^ 



IRISH GARDENING 



f' yidis;.v:.(Jutious; Beets, Cat^rots}. .P:^6nips,\TT.iriiips, 

 iiir'ows, aiid Sluillots are all several inclies liigli, 

 ^^, liilst Kliiiharl). Spring Cabbage, and I.ettuees 

 ui"e rea'l ' iiisr now. 



))/ .,' 



Banana Growing in Queensland. : . 



offspring so raised 

 eonuuon ;: Snowborrv 



are no 



This 



bettev tlYall •rhi.-i 

 proof, if 



j irsa 



N view 



gricultural Wages Board for Ireland. 



W^e import it)f dried Itanauae.td Great Britain it is 

 interesting 1d note Empire production in this direc-- 

 t^pn. Queensland is a great banana producer, and 

 ^c;ording to the Government statistician's annual 

 rijport for tlie period 1890-1899 tlie average produe- 

 ti'on of bananas in Queensland was 4,671 dozen per 

 iliere.ior, rec'koning the bunches at 10 dozen each, 

 4i8i7 bunches per acre. That was when the northern 

 Ij'Ude wap at its highest. In 1898 the average per 

 ittre wivg:8,843 -dozen, and Queensland's record was 

 ^'^^M acres rnider bananas for a production of 

 4H,647.000 dozen. From 1910 to 1918 the average 

 per acre dwindled to 158 bunches per acre, while 

 ill 1918 there were only 7.817 acres xuider banana 

 liviltivation. and the published returns are 1.267,641 



fnches — an average of 162 bunches T)er acre. 



I 



Tjii-: Board met at their offices, 14 8t. yiephcn's 

 (^ieen, Dublin, on Thursday and Friday, 29th and 

 ;^th January, 1920, when the following were 

 l.ji4sent : — 



;\Mr.,J. V..Cqyle (Cluiirnian), Mr. E. M. Archdale, 

 ^:P. ;^^r;Tl.^A." Butler, J. P:; Mr. J. Clarke, J. P.; 

 Mi-. .).■ Gallagher, Sir W. R. Nugent. Bart.; Mr. 

 T;.; B. Ponsouby, D.J..; Mr. P. Bradley, Mr. J. 

 (ii<angle. Mr. ,1. Everett, Mr. V/. J. Reilly, Miss 

 Ei( M. Cunningham, M.A.; and Mr. J. C. Nolan 

 tftiVrallj J.Pif i . t^'i , 



i\j^ vote of condolence' with Mrs. James Murphy 

 oil!' the death of her husband, who had been a 

 Hii!mber.:pf1;he Board since its establishment, was 

 adopted! 



The Board had \nider consideration the recom- 

 mendations submitted by the District Wages Com- 

 mittees in connection with the question of fixing 

 new miniuuun rates of wages for Irish Agricui- 

 liiral Workers. It was decided to invite further 

 oliservations from the Committees before finally 

 adopt inii any proposal for puljlication. 



Correspondence. 



, ii'J i j>Bi;KB«:ris j:Mi'KaMai<'OLT.\. 

 I ,\M greatly obliged to B. (page 29) for calling 

 attention to what turns out to be an error on my 

 pairt. On reading his note I sent to Mr. W. J. Beau 

 at'I<,G\y;. a.spray of the shrub, which I have long 

 n'*;arm'd^as..! li. I'lnjiefiifclia. He pronounces it to 

 be; a.Jiar'fow-lt'aved foim of the hybrid H. sfeiin- 

 pliylla, calling my attention to the down on the 

 shbots, a character inherited from li. Jkinrin'r, 

 wl'iereas the young wool of Ji. empi'fiifolid is 

 glabious. TJiis disposes of my notion that ther(^ 

 are ^\|di 'i(5|'^is 6i B^ 'eriipelvifuUa , a large one and 

 a dwarf, as in B. huj-'ifoVi(i. 



Monseith. Herbert Www ill. 



xi-^iW i 



■M'-rfe EbiTOR Irish gart)ENin<; 



SiR/-;-^\V|th.rj.'i(i;reflce^ to. the. account in your last 

 isstu^'fciff' miitttihyit'umrpus- racemosus livr'ujufns, it 

 is Kvell that your readers should know that this 

 plant 'dot'sJI^iolic'ome true front seed, and that the 



conunon ': hnowlterry. inis is prooi, it '.unyj 

 j\'er'e iikit>ded;, that tiu^ fiiie.'form Avhieh- ^dcijife both! 

 Glasnevin and Aldenham is nothing more than a) 

 variety of the species with avWcIi we are all5 

 familiar. That it cannot be raised from seed i.-::^' 

 not, however, a serious misfortune, as it is easily! 

 propagated by cuttings, and would also probably'' 

 layer readily. 



About three weeks before your l&st issue an illu.'^- 

 tration of the Aldenham IplaTit appeared in Tin 

 Garden, and it might easily be mistaken for tin 

 very one- which you have depicted. > : ' 



• I saw my plant last Friday and 'it;-. still had a| 

 great many berries, and was still a stvilnug object.' 

 although much of the glory had departecl.; It lia- 

 been in good fruit for at least two months.— 



X'lCAKY GlBBS. 



New Host Plant for Mistletoe. 



.Sii;, — -I have nolii'cd a plant of Huinphoi'ivurjni >^ 

 aiKjust'ifulius in the Royal Botanic Garden beariiij. 

 mistletoe evidently sown by birds. Have you an;, 

 record of this plant as a- host? — Yours faithfully. 



Druiu. 

 .■.■■'' r.i..:]^-i:\k 

 . Dear t?iR, — It would interest me .greatly, if any.oi 

 your readers would enlighten my ignorance as ,to 

 how long a bulb may remain dormant in tiie earth. 

 I have, of course, heard all the standard stories of 

 peas, beans, &c., grown from some found in 

 Egyptian sarcophagi; but in this case, that of a 

 lily bulb, I want wisdom. Three years agip/aSgrovc 

 near this house was cleared of trees. ' Last Sutiimer, 

 at the edge of the clearing, but just under the ror 

 niaining trees, a white Martagon l^ily rose uj) 

 straight and seductive out of the Bishop's Weetl 

 and other pests.' No one connected with the garden 

 here has ever seen a White Martagon at Blands- 

 fort — that remembrance covers more than thirl v 

 years. No garden rubbish was ever shot where 

 ■' Elaine " suddenly appeared. But in an old, map 

 of the demesne, dated 1714, the ground froiil which 

 the grove was cleared, and where the '" Lily Maid 

 woke from her dreams, was marked " Ye Pleasure 

 Ground." 1 am not clear if that actually implies a 

 garden of flowers, or merely kept grass. - The trees 

 cleared from the grove were certainly ninety years 

 old. Was it ijossible that the White MiirtagOn, 

 covered in with undergrowth and heavily shaded 

 l)y trees, had slept for all those years?- ,. 



Muriel E. Bland, 

 Blandsforl, Abbcylei.x. 



Announcement. 



An interesting engagement is announced -between 

 G. H. Pethybridge. B.Sc.. Ph.D.. Koyal College of 

 Science, Dublin, and Mi.ss May Crosbie. of Rush. 

 Co. Dublin. Dr. Pethybridge's name is well 

 known to readers of Irish Gardening who are in-' 

 terested in plant diseases, and may have found 

 help and guidance from his articles on this side of 

 the gardening question- Miss Crosbie is a past pupil 

 of the Royal Botanic Gardens, where she studied 

 under Sir Frederick Moore for the' "pci'iod 'of one 

 year. After some years of alpine nursery work 

 combined with raising seedling forest trees, she 

 took over the management of Robertson's Bulb 

 Farm at Rusii, which post she has ably and suc- 

 cessfully held until the ])resent time. We fei?.l 'sure 

 that readers will wish them' both many years f)f 

 happiness in their new venture. 



