. Kildare. 



The Kitchen Gaiiden. 



Jekusalem Artichokes sliould Ix' planted as 

 soon as the soil is in good condition. Select a 

 good, open position, in the reserve garden, that 

 has been well worked and niannred, place medium- 

 sized tvibers G inches deep and 2 feet in the row, 

 and the rows ."i feet apart. The best variety tiy 

 far is the white. 



Broad Beans. — Sow in quantity a long pod 

 variety on a south or west border. Should the 

 weather and soil prove too wet, make another 

 sowing in boxes, as advised for last month. 



Cabbage. — The main bed should be gone care- 

 fully over, making good all deficiencies; give a 

 dressing of soot, and fork between the rows very 

 h'uditly. Should wood j)igeons j)rove troublesome, 

 cover the beds with old fish netting; make another 

 l)ed to follow^ the al)Ove with the plants left over 

 from last autunm's planting; these will form a 

 good succession. 



Celery. — Make a sowing of a quick-maturing 

 variety, to come into use in August and Sep- 

 tember. This vegetable must be grown without 

 a check of any description from start to finish; 

 drought is fatal. White Gem is an excellent 

 variety in every I'espect. 



Onions. — This very important crop sliould be 

 sown as soon as the soil can be got into first-class 

 condition. By early sowing the yoiuig plants are 

 much stronger to resist the Onion Fly (Aiifhom i/ifi 

 (cpiinnn), which lays its eggs on the leaves close 

 to the soil, the maggots eating their way into the 

 tiny l)ulbs. Choose a bright day, and fork the 

 whole of the bed, l)reaking down the large hnnps 

 left by the trenching; give a good dressing of 

 lime and soot; after a few hours' drying, 

 th.oroughly tread the bed, then give it two or 

 more rakings to remove all stones, &c. ; then draw 

 the drills 12 inches apart, and very shallow; sow 

 the seed thinly and evenly, and before covering 

 the seed give a dressing of dry wood ashes over 

 all; then rake the bed both ways to get a well- 

 finished appearance. Another metliod, and one 

 that is l)ecoming more us(>d every season, is to sow 

 on a slight hotbed in frames or boxes, and to 

 ])lant out as soon as they become hardened, and 

 large enough to be easily handled. There is a 

 large number of varieties on the market, but two- 

 thirds should be the long-keeping varieties, (.hjc 



that .should be inchided in every collection is 

 Mr. Ji'ckcft's Aittunin TritnnpJi. I saw the col- 

 let'tion from the Eoyal Horticultural Society 

 Gardens, Wisley, at the Drill Hail, Westminster, 

 in 1!J17, and this variety stood out by itself. 



Shallots. — Plant the bulbs the first opportunity 

 on a piece of well-manured ground; allow 12 inches 

 from row to row, and G inches between the bulbs; 

 cover three-i)arts of the bidb by i)ressing into the 

 soil. 



Parsnips. — This valuable winter vegetable re- 

 quires a very long season of growth, and should 

 be sown on a piece of ground manured for the 

 previous crop. It is very hardy, and does not 

 ui)i)ear to suffer from c-old spells once it is got in 

 in good condition. Draw shallow drills 2 feet 

 apart, and sow very thinly. Cover the seed and 

 rake over the bed to obtain a fine finish. Another 

 method is to bore lioles with an iron bar .'! feet 

 deep, 15 inches apart, and 3 feet between the 

 idws ; fill with finely-sifted soil; old Chrysanthe- 

 mum soil is good for this purpose. Use a bamboo 

 t) make sure the hole is fidl ; leave a small in- 

 dentation, in which sow three or four seeds; cover 

 with the prepared compost ; use boards to stand 

 on whilst boring and filling the holes; lightly fork 

 between the rows as each row becomes finished. 

 When the young plants are well up, thin to one 

 plant at each station, as near the centre as pos- 

 sible. This method, of course, takes much longer, 

 but one is more than repaid by the crops. 

 Tender and True. Hollow Crown, and Student ar(> 

 excellent white-skinned varieties. Lift all last 

 season's roots, and store in fine soil or ashes luider 

 a north wall. 



PoT.\TOES. — Plant a number of sets 6 inches deep, 

 close vnider a south wall. Bed the tvd)ers in with 

 1 part loam, 2 parts leaf soil, and 1 part spent 

 nuishroom dung, with a 6-inch pot of soot added 

 to each barrow-load. Choose First Earlies, al- 

 though King Edward responds well to this treat- 

 ment. 



Peas. — Quick-maturing varieties should be sown 

 on a south border if the soil becomes fit. An 

 excellent plan is to plant in rows 10 or 12 feet 

 apart, with a breadth of some other vegetable — 

 such as Spinach, Cauliflower, Potatoes, Lettuce, 

 Carrots, or Beans — between. Sow thinly and 

 evenly, and protect with traps against mice, and 

 give a good dressing of soot, when you see the 

 ground lifting, to keep the slugs off. Have short 

 sticks got ready on wet days, and stake as early 

 as possible, and place a row of Spruce or Laurel 

 boughs on each side; this will help to keep away 

 several degrees of frost and cold winds. 



Parsley. — Clean and fork hetween the rows, re- 

 moving any coarse and decayed leaves; give a 



