IRISH GARDENING. 



ti9 



biiiation with lime or building' up nitrogenous 

 compounds in their bodies, to be used up by 

 the growing crop when these in their turn de- 

 compose. The crops grown under such con- 

 ditions have a greenness similar to that produced 

 by nitrate of soda, but of a more lasting 

 character. Farmyard manure is a slow-acting 

 manure, and its nitrogenous compounds give 

 results for many years after its application. 

 Being rather a one-sided manure it requires to 

 be supplemented by artificials. A ton of the 

 manure containing I5lbs. nitrogen, 5lbs. phos- 

 phoric acid, and ylbs. potash is not comparable 

 in analysis with any of the mixtures recom- 

 mended for the full growth of crops. 



The liquid manure, consisting chiefly of the 

 waste of the bodies of animals, is the most valu- 

 able part of the whole. It is very often allowed 

 to run to loss. In its fresh state it is not good 

 for plants, more so if applied when there is active 

 transpiration and growth. It acts as a plant food 

 much better after a ripening process. So far 

 this ripening process is attended by waste of 

 ammonia in a carbonate form. The tanks are 

 a hatchery for those organisms causing this loss, 

 and whose work is only retarded by the amount of 

 the products of decomposition formed. These 

 products being volatile there is not much check. 

 It is a useful manure for the small farmer and 

 gardener, but does not give results comparable 

 to those obtained from the use of a watery 

 mixture of artificial manures in producing rapid 

 growths. Up to the present no profitable way 

 of storing it alone has been found. 



In conclusion, farmyard manure should be con- 

 sidered as one of the crops of the farm, and its 

 quality should be maintained rather than its bulk. 

 It is in many respects the most important crop 

 of all, and this is especially so in the light of in- 

 tensive farming, where it should be used as the 

 basis of manuring, and its deficiency for the 

 growth of the various crops made up by arti- 

 ficial manures. The yield and quality of the 

 crops produced are dependent on the availability 

 of the constituents necessary to their growth as 

 well as on the physical condition of soil required 

 by each. As the better quality of crops enhances 

 the value of the product, the aim should always 

 he to excel in quality. The more concentrated 

 the plant food in a manure is, so much the less 

 is the cost in cartage and spreading. Hence 

 the quality of farmyard manure should be main- 

 tained by not allowing losses from rains and 

 undue fermentations, as well as not using an 

 abnormal quantity of straw as litter. 



f^^ ^^ ^^ 



" I know a bank where the wild thyme blows, 

 Where oxslips and the nodding- violet grows, 

 Quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine, 

 With sweet musk — roses and with eg-lantine." 



— A Midsummer Nighf s Dream. 



By L.J. HUMPHREY, Special Instructor in School Gardening under the 

 Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction for Ireland. 



SHOWS AND PRIZES.— The work of the teacher 

 of School Gardening- is not, as a rule, made 

 more easy by the promise of prizes to the 

 best pupil or even to the best plot. After all, 

 it is easy to get the best boys to do their work 

 well ; the problem is to g-et the whole class to work in 

 such a way that the school g-arden is a credit to the 

 teacher and the school. Prizes awarded to individual 

 pupils are apt to eng-ender a rivalry which will render 

 useless a great deal of what the teacher mig-ht say as to 

 the advantag-es of co-operation. A better plan is to 

 award a prize to the school having- the best garden 

 class in the district. A scheme could be arrang-ed by 

 which, each year, a shield or cup would be awarded to 

 the school securing first place in the competition. It 

 would be necessary to make the award on the result of 

 an examination (larg-ely practical) of the pupils as well 

 as on the condition of the g-arden itself. For this latter 

 purpose two visits at least should be paid to each 

 g-arden by the judg-e in order that the whole work of the 

 class mig-ht be taken into account. These visits and 

 examinations would g-uard ag-ainst the neg-lect of either 

 the teaching- for the appearance of the g-arden or the 

 gfarden for the teaching-, and would result in the school 

 which had the best claim to it— /.^., the school in which 

 the scholars had a g-ood knowleg-e of g-ardening- and in 

 connection with which the g-arden was well cultivated — 

 securing the award. It is g-enerally agreed that the 

 aim of all school garden work is to obtain cultural 

 dexterity on the part of the scholars, combined with a 

 knowlege of the principles on which plant cultivation is 

 based. Such a scheme could hardly fail to very largely 

 increase the interest of both teachers and scholars in 

 their work. 



Another plan which inight be adopted is that of 

 having a School Garden Produce Show, to which all the 

 school gardens in the district send produce for com- 

 petition, prizes being awarded to the most successful. 

 This is an excellent plan, but where it has been 

 adopted care has been taken to see that the vegetables, 

 flowers, &c. , have not been well cultivated at the ex- 

 pence of the teaching. A provision should be attached 

 to the rules for all such shows that no school would be 

 allowed to compete unless the pupils had obtained a 

 good report from an inspector who would examine the 

 classes to discover what knowledge the children 

 possessed. School gardens are too frequently com- 

 pared and judged by their appearance and by the 

 quality of their produce when the real test should be the 

 comparative intelligence and interest of the pupils. A 

 well cultivated garden, containing good vegetables and 

 flowers, and which is also neatly kept, is an indication 

 that the teaching has been well done, but proof must be 

 looked for much more deeply. 



August is often a holiday month in the school gardens, 

 but wherever possible cabbage and other crops for 

 spring should be sown. Strawberry plantations should 

 be prepared and any pruning oi fruit trees attended to. 



Annuals for spring flowering should be sown, and 

 cuttings of pansies and violas should be made. 



