IRISH GARDENING. 



known as " summer thinning," and no defence 

 is needed for it. The following- are some of 

 the benefits derived from it. Lig-ht and air are 

 admitted more freely to the remaining- branches 

 and to the fruit. The size of the wound made 

 by removing- a branch before it is fully de- 

 veloped is less than if the branch were cut 

 away at the end of the season, and during- the 

 period of g-rowth such wounds heal over rapidly, 

 and do not remain so long- open to infection. 

 The loss of reserve material laid by in the 

 tissues is not so great. 



It would take a whole number of Irish 

 Gardening to g-o fully into the details and 

 principles o( summer pruning^, and I have 

 merely here attempted to g-ive a brief, and I 

 fear very imperfect, outline of the subject, but 

 one which I hope may be taken as a plea for a 

 rational and impartial trial of the system, always 

 remembering- that it is the abuse, and not the 

 rational use, of many practices which bring-s 

 discredit on them. That this is the case not 

 onl) with summer but with winter pruning- is, 

 I reg-ret to say, only too amply demonstrated 

 by the condition of the fruit trees in many of 

 our g-ardens. 



Winter Flower Growing as an Industry 

 in Ireland. 



MANY thousand pounds' worth of flowers are 

 coming every year into the EngHsh and Irish 

 markets from abroad which could equally as 

 well be grown, and in some cases better grown, in 

 favoured situations in Ireland. To ascertain what 

 flowers are selling in the winter and spring markets 

 we should study the columns of a paper like the Fruit- 

 groiver. There are three winter flowers which can always 

 be grown at a profit — Violets, Anemone fulgens, and 

 Snowdrops. Of the three named, the writer can specially 

 recommend the Violet. For many reasons this flower 

 can be better grown in Ireland than elsewhere ; it is 

 also a more profitable flower here, lasting from early 

 October to mid-April. There is no other flower either 

 here or elsewhere with such a long season in profits. 



Violets should be grown in well-raised beds, about 

 3 feet 3 inches wide, 14 inches plant to plant, soil as rich 

 as possible, 40 loads good stable manure to the acre. 

 Use sea sand in quantities wherever possible, especiall)- 

 when the land is heavy ; ashes are good, too, in very 

 cloggy land to make the soil more porous. Plant 

 rooted runners, but this is not essential in such large- 

 flowered varieties as Princess ofW'alesand in Luxonne, as 

 the writer uses good strong unrooted runners with great 

 success. Of varieties, three good sorts are Luxonne, 

 Californian and Avellan. Luxonne is the finest violet I 

 have yet handled, blooming from mid-October to mid- 

 April, standing 10 to 12 degrees of frost with impunity 

 when Princess of Wales would be almost ruined (this 

 variety is only useful as an out-of-door violet in sheltered 

 garden positions). Avellan, purple, is a good violet ; its 

 leaves are specially adapted for bunching in mid-winter 

 (blooms October to end of February, and later some- 

 times). Californian, blue, excellent from mid-November 

 to end of season. After getting- runners planted it is 

 essential that they should be well weeded through the 

 season. Care must be taken when weeding that the 

 young roots are not disturbed. Bunching violets is 



quite a special knowledge. A good plan for a novice 

 would be to buy lwo or three bunches from a good 

 florist, and so see how the bunches are made up. After 

 bunching, violets should remain in water at least a 

 couple of hours before being packed. In packing, a 

 line of grease-proof paper should go all round the inside 

 of the box, so as to keep the air from the flowers. In 

 marketing, a successful man will get hold of a good 

 florist or two and send the balance to commission 

 agents. Boxes should be bought in the flat, and can be 

 had from any of the large timber merchants. Of all 

 winter flowers yet grown in Ireland the violet is, I 

 should say, the best— (i) for the length of time in flower, 

 October (o April ; (2) conditions of the climate here are 

 altogether favouraljle ; simimer rains and autumn mists 

 produce the finest development, so that early autumn 

 finds an immense plant of vigorous nature, giving 

 flowers of great beauty of form, depth of colour, and 

 scent unsurpassed by any foreign flower. The hardi- 

 ness of the violet is astonishing. Last winter, with 14 

 degrees of frost one night and 7 degrees the following, 

 I picked 7,000 Luxonne violets the same week from a 

 quarter of an acre patch. The soil was dark, and dark 

 soils are certainly the warmest. 



Success in Floiver Groiving. — The best advice I can 

 give is to begin in a small way, learning gradually while 

 increasing your area in flowers. Method and energy 

 are two great factors. Buyers require to have their 

 flowers punctually delivered, and their bunches of 

 uniform size, having a good fresh appearance when 

 unpacked. P'lovvers should never be packed wet ; this 

 is a very important point. Size of bunches always the 

 same (unless towards the end of the season, when with 

 a heavy competition larger bunches are usually required). 

 Gardening papers are often misleading on this point, 

 advising one not to trouble about counting violets, 

 whereas it is really but very little trouble, and the 

 grower would not know how to instruct his men to pick 

 unless he calculated quantities by his different orders. 



J, W. Miles. 



Green Mount, Ballydehob, Co. C-^k. 



How to Furnish Window Boxes in Winter. 



This seems to be a question often asked, as so many 

 people are inclined to allow the old geraniums and 

 other occupants of their boxes to last as long as they 

 will when they have done their "bit" during summer 

 and earl)^ autumn, and even after frost has "done for 

 them" we often see their "remains" standing like so 

 many dead twigs. Now, all this can be easil}' remedied 

 by taking the matter into consideration some time in 

 October, and if the soil in the boxes is poor it should be 

 emptied out and replaced with some good loam, leaf 

 soil and old manure, making sure to see that the drain- 

 age is perfect. Then we must think of some nice plants 

 or bulbs to place therein, and from the following list 

 there can be selected enough to please anyone's tastes :— 

 Veronicas, Euonymus, wallflowers, INIyosotis, pansies, 

 ivies, anemones (especially St. Brigid), iris (Spanish), 

 hyacinth. Narcissus, and tulip. In planting all or any of 

 those it is advisable to keep them so that one colour 

 will not clash against another— say, for example. Tulip 

 Bouton d'Or, carpeted with Myosotis. The yellow 

 flowers of the former look charming over the blue of the 

 latter. It is also well to note in the arrangement of 

 subjects for this purpose to place the tallest plants in 

 the centre of the box so that the occupants oi the house 

 can have a good side to look at as well as the 

 passers by. Watering is also very important, but in 

 most winters the watering cans will get a rest. — B. G. 



The species of Lavender cultivated for oil is Lavan- 

 dula vera, an evergreen shrub about 2 feet in height. 

 It loves an open situation and a dry soil. 



