li6 



IRISH GARDENING 



Notes, 



Fremontia californica. 



Tins beautiful and interesting shrub has been 

 tiowering fairly freely during July, on a warm, 

 sheltered wall in the Botanic Gardens, Glas- 

 nevin. The leaves are from two to three inches 

 long and rather less in width, somewhat vari- 

 ably lobed, with scattered hairs on the upper 

 surface and densely downy beneath. In the 

 Howers, which are two inches or more across, 

 the petals are wanting, but the brilhant golden 

 yellow calyx more than compensates for the 

 loss of the petals, so much so that even a few 

 flowers are sufficient to attract attention. 



Shelter and exposure to sun seem to be essen- 

 tials in the cultivation of this interesting 

 Californian shrub, first discovered by Colonel 

 Fremont in one of his Californian expeditions. 



A good specimen grows in the Donard Nur- 

 series in Co. Down, where, with the roots in 

 a hard gravel path and its shoots against a 

 sunny wall, it tiowers and grows freely. It is 

 probable that it is not a long-lived plant, as 

 large plants have grown in the Glasnevin gar- 

 dens in former years, but they unaccountably 

 died quite suddenly. Fremontia is impatient 

 of root disturbance, and even young plants in 

 pots, if allowed to root through into ashes or 

 gravel, often die when moved. 13. 



Rhododendron discolor. 



This handsome Chinese species is remarkable 

 in flowering in July. At the time of writing — 

 viz., the 8th of July — several specimens 

 are bearing numerous trusses of handsome 

 flowers of a beautiful rosy pink in the bud stage, 

 becoming pure white on expansion. The leaves 

 are from five to eight inches long, tapered to 

 both ends, green above, but paler on the under 

 surface. 



The species is one of Mr. E. H. Wilson's 

 early introductions, and is remarkable in 

 flowering at this season and starting into 

 growth correspondingly late. 



The specimens here were obtained from the 

 Coombe Wood Nursery of Messrs. James 

 Veitch & Hon at the time of their dispersal sale, 

 and are now stout bushes, some five to six feet 

 high. 



Aconitum volubile. 



This is a remai'kably fine Monkshood, growing 

 to a height of 6 to 7 feet, the stems bearing 

 much-divided dark green leaves and long 

 racemes of blue flowers. The flo\\ers are borne 

 on fairly long pedicels, and are thus held at 

 some distance from the main steni, giving a 

 light and graceful appearance. 



The habit of twining suggested by the specific 

 name is not very pronounced, though it is 

 noticeable that as the stems elongate and grow 

 together they show a tendency to twine round 

 each other. For the herbaceous border in July 

 it is a valuable and handsome plant. 



Salvia virgata. 



For a continuous display from July onwards 

 few plants can excel this fine Sage. Growing 

 about three feet high, the shoots are terminated 

 by verticillated spikes of purple blue flowers, 

 the calyx being almost as highly coloured as 

 the corolla, and persisting long after the latter 

 has withered; thus the ornamental period is 

 considerably prolonged. It is an excellent 

 plant for the herbaceous border, providing a 

 distinct colour among the many other gaudy 

 plants of summer. Cuttings of the young 

 shoots root readily in spring, and soon make 

 good plants. Gardener. 



Campanula velutina. 



This remarkable Campanula rejoices in the 

 hottest chink it can get in the rock garden or 

 wall. The silky grey leaves forming rosettes 

 love to hug a warm stone, and only in such a 

 position does it produce its spreading pyramids 

 f)f yellow-white flowers. The plant is only a 

 biennial, and seeds should be secured whenever 

 opportunity affords. The photograph of the 

 plant illustrated was sent by Mr. Murray 

 Hornibrook, who is an enthusiast regarding 

 Campanulas, and, as well as growing many 

 species has raised not a few hybrids. 



The History of Irish Forests 

 and Forestry. 



By Captain George Robinson, M.C. 

 {Continued from p. 106.) 



Sir Williuni Petty's was another of the great 

 fortunes in part accumulated by the destruc- 

 tion of the woods of Irehxnd. But that Petty, un- 

 doubtedly one of the most large-minded Englisli- 

 men whom the confiscations of the seventeenth 

 century attracted to Ireland, was not unmindful 

 of the need for maintaining the timber supplies of 

 the country, may be inferred from tlie fact that in 

 his " Political Anatomy of Ireland" he recom- 

 mends the " planting of 3,000,000 of timber trees 

 upon tlie l)ounds and mears of every denomination 

 of lands " in the country. (12) So rapid was the 

 consumption, however, that the want of fuel, for- 

 merly abundant, began to make itself felt. Thomas 

 Dinely, writing in his " Journal " (13) about the 

 year 1682, remarks on the consequent substitution 

 of turf for wood firing. A century later Arthur 

 Young notes that in the neighbourhood of Mitchels- 

 town there were " a liundred thousand acres in 

 which you might take a breathing gallop to find a 

 stick large enough to beat a dog, yet is there not 

 an enclosure without the remnants of trees, many 

 of them large." (11) 



