28 



IRISH GARDENING. 



Current Topics. 



By PETER BROCK, Orchard Terrace, Enniskillen. 



THE weather is the principal factor in controlling 

 outdoor work during the winter season. The 

 lateness of harvesting- root crops, being followed 

 by a long period of wet weather, has caused tillage work 

 to be more backward at this date than usual. Heavy 

 land that was roughly dug, ridged, or ploughed before 

 the heavy rains set in has been nicely mellowed by the 

 recent snaps of frost. 

 This is a good object 

 lesson on the importance 

 of early winter cultiva- 

 tion of stiff clay land, 

 as it not only economises 

 labour in spring, but 

 whether for seed, trees, 

 or other plants the 

 advantages to the crop 

 will invariably more than 

 compensate for extra 

 labour or energy in 

 pushing on this work 

 on every opportunity 

 when the ground is dry 

 enough, so that stiff soil 

 may be exposed as much 

 as possible to the action 

 of frost and drying 

 winds. As the day 

 lengthens the drought 

 generally strengthens, 

 and we may hope to 

 soon see more land in 

 a better state of pre- 

 paredness for the coming 

 season's crops. 



The summer of 1907 

 will be long remembered 

 by farmers and 

 gardeners for the pre- 

 valence of cold, cutting 

 winds, which in many 

 places caused ill-effects, 

 especially on fruit crops. 

 Shelter belts or screen 

 hedges should, as a rule, 

 be planted in advance 

 of fruit crops. There 

 are, however, many 

 young orchards in- 

 adequately protected 

 where a screen could be 

 grown to lessen the 

 effects of wind. For this 

 purpose a line of Lom- 



bardy poplar, planted 3 feet apart, with two plants of 

 oval-leaved privet between, will produce an effective 

 wind-break in a few years. The poplar can be con- 

 trolled in height by pruning, and will draw up and 

 support the privet to a greater height and in a shorter 

 time than whitethorn. 



The land on which it is intended to plant such a 

 screen should be deeply dug or trenched, and may in 

 some cases be improved by adding road scrapings. 

 It should also be kept free from weeds for at least the 

 first few years. Themyrabola or cherry plum, white- 

 thorn or beech, where they can be grown to a good 

 height, form effective wind-breaks. However, where 

 a belt of about 30 feet in width can be set apart for 

 shelter, evergreen trees are preferable. 



Meconopsis Integrifolia. 



A large j'ellow-flowertd Poppy recently introduced from Tibet. The 

 plant forms a rosette of hairy oblanceolate leaves, from the centre of which 

 a stout stem arises which bears from six to ten large pure yellow flowers, 

 6 to 9 inches in diameter. These are much more durable than the usual 

 Poppy flowers, individual blooms remaining on the plant from ten days 

 to a fortnight. \Rcproduced by courtesy 0/ Messrs. Tait <5r= Co.\ 



Notes from Glasnevin. 



A NEW departure that will be greatly appreciated by 

 a large section of visitors to whom Sunday offers, 

 practically, the only opportunity to visit the Gardens, 

 was recently inaugurated by throwing open the Orchid 

 Houses on that day. Till the closing days of last year 

 those so situated had to content themselves with such 

 glimpses as might be afforded them from without through 

 the steamed panes ; this was indeed to see through a 

 glass darkly. Now, however, all this is changed, and 



entering by way of the 

 Palm and Tropical Fern 

 Houses (the latter also 

 hitherto closed) one is 

 brought face to face 

 with one of the most 

 notable and, at this 

 season, most beautiful 

 groups of plants in the 

 Gardens. Now (Jan- 

 uary 20th) there is a 

 most interesting dis- 

 play, comprising, 

 among many others, the 

 following: Vanda{Ara- 

 cli n a n th e) Cathcartii, 

 V. atnesiana, Laelia 

 superbtens, Cattleya 



percivaliaiia, Cynoches 

 loiviana, Saphronitis 

 grandiflora rosea, 

 Cypripediiim cenanthuiii 

 siiperbuni, C. vanustinn 

 pcrdinuin, C. stonei. 

 Calanthe veitchii still 

 maintains a fine show. 

 The following three 

 remarkable species are 

 in bud, and promise 

 shortly to attract 

 notice : — Enlophiella 

 petersiana, Cypripedmm 

 lindleya?uni!, Angrce- 

 ciun sesquipedale. 



In the Stove is a nice 

 group of Coleus thyrsoi 

 dews. Out of doors the 

 march of events is 

 indicated by the first 

 appearance of the 

 winter aconite {Eran- 

 Ihes hyemalis). In the 

 bog garden Rhododen- 

 dron parviflormn is in 

 flower, and R. davuri- 

 cuiii is about to follow 

 suit. The recent spell 

 of frost has left its 

 baneful mark on 

 several shrubs. The flower buds of Magnolia stellafa 

 have suffered severely, and the foliage of Tricuspidaria 

 lanceolata, which was also thickly set with flower buds, 

 is much scorched. This, however, belongs to a class 

 of facts that do not obtrude themselves, and a merely 

 general survey shows the Gardens as beautiful and 

 apparently immune as if no such spell had occurred. 

 W. B. B. 



Tamarisks. — A correspondent asks advice as to the 

 kind of shrub that may be planted on poor soil by the 

 sea so as to form a shelter for herbaceous plants. The 

 tamarisks are excellent for this purpose. They can 

 withstand both wind and salt spray, and are, at the same 

 time, plants of exceedingly graceful form and foliage. 



