IRISH GARDENING 



1 



179 



be expected from a firm that has acquired such a re- 

 putation for hig'h-cla.ss colour work, the plates are 

 beautiful indeed. Tiie subjects under treatment in the 

 two instalments already to hand are Roses and Bulbs. 

 It is inviduous to mention any particular plate where all 

 are so g'ood, but "Anemone and Crocus, " by Marg'aret 

 Waterfield, is a charming- study in colour. 



School Gardening. 



By L. J. Humphrey, Special Instructor in School 



Gardening under the Department of Ag-riculture 



and Technical Instruction for Ireland. 



WITH the season's work almost at an end in the 

 school garden preparations must be com- 

 menced for the work of next year, and if the 

 work of digg-ing and trenching is g;ot well forward on 

 vacant ground early in the autumn there will be a 

 g:reat saving- of lime later on. 



The experiences of the summer will have shown what 

 alterations and improvements can be made in the 

 arrang-ement of the garden, and at any convenitnt 

 opportunity the work should be commenced. When 

 new gardens are to be started it is of the utmost 

 importance that the work of preparations should be 

 made in good time in order that the ground may be 

 ready for the planting- of fruit trees and bushes before 

 the soil loses its summer heat. In such gardens as 

 much as possible of the garden should be dug- to the 

 depth of two spits, and if vegetable refuse is mixed with 

 the lower spit it will decay and help to enrich the 

 subsoil as well as rendering it more easily cultivated in 

 subsequent years. In heavy clay soils manure may 

 be added in the autumn, as such soils retain the valuable 

 substances contained in the manure which in lig-hter 

 soils would be washed out by the rains of the winter. 

 Clay soils can also be much improved by a dressing- of 

 lime, which has the effect of coagulating the minute 

 particles of clay which would otherwise tend to choke 

 the soil spaces and so prevent proper drainage and 

 admission of air to the soil. A good way of enriching 

 the soil is by digging in garden refuse, such as dead 

 leaves, pea and bean stalks, and similar material. The 

 substances which have been taken from the soil by 

 these crops are, in this way, larg-ely returned and the 

 fertility of the soil contributed to. The practice of 

 burning; all garden refuse is a wasteful one, as, although 

 the mineral constituents are in this way returned to 

 the soil in the ashes, the more valuable nitrogen is 

 completely lost. Some kinds of refuse can only be 

 effectively g-ot rid of by burning, and plants, such as 

 switch and bindweed, as well as all diseased plants 

 which are likely to spread infection, should be 

 thoroughly burnt and the ashes returned to the soil. 

 In heavy clay soils some of the clay may be burned 

 with the rubbish, and afterwards added to the soil, 

 which it will help to lighten considerably for subsequent 

 working-. It should be remembered, however, that 

 treating- clay in this manner destroys all the org-anic 

 matter it contains, and, therefore, this burning- of clay 

 should not take place very frequently, nor in such 

 proportions as to render the soil unusually deficient in 

 organic matter. 



The whole of the work of preparing the ground should 

 be completed as early in the winter as possible, as in 

 this way the soil is thoroughly exposed to the influence 

 of the weather and rendered more suited to the needs 

 of the crops to be afterwards planted. The later 

 months can then be occupied in re-making the paths 

 and walks and renovating or renewing edgings. 

 In this way the advent of spring will find the soil in g;ood 

 order for sowing, and planting can go on without other 

 interruption than that caused by unfavourable weather. 



yni 



Bee-Keeping. 



By T. Maguire, The Orchard, Enniskillen. 



IE season has been a remarkable one in many 

 ways, principally for the varied results obtained 

 by bee-keepers within a short distance of each 

 other ; some having; very larg-e takes to report, whilst 

 their neig-hbours have g-ot next to nothing-. The failures, 

 where not due to want of sufficient stores over last winter, 

 were nearly all due to excessive swarming combined with 

 mismanagement. It is very hard to instil into some 

 people the advantag-e of returning- the swarm to the 

 parent stand ; they ivill insist on putting; it up in a new 

 location, with the result that little or no honey is 

 obtained from either the parent stock or swarm. Even 

 when increase is desired, the swarm should be hived on 

 the old location, giving it the supers and fresh frames 

 of foundation to replace those removed for the nucleus. 

 When this is done the yield of honey is almost, if not 

 quite, as g-ood as if all the bees were allowed to remain ; 

 the bees seem to work with redoubled energ;y, and when 

 the operation is performed early in the honey flow all the 

 bees are devoting themselves to gathering, there being; 

 no brood to bother with until the flow is nearly over. 



Swarming was unprecedently rife in the early days of 

 July. A sudden g-lut of honey coming after a cold or 

 wet spell always entails swarming-, unless careful and 

 instant precautions are taken when the heat arrives. 

 Where no precautions are taken the bees are sure to 

 become demoralised, and though the conditions be ever 

 so ideal, very little honey will result. The eftect of 

 shading; hives from the intense heat of the sun was well 

 shown this year. Stocks so shaded and with large 

 ventiUitors open underneath were working- rig-ht through 

 the fierce heat, whilst others not so cared for were 

 blowing- oft' swarms every day. 



The quality of the honey g-athered in July must be 

 very high all round. In this locality it was very thick, 

 but somewhat dark in colour, and of fine flavour. The 

 August flow produced a lighter-coloured honey, also of 

 good flavour, but thinner and inclined to candy. 



Foul brood, where properly looked alter, ought to be 

 well in hand this season. The swarming tii-ne pro- 

 vided very favourable conditions for clearing- out the 

 disease by the " starvation" treatment — the only really 

 effectual method — and it is to be hoped a much smaller 

 percentag;e of diseased stocks will be found next spring. 

 In this county foul brood is on the wane. Unfortunately, 

 our instructor was taken away from the bees to super- 

 intend potato spraying just at the time when his advice 

 on this and other matters, especially to beg-inners, was 

 most needed. The latter were totally at a loss when 

 complications began to arise with their transferred 

 stocks, and when swarming- set in. It is to be hoped, 

 for their sakes, that some better arrangement may be 

 made next year. 



The more experienced hands had a g'ood haul oi 

 honey. Four crates were general, five fairly common, 

 whilst I know a few who got six crates of marketable 

 sections oft fi single hive. Some people even report 

 seven; they would probably make it eleven if they 

 thought anyone would believe it. Those working for 

 extracted honey got 150 lbs. in some cases, but there 

 are very few w'orking- on that system in Fermanag-h. 



a^* ^^^ ^^ 



The Department of Ag-riculture has recently issued a 

 leaflet (No. 93) g-iving- information on the methods of 

 collecting;, packing and marketing; some of the more im- 

 portant wild fruits of the country. The fruits to which 

 attention is called are blackberries, bilberries, crab 

 apples and sloes. Readers interested in the subject 

 would do well to procure a copy, which can be had free 

 of charg;e on application to the secretary. 



