IRISH GARDENING. 



89 



flower plant 3 feet high lost on an average one pound 

 four ounces of water during- twelve hours of daylight. 

 It has also been ascertained that a moderate sized 

 deciduous tree ma}' lose in 12 houi's as much as 900 

 pounds of water. A crop of oats weighing one ton at 

 harvest has, during its full growing season, absorbed 

 from the soil and passed into the ^ir in the form of 

 vapour the prodigious amount of 200 to 300 tons of 

 water. This will give some idea of the immense im- 

 portance of water in the cultivation of crops. 



Miss Charlotte G. O'Brien, of Ardanoir, F~oynes, 

 sends the following interesting note — " Seeing letters 

 about Pyrus (Cydonia) Japonica, I think it may interest 

 readers to hear of my success with seed. I noticed last 

 autumn the fruit very large and round at my brother's, 

 near Limerick. I opened a fruit, and it was " chockful " 

 of seeds, well filled and healthy looking, so I took it 

 home and sowed it in a cold greenhouse in December. I 

 have now planted out in permanent rearing bed no less 

 than 77 (seventy-seven) 3 in. or 4 in. trees, the product 

 of that one fruit ; they look as strong as so many Crabs. 

 The parent was the old-fashioned dark rose-red, the 

 handsomest kind I know. It will be interesting to see 

 if the young ones show variety of colour." 



On the 20th day of May we received from Mr. 'V\'^m. 

 Baylor Hartland a box containing a fine collection of 

 tulip flowers carefully packed and named. The box also 

 contained the following note : — " This being my seventy- 

 third birthday I send you a few flowers as a whiff of 

 freshness from Ard-Cairn grounds." Many happ}- 

 returns, we are sure, is the united wish of ourselves and 

 readers. 



From experiments conducted by the Agricultural 

 Department of the University of Leeds on the preven- 

 tion of scab in potatoes, it appears that the application 

 of saw-dust to the soil tends to check the development 

 of the disease to a very considerable extent. 



Anyone specially interested in small holdings should 

 read an article on Small Holdings in Hampshire, by Mr. 

 J. C. Newsham, of the Farm-School, Basing, in the May 

 number of the Journal of the Board of Agriculture 

 (England.) 



The annual Agricultural and Horticultural Show will 

 be held at Thurles on June 29th. Prizes of money, 

 seeds, fruit-trees, &c. ,are offered for competition in the 

 Horticultural Section. 



The Tanley Flower Show will be held at Wyckham 

 on Wednesday, the 15th of July. Dr. Kingsmill Moore 

 presents a Silver Flower Bowl to the most successful 

 exhibitor at the show, while a Silver Challenge Cup is 

 offered for competition in the open Sweet Pea Classes. 

 Mr. F. W. Moore has consented to act as Judge. 



A correspondent gives what he says is a good remedy 

 against slugs attacking fruit trees. He has found that 

 by putting roughly broken bricks round the roots oi the 

 trees the slugs were kept off. 



A NEW, and apparently serious, disease of tomatoes 

 that has recently appeared in England is described in 

 the May issue of the Journal of the (English) Board of 

 Agriculture. The leaves of attacked plants show 

 numbers of small, blackish green spots that quickly 

 enlarge and soon coalese ; the leaf then drops and dies. 

 Other parts of the plant, inluding the fruit, is liable to be 

 affected. The disease seems to have been introduced 

 from South America presumedly in imported fruit. It 

 is caused by a fungus of the genus Septoritt, and is very 

 rapid in its action, taking about seven da\s from the 

 first indications until the plant is killed. 



Mr. J. Maguire, writing on the subject of Bees, 

 says — " Should a long spell of cold, wet weather occur, 

 such as we had last year, great distress may exist in the 

 hive for both honey and pollen. The latter can be sub- 

 stituted by putting a liberal supply of flour (pea flour is 

 the best) into the cells near the brood. This will keep 

 the stock in condition, and prevent the brood dying oi 

 starvation, as happened in many places last year. 'W^hen 

 larvae are being cast out of the entrance, that is a pretty 

 sure sign that feeding is urgently required." 



Town and suburban gardeners are frequently annoyed 

 by the activities of the common or domestic cat, but 

 according to Mr. W. G. Macintosh of Fairview (sub- 

 urban), Dublin, " Alphol " is so particularly distasteful, to 

 them, that by its use seed beds may be kept entirely 

 free from their depredations. 



Experiments on the influence of etherisation upon 

 forced rhubarb have been carried out at Cornell 

 University Research Station with interesting results. 

 It was foimd that etherisation not only induces earlier 

 growth by at least five days, but that it also increases 

 the quantity of produce by about 2,'i per cent. 



Hydranc.eas in Tibs.— These make an excellent 

 decoration for lawns. Positions which are partially 

 shaded from the mid-day sun suit the plants best. Fill 

 the tubs with rich, warm, well-manured loam. Get 

 bushy species about 3 or 4 years old. Nowisagood 

 time for re-planting. Hydrageas require a good deal of 

 water. In late autumn or winter a good mulching of 

 well-rotted manure will be a great benefit to the plants 

 and enable them to produce masses of fine foliage the 

 following season. During the winter some pruning is 

 advisable to produce vigorous spring shoots. 



Messrs. Wm. Watson & Sons, of the Clontarf Nurseries, 

 sends us a sasonable catalogue of bedding and other 

 plants in demand at this time of the year. 



Care in Watering Pl.\nts. — During the summer 

 months great care is necessary in the matter of water- 

 ing. We have often called attention in these columns 

 to the importance of establishing and keeping up free 

 aereal communicatic)n between the soil and the overlying 

 atmosphere. For root-activity air is just as necessarj- 

 as water, and we must take care that in supplying the 

 one we do not tend to exclude the other. Constant 

 watering tends to cake the soil, and this in turn tends to 

 bring about stagnation of the air in the pores of the soil. 

 We must, therefore, prevent the formation of a caked 

 soil surface. How can we do this? There are two 

 ways. One is to mulch the surface with litter or strawy 

 manure, and the other is to use the hoe persistently so 

 as to keep, at all times, the surface of the soil loose 

 and powdery. Both operations have the same double 

 object in view— namely, keeping the surface pores open 

 and of preventing the surface evaporation of water. If 

 you are a beginner in gardening try a little experiment. 

 Treat one patch of growing plants in either of these 

 ways and leave another and similiar patch untreated. 

 In a few weeks time of fine weather examine the soil 

 under the mulch of litter or fine earth and that under 

 the surface of the untreated soil. The one will be much 

 damper than the other. You have not added water to 

 the mulched area, but you have prevented the excessive 

 escape of vapour of water from the surface. A final 

 word of caution about watering with liquid manure 

 made from dung. The liquid should be free from 

 suspended particles, else the pores of the soil will 

 get clogged with the fine particles carried down by the 

 water. The solid manure should be enclosed in a bag 

 of coarse texture and suspended in the liquid manure 

 barrel. This will secure a clearer liquid and one less 

 likely to produce clog-ging of the surface pores. 



