6o 



IRISH GARDENING. 



The Herbaceous Border. 



e time this appears, 

 herbaceous border 

 Lild be looking: in- 

 teresting:, especially 

 \v here biennials 

 and bulbs were used 

 to fill up vacant 

 spaces. No plants 

 take the eye as 

 much as our spring-- 

 flowering plants and 

 bulbs. 



Imagine a border during the present month 

 dotted over with patches and clumps of daflfo- 

 dils, narcissus, early flowering tulips, wall- 

 flowers, Arabis alpina, Aubretias, Alyssiim saxa- 

 ///£%polyanthus, hybrid primroses, &c. What a 

 bright display of colour they give at this season 

 of the year, and all are so easy to grow ; then you 

 have the young shoots of the herbaceous plants 

 pushing up through the soil, note the difl"erent 

 colours of the shoots, changing day by day as 

 they get inured to the light. It is a real 

 pleasure to the lover of flowers. 



Mark all clumps of daffodils, narcissus, and 

 early flowering tulips that are intended to be 

 lifted later on when the foliage have died down. 

 Gladioli of sorts should be now planted to 

 make a good eff"ect ; plant in clumps true to 

 colour. All the hardy annuals should be 

 planted where they are to flower in the border — 

 sweet pea, sunflower, malope, &c., at the 

 back of the border, the dwarf varieties of 

 annuals to be sown nearer the front according 

 to height and habit. 



Ten week stock, aster, French and African 

 marigold — seeds of these should be sown at 

 once under glass, the seedlings to be trans- 

 planted (when fit to handle) to a frame or 

 boxes. They will be found exceedingly useful 

 to fill up gaps in the border when the foliage 

 of spring bulbs has died down. 



Frank Hudson. 



^^ e^* ^* 



The Month's Work. 



The Fruit Garden. 



By GEORGE DOOLAN, Instructor in Fruit Culture, Department of 

 Agriculture. 



STRAWBERRIES.— This important crop should have 

 attention without delay, and where the plants have 

 not been already mulched a dressing- of half- 

 decayed manure should be applied. The weather will 

 wash and bleach the litter, so that it will be in a clean 

 state for the fruit to rest on. Before putting^ on the 

 manure, all weeds must be pulled and the ground made 

 clean. Fill any blanks that may have occurred in the 

 rows with plants from the nursery bed. Many growers 

 are in favour of autumn mulching, and where the soil is 



o a light nature, it is undoubtedly an advantage ; but 

 in case oi heavy land spring mulching is the best ; again, 

 the soil can be kept in a cleaner state by the use of the 

 hoe when there is no manure on the surface. 



Fruit trees of every description growing in light land 

 should have the surface over the roots mulched with 

 good farmyard manure, and where trees are bearing well 

 on heavy land, similar treatment is also beneficial. 

 Currants (black), raspberries and gooseberries respond 

 well when liberally treated. Apples making strong 

 growth should not be mulched, because such treatment 

 tends to make growth too luxuriant, and where there is 

 too much wood there is little fruit. 



Cropping the Ground. — Where young trees are 

 growing the spaces between the trees should be cropped 

 with vegetables. Potatoes, cabbage, cmions, parsnips, 

 and almost every vegetable may be grown in such 

 spaces. They serve to keep the soil in a cultivated 

 condition, which is an advantage to the fruit trees. 

 When tilling the ground care must be taken that the 

 roots of the trees are not injured. 



Insect Pests. — Cold north east or northern winds 

 are favourable to the appearance of the well-known 

 aphis or geen-fly, which often appear very early in the 

 season, and do a lot of damage to young growths. 

 Watch carefully for any indication of attack, which will 

 be seen in the crumpled up state of the leaves at the 

 growing points of the shoots. The great remedy is to 

 take measures quickly to prevent further attack. 



The following remedies may be safely used : — Quassia, 

 chips, 24 lbs. ; soak in boiling water and leave rest for 

 24 hours, when the liquid should be drained off and put 

 in a separate vessel ; to this add i lb. soft soap dis- 

 solved in boiling water, add water to make 10 gallons 

 of mixture, and spray with a fine syringe or a sprayer. 

 Quassia extract can be got at the seedsmen's, which 

 should be used according to directions. Tobacco ex- 

 tract is also effectual. Steep 4 oz. of tobacco in i 

 gallon of water for 24 hours, and apply with syringe or 

 sprayer. 



General Remarks. — When the weather is fine keep 

 the hoe at work ; it will make the ground clean as well 

 as confer other benefits. Stake any trees needing sup- 

 port, and re-tie to stakes where necessary. Do not 

 allow suckers to grow from the roots of plums, pears or 

 apples. Have all prunings burnt. A striking feature of 

 the fruit grounds at this season is to have the soil 

 stirred up and clean, the trees mulched where they need 

 it, and the ground in readiness for cropping. 



^ ^ ^ 



The Vegetable Garden. 



By WILLIAM TYNDALL, Instructor in Horticulture, Co. Kildare. 



DURING this month nearly every kind of vegetable 

 requires to be planted or sown, and all plots and 

 borders attended to. To the gardener this is pro- 

 bably the most important and busiest month of the whole 

 year. Up to the present, except in very dry warm soils 

 slow progress has been made in getting in crops, but a 

 couple of weeks of good weather would do much to 

 enable us to overtake the arrears of work now fast 

 accumulating on account of bad weather. 



Keep the hoe constantly going through all growing 

 crops, as the more the surface is stirred the better and 

 quicker is the growth. This work is especially needful 

 in the case of spring cabbage and winter spinach, while 

 to the latter a dressing of soot and wood-ashes will very 

 much assist growth. Globe artichokes should be cleared 

 of all rubbish used for protecting the plants during 

 severe weather. The beds should then be manured 

 and forked in, as in the case of the rhubarb plot. Plant 

 out, if not already done, autumn sown cauliflowers, as 

 well as those raised under glass in spring ; also onions, 



