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IRISH GARDENING. 



If it is considered advisable to save any of the bedding 

 plants that have done duty this season they should be 

 potted or boxed up at once and placed under cover. 

 Ivy leaved g-eraniums, heliotropes, and many others 

 will be found distinctly useful if treated in this way, 

 and will, besides affording- plenty of cutting-s in spring-, 

 fill and beautify many a corner next year. 



Carnations. — Many of these will now be pushing- on 

 their flowering- growths and blooms. A little heat and 

 plenty of air may, with great advantage, be afforded, 

 and watering must be skilfully performed, as plants of 

 this family are certain to decline in health if too much 

 water be afforded. 



Zonal pelargoniums, cyclamens, primulas, &c. , will 

 be greatly benefited by Ijeing treated to a little heat, 

 and where the plants are large and the pots compara- 

 tively small a little weak liquid manure may be given at 

 intervals of a week or so. 



Outdoor garden work will consist of planting of 

 carnation layers in their permanent positions. Plants 

 put out at this season invariably do better than those 

 planted in spring. Many changes may be made, too, 

 in the herbaceous borders. Large clumps or old plants 

 can be lifted, divided and planted according to taste or 

 demand for certain colour or kinds of flowers Bulbs 

 of all sorts can be got in at the same time, but for ease 

 in working in the future all these should be marked or 

 named. AH dead flower or growth stems should be cut 

 down, and in a general way borders of this kind made 

 as presentable as possible. When dahlias have been 

 destroyed by frost, which will occur during the first 

 sharp visitation, the stems should be cut to nine inches 

 or one foot from the soil, the roots carefully lifted, and 

 when fairly dried should be stored carefully in a dry and 

 cool place where frost cannot possibly reach them. 

 If named varieties are grown the labels must be care- 

 fully attached ; if not, the colour and description may, 

 with advantage, be written on paper or wootlen labels 

 and tied on each, and will save much confusion and 

 misplacing next .season. 



Cuttings of violas and pansies may still be put in, or 

 where the old plants have been cut down some time 

 ago they may now be lifted and divided. 



Put in, if desirable, cuttings of roses, evergreen and 

 deciduous shrubs. A place will always be found for 

 nice little plants, or friends may be induced to take an 

 interest in their cultivation on being presented with a 

 few of home manufacture. 



The Vegetable Garden. 



By William Tvndall, Instructor in Horticulture, 

 Co. Kildare. 



TRENCH over or dig deep all ground as it becomes 

 vacant, leaving the surface as rough as possible. 

 Long, narrow hedges on heavy ground is probably 

 best, allowing the frost to penetrate better, and giving 

 a neat appearance to the plots throughout the winter. 

 Ground so treated will be worked easier in the spring. 

 During this month take up carrots and beet, and stcire 

 in sand, either in a dry cellar or pit (as is done with 

 potatoes), putting plenty of dry sand among the roots. 

 Choose a dry day for lifting, as the roots will keep much 

 better if stored when dry. Some people cut off the tops 

 of carrots entirely, including a small portion of crown, 

 to prevent them growing, but this should not be done. 

 In lifting beet do not cut or break the roots, as they 

 bleed if broken, and for the same reason the leaves 

 should not be cut, but twisted off, three or four inches 

 from the crown. Both these vegetables should be 

 stored before frost comes on. Parsnips and salsify are 

 seldom injured by frost, and are, therefore, generally left 

 in the ground and dug up as required for use, yet it is 



always .safer to lift a portion of the crop if severe frost 

 looks like setting in, as it would be impossible to lift 

 them when the ground gets very hard. Take up the 

 remainder by the end of February, and store, as 

 recommended for carrots, in a cool place, as under a 

 north wall. All potatoes shtiuld now be taken up in 

 dry weather and put into pits, in a dry place, covering 

 with straw and mould to keep from frost, damp and 

 light. Often much harm is done potatoes by lifting 

 when too wet, and this frequently occurs when the crop 

 is not lifted, as we so often see it in this county, till 

 November, and also storing away, in large quanti-ties, 

 over one another. It is a good plan, when storing, to 

 have holes filled with straw every three or four jards 

 along the top of pit, so as to prevent healing. It is 

 always better, when picking the potatoes, to first gather 

 the large, or those fit for table use. Then the seed 

 should be picked and put into sprouting boxes, and if 

 allowed to become green before putting into a cool 

 but frost-proof building, they are all the better. In 

 such a place they can be examined during the winter, 

 and any bad ones picked out. 



CAULIFLOWER.S.— Plants raised from seed sown in 

 August should be transplanted into shallow frames or 

 hand lights, where they are to remain during winter. 

 The soil should, if possible, be a good loam (don't use 

 manure), and made firm before planting ; the lights need 

 not be put on till frost is anticipated, and during winter 

 give as much air as the nature of the weather will 

 permit, also dibble out at foot of south wall. 



Lettuck. — Lettuce planted early in this month often 

 stand the winter better than those planted in September, 

 and, at all events, they will form a useful succession. 

 Select good, hardy varieties as Hardy Green Hammer- 

 smith, Winter Pearl, or Stansted Park, and plant on a 

 dry, sheltered border. 



Pe.\s. — During this month peas for the earliest crop 

 next 3'ear may be sown on a warm, south bc->rder, fully 

 exposed to the sun. William I., improved, is a most 

 useful, hardy variety for sowing now. If the ground 

 has been deeply dug and manured, open very shallow 

 trenches, 2 inches deep and 10 inches wide, sow seed 

 thinly, drawing- the soil up to cover about 3 inches deep. 

 The lines may be about ^^2 feet apart. As soon as the 

 peas are sown, stake with small, withered spruce 

 branches ; these help to prevent the birds taking the 

 seed and also shelter the plants when up. Sutton's 

 Ringleader is another good, hardy, early variety. 



Beans. — Broad beans may also be sown during this 

 month, and, if they survive the winter, should be fit for 

 use early in June. The Mazagaw bean, on account of 

 its turning in early and hardiness, is one of the best to 

 sow now, for though the beans are small, it yields a 

 heavy crop. Plant in double rows, 2 to 3 feet apart and 

 beans 4 inches apart in the rows. Beck's Green Gem 

 is also good. 



Asparagus. — The stalks of asparagus may now be 

 cut down and removed, then hoe the beds, removing all 

 weeds. The asparagus being hard)', in most soils it is 

 better to defer the manuring till spring. 



The Value of Fruit as Food. 



THE planting season is now almost at hand, and a 

 word or two to our readers on the value of fruit 

 as food may perchance induce some who might 

 not otherwise plant to do so during the ensuing autumn 

 months. Every family having suitable ground at its 

 disposal should certainly provide for as long a supply of 

 fruit as possible, so that each member of the familj- may 

 benefit in health from the use of perhaps the most valu- 

 able of all kinds of human food. 



Fruits are too often regarded as luxuries to be indulged 

 in only occasionally, or at best as adjuncts to food, and 



