November 5, 1904. 
The Gardening World 
MOTTO FOR THE WEEK: 
“Now the leaf incessant rustles from the mournful grove.”— Thomson. 
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July 4 —APHELANDRA AURANTIACA 
ftOEZLII. 
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September 12.— SIX NEW DAFFODILS. 
October 3 — LILIUM AURATUM PLA- 
TYPHYLLUM SHIRLEY VAR. 
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VASSEUR. 
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ROSE IRENE. 
January 30. — TUBEROUS BEGONIA 
COUNTESS OF WARWICK, 
i February 27. -A FINE STRAIN OF 
GLOXINIAS. 
April 2. — WISTARIA MULTIJUGA 
RUSSELLIANA. 
May 7 — CACTUS DAHLIA DAINTY. 
June 4. —CACTUS DAHLIA SPITFIRE. 
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SUPERBUM. 
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This week we present a Half-tone ! 
Plate oi S 
NEW SWEET PEAS. J 
Next week we shall give a Half-tone { 
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CHRYSANTHEMUM MRS, D. WILLIS 
JAMES. 
The prize last week in the Readers’ s 
Competition was awarded to “Pom \ 
Pom, for his article on “Three foliage 
plants for exhibition,” p. 873 . 
Views and Reviews 
Fruit Culture in Ireland. 
During the past few years the Depart¬ 
ment of Agriculture aud Technical Instruc¬ 
tion have been making great endeavours to 
test the capabilities of Ireland as a fruit- 
producing country. Some two years' ago a 
line fruit show was inaugurated by the De¬ 
partment in the neighbourhood of Cork. A 
second show has juist been, brought* to a, suc¬ 
cessful culmination, at Dublin on October 
19th and 20th. This greatly eclipsed the 
show held at Cork, and has; indeed been de- 
scribed by some of the experts who saw it 
as the finest fruit show ever held ini the 
United Kingdom. Those are certainly lofty 
words, and if such was actually the case it 
redounds even more to; the credit of Ireland 
and those concerned in the making of the 
show, especially when we consider that it 
was organised and carried to a successful con¬ 
clusion in six weeks’ time. The exhibits 
consisted entirely of Irish-grown fruits. 
We may here state that the show was 
mostly confined to hardy fruits, of which 
Apples constituted by far the largest* propor¬ 
tion*. Altogether there were 2,6G4 entries, 
and of these there were close upon a thou¬ 
sand entries of cooking Apples entirely 
grown in the open air. Dessert* Apples were 
shown in much smaller numbers;, but were, 
nevertheless, a respectable lot*. Peaches, 
Pears, and other hardy fruits were also 
shown. The Pears grown in the open num¬ 
bered nearly 300 entries. Preserved fruits 
were also encouraged’by the offering of prizes, 
and show that the cultivators in, the sister 
isle are making a, determined effort to turn 
their land to excellent* account in the produc¬ 
tion of fruit, which they are; now learning to 
dispose of in the fresh state, also to make 
into preserves, to bottle;, dry, or can. The 
preserves, bottled fruits, etc., included Crab 
or Apple jelly, Blackberries, Strawberries, 
Raspberries;, and even Cider. On the after¬ 
noon of the second day the Right; Hon. 
Horace Plunkett, the vice-president of the 
Department of Agriculture and Technical 
Instruction, delivered a long address at a 
conference on the; subject of fruit culture in 
Ireland. Sir Horace is evidently very san¬ 
guine on the future of Ireland ns a fruit¬ 
growing country, and so expressed himself 
before a. large audience at Ballsbridge, 
Dublin. He dealt with the subject almost 
entirely from a commercial point of view, 
speaking not* merely from hearsay but from 
experience, as the Department has been 
carrying on. important experiments in fruit 
culture in four different parts of the country. 
This is being done through the agency of 
groups of farmers, so that the experiments 
are not conducted by scientific or educated 
but by practical farmers under the guidance 
of experts provided by the Agricultural Dec 
partment. The most important or vital 
factors in the case, lie; stated, were the; pre¬ 
paration. of produce for market, including 
grading, packing and the distribution of the 
produce in the; most economical way. 
Referring to the splendid exhibition which 
had been opened on the previous day, he 
said that it had amply proved that Nature 
was willing to do; her part in the production 
of fruit. It remained for them to show that 
they were prepared to do their own part. 
He considered, further, that the development 
of an industry devolved more upon private 
enterprise than upon Government. The 
latter was merely making the initial effort 
in order to; determine how the case stood, 
what the laud was capable of producing, and 
of seeing the industry started upon a. proper 
basis. Many interests had to; be reconciled, 
and the industry to; become profitable must 
be conducted on a; large scale. From that* 
point of view, he thought* that the problems 
involved were too great for private enterprise 
to tackle unassisted. 
In the building up of a* national industry, 
he considered that* the proper function of the 
Department, which had no private end to; 
serve, was to use; its resources; for overcom¬ 
ing the difficulties; of starting an, industry on 
such a scale. The Department had been 
pursuing inquiries and carrying on experi¬ 
ments by which to* be able to discharge what 
he conceived to be its proper function in de¬ 
veloping the sadly neglected industry of 
fruit-growing in Ireland. 
Before he could estimate the chances of 
success# six main factors had to be taken 
into' oonisideration—namely, climate, soil, 
market, transit, efficiency in production 1 , and 
economy in distribution. The soil, taken as 
a* whole, he considered a,s favourable. The 
climate was suitable for certain kinds of fruit, 
though not all that could be desired. With 
reference to; markets, he considered that the 
people of Ireland were the nearest* suppliers 
of the best market, in the world. In, the 
matter of transit he considered that many 
countries had yet an advantage of us. The 
Great* Northern Railway Company of Ire- 
