472 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
June  8,  18f9« 
DRIBLETS  FROM  DUBLIN. 
A  CORRESPONDENT  expresses  the  hope  that  space  may  be  afforded 
libr  the  following  paragraphs ;  it  is  readily  found,  and  Dublin  pars 
may  dribble  again. 
The  Royal  Horticultural  Society  of  Ireland  Rose  Show. 
The  summer  show  of  the  above  Society  will  be  held  in  Jlerrion 
Square  on  Thursday,  the  29th  of  June,  and  promises  to  be  a  great 
success.  Their  Excellencies  the  Lord  Lieutenant  and  Countess 
Cadogan  have  acccepted  the  invitation  of  the  Council  to  visit  the 
Show.  The  prizes  offered  for  competition  are  fairly  numerous  ;  the 
following  is  a  list  of  the  principal  ones  : — Messrs.  Dickson  &  Son, 
Xewlownards,  for  a  stand  of  thirty-six  Roses,  a  silver  plate,  value  £25, 
Dffered  for  a  stand  of  Begonias  by  ]\Iessrs.  Hartland,  Cork,  a  challenge 
■cup,  value  6  sovereigns.  For  a  stand  of  herbaceous  plants,  cut  blooms, 
twenty-four,  a  silver  challenge  cup.  value  £25.  Presented  by  Major 
Domville,  J.P.,  Loughlinstown,  a  challenge  plate,  value  10  sovereigns, 
for  a  stand  of  twenty-four  bunches  of  Carnations  or  Picotees  ;  also  a 
silver  cup,  value  £5,  presented  by  Mr.  Watson,  Clontarf,  for  a  stand 
of  twelve  bunches  of  Carnations.  Edmund  Johnson,  Ltd.,  Dublin, 
present  a  silver  challenge  cup  for  a  stand  of  seventy-two  Roses,  cut 
blooms,  thirty-six  varieties,  open  to  nurserymen  only.  IMessrs. 
Kelway,  Langport,  offer  a  silver-gilt  medal  for  a  collection  of  cut 
flowers.  There  are  forty-five  classes  in  all  to  be  competed  for,  and  in 
addition  there  are  three  money  prizes,  given  by  the  Society,  in  each 
class.  Intending  exhibitors  must  remember  that  all  entry  forms  must 
be  lodged  with  the  Secretary  (W.  H.  Hillvard,  Esq.)  by  the  morning 
of  the  23rd  inst. 
Dublin  Naturalist  Field  Club, 
The  second  excursion  of  the  members  of  the  above  club  took  place 
on  the  27th  of  May  to  Ireland’s  Eve,  under  the  direction  of  the 
Honorary  Treasurer,  H.  R,  G.  Cuthbert,  Esq.,  and  was  well  repre¬ 
sented.  Tvventv-eight  members  and  their  friends  attended  ;  they  left 
Amiens  Street  Station  by  tlie  1.55  P.M.  train  for  Howth.  The  party 
embarked  in  boats  at  the  West  Pier,  Howth,  and  in  less  than  half  an 
hour  reached  the  object  of  their  attention.  One  boat  was  retained  by 
the  party  during  the  afternoon  for  dredging,  but  the  major  portion  of 
the  company  had  a  botanical  trend  and  spent  an  enjoyable  afternoon 
in  examining  the  features  of  the  island  ;  the  principal  specimens  which 
were  in  greatest  abundance  was  the  Bluebell  and  Vernal  Squill.  At 
«ix  o’clock  tea  was  served,  and  the  party  returned  to  town  by  the 
evening  train. 
Dublin  Weather. 
The  hearts  of  gardeners  and  iarmers  are  elated  by  the  spell  of 
splendid  weather  we  are  favoured  with,  and  the  heavy  rainfall  of  the 
previous  fortnight  has  well  moistened  the  ground ;  the  pastures, 
nearly  bare  a  fortnight  ago,  are  now  covered  ivith  a  wealth  of  verdure, 
and  recall  to  our  mind  the  act  of  some  magic  wand.  The  conditions 
for  successful  Turnip  sowing  are  probably  now  the  best  with  a  glorious 
sunshine  overhead  and  an  active  germination,  which  should  help  the 
young  shoots  to  baffle  an  attack  of  the  destructive  Turnip  fly.  Orchard 
growers  are  storing  a  large  quantity  of  empties  to  meet  the  expected 
luxuriant  crops.  Our  public  gardens  are  looking  well  in  their  foliage 
and  blossoms,  and  if  favourable  wea-ther  continue  there  will  be  ample 
scope  for  the  reflective  to  indulge  in  speculations  of  the  beautiful,  and 
admirers  to  lovingly  linger  over  the  pleasant  but  fleeting  ioa'^s 
•of  life. 
PEACHES  AND  NECTARINES  AS  STANDARDS. 
In  a  neighbouring  garden  is  a  small  house  filled  with  Peach  and 
Nectarine  trees  planted  in  a  central  border  and  trained  as  short  standards 
•with  free  heads.  This  has  a  remarkably  pretty  effect  when  the  trees  are 
'in  flower,  and,  what  is  more  important,  the  amount  of  fruit  produced  is 
very  large.  ^ 
I  am  personally  of  opinion  that  more  fruit  can  be  grown  in  this  way 
than  from  trees  trained  in  the  usual  way  under  the  glass,  while  a  much 
more  equal  distribution  of  light  is  insured  than  when  the  trees  are  grown 
on  the  cross-trellis  principle.  Obtain  small  trees  and  plant  early  in  the 
reason  just  as  the  leaves  are  turning  in  firm  borders  prepared  in  tne  usual 
j.T®  get  well-balanced  heads  a  good  deal  of  care  is  required  in 
disbudding  during  the  first  few  years,  also  attention  to  stoppin*'-  strone 
shoots  and  judicious  management  of  sub-laterals.  r  n  b 
The  first  year  the  trees  must  be  allowed  to  make  all  the  growth 
they  will,  always  provided  that  it  is  firm  and  well  ripened,  and  that  due 
regard  is  had  to  the  balancing  of  the  trees,  so  to  speak,  not  allowing  the 
upper  shoots  to  grow  away  at  the  expense  of  those  near  the  stem  A 
light  or  heavy  crop  the  next  season,  according  as  the  trees  are  weak  or 
vigorous,  should  insure  their  well-being  and  prevent  any  need  of  root- 
priming,  which  is  in  many  cases  a  makeshift  practice  easily  preventible 
OUR  GARDENS.* 
Under  the  above  comprehensive  title,  the  Dean  of  Rocheffer  ha? 
written,  as  might  be  expected,  a  book  that  is  sure  to  be  widely  read 
by  lovers  of  gardening.  That  is  well,  but  it  would  be  better  if  the 
still  larger  community  wdio  are  only  more  or  less  interested  in  gardens 
would  read  and  digest  what  is  so  agreeably  and  often  humorously  con¬ 
tained  in  its  pages.  There  is  a  refreshing  frankness  about  the  book 
that  almost  goes  to  show  that  the  author  would  divide  our  population 
into  three  great  cla.<:ses  : — 1,  Those  who  really  and  truly  love  gardens 
and  flowers  and  derive  inspiration  from  them,  making  their  own  lives 
and  the  lives  of  others  the  happier  ;  2,  those  who  think  tliey  are 
devoted  to  gardens,  but  know  little  about  them,  and  are  really  more 
devoted  to  themselves  ;  3,  those  whose  minds  are  scaled  against  the 
appreciation  of  influences  beautiful,  pure  and  good  that  emanate  from 
gardens  when  the  spirit  is  attuned  to  the  pitch  of  receptivity.  The  Dean 
does  not  tell  us  that  he  would  actually  so  separate  ti  e  great  mass  of 
humanity,  but  he  does  most  clearly  indicate  h's  strong  hoiie  that  all 
would  love  gardens  with  the  same  intensity  that  he  does,  and  learn 
wholesome  lessons  from  the  great  book  of  Nature  that  has  afforded 
him  solace  in  his  journey  through  life. 
No  one  knows  better  than  the  learned  and  talented  author  of  the 
admirably  produced  volume  before  us  that  the  first  essential  of  a  book 
to  render  it  acceptable  to  the  constituency  to  which  it  aiq  eals  is  that 
of  readableness.  An  author  may  write  with  the  ut-most  precision,  revise 
with  scrupulous  accuracy,  and  te.ach  the  soundest  of  doctrine,  but  if 
the  style  is  of  the  stiff,  lormal,  dry-as-dust  character  the  ]roges  will 
only  be  read  with  plc.asure  by  a  comparative  few,  and  these  probably 
the  least  in  need  ot  the  matter  imparted.  Dean  Hole  h's  the  aptitude 
to  a  larger  degree  than  have  most  men  for  making  people  read.  It  is 
a  great  gift  or  acquirement,  and  when,  as  in  this  case,  words  of 
wisdom,  born  of  long  experience,  are  set  forth  in  jileasing  association; 
when  wholesome  thoughts  and  good  suggestions  aie  woven  into 
sentences  which  otherwise  would  be  of  a  plain  matter  of  fact 
character ;  and  when  a  point  is  illustrated  by  light  or  amusing  anecdote, 
the  reader  is  carried  along  to  the  end,  and  is  ready  to  tell  his  friends 
of  the  pleasure  enjoyed,  while  he  has  imbibed  something  of  the 
author’s  earnestness  and  knowledge  by  the  wajn  The  work  under 
notice  contains  sixteen  chapters,  and  certainly  the  best  form  of 
representation  will  be  by  taking  a  few  extracts  from  some  of  then. 
Enjoyments  of  a  Garden. 
This  is  the  opening  chapter,  and  the  following  are  the  opening 
words ; — 
“ I  asked  a  schoolboj’,  in  the  sweet  summertide,  ‘what  he  thought  a 
garden  was  for?’  and  he  said  ‘Strawberries.’  Ilis  younger  sister 
suggested  ‘croquet,’  and  the  elder  ‘garden  parties.’  The  brother  from 
Oxford  made  a  prompt  declaration  in  favour  of  ‘lawn  tennis  and 
cigarettes,’  but  he  was  rebuked  by  a  solemn  senior,  who  wore  spectacles, 
and  more  back  hair  than  is  usual  with  males,  and  was  told  that  ‘  a  garden 
was  designed  for  botanical  research  and  for  the  classification  of  plants.’ 
He  was  about  to  demonstrate  the  differences  between  the  Acoty-  and  the 
Monocoty-ledonous  divisions,  when  the  coll‘^gian  remembered  an  engage¬ 
ment  elsewhere.  A  capacious  gentleman  informed  me  that  nothing  in 
horticulture  touched  him  so  sensibly  as  Green  Peas  and  m  \v  Potatoes, 
and  he  spoke  with  so  much  cheerful  candour  that  I  could  not  be  angry  ; 
but  my  indignation  was  roused  by  a  morose  millionaire  when  he  declared 
that  of  all  his  expenses  he  grudged  most  the  outlay  on  his  confounded 
garden.”  This  we  can  quite  believe,  and  more  congenial  is  another 
experience.  “  Not  long  ago  I  paid  a  visit  to  my  friend,  Frank  Goodhart 
(nom  de  plume,  but  an  accurate  description  of  the  man),  who  has  a  small 
but  charming  garden  some  twenty  miles  out  of  London,  wherein,  before 
he  leaves  home  for  his  daily  work  in  a  Government  office,  and  when  he 
returns  from  town,  he  spends  his  leisure  lime.  Here  I  found  him  late  on 
a  summer’s  eve,  and  a  healthier,  happier,  hotter,  or  dirtier  person,  I  do 
not  remember  to  have  met  in  the  society  to  which  he  belongs.  As  for  his 
apparel,  I  was  constrained  to  state  that  I  could  rot  have  believed  that  a 
man  of  his  ancient  lineage  and  liberal  education  would  have  robbed  a 
scarecrow'  were  I  not  positively  convinced  in  ray  own  mind  that  I  had 
seen  his  jacket  on  duty.  He  only  replied  with  a  peremptory  direction 
that  I  was  to  ‘  catch  hold  ’  of  two  huge  watering-cans,  fill  them  from  a 
tank  some  50  yards  away,  and  bring  them  back  to'de  suite.  For  an  hour  I 
wobbled  up  and  down  his  walks  between  thfse  ponderous  utensils,  until 
the  dressmg-bell  rang,  and  my  friend,  having  made  himself  a  C.B., 
resumed  his  ordinary  aspect  as  an  English  gentleman.” 
Ignorance. 
Under  this  heading  we  find  sentences  that  the  truth  of  which  is, 
unfortunatGy,  beyond  question  : — “An  immense  majority  of  those  who 
possess  large  gardens  aie  the  passive  slaves  of  their  gardeners,  incapable 
of  giving  directions,  afraid  to  suggest  them,  lest  they  should  expose  their 
ignorance.  The  peer,  the  baronet,  the  squire,  is  his  own  Master  of  the 
Horse,  and  can  give  orders  to  his  stud-groom  with  all  the  confidence  of 
knowledge  and  with  all  the  dignity  of  power  ;  he  knows  the  pedigree  of 
his  thoroughbreds,  the  specialities  of  every  .steed  which  he  rides  or  drives. 
In  his  presence  the  head  gamekeeper,  elsewhere  a  man  of  arrogant 
*  J.  M.  Dent  &  Co.,  Aldine  House.  Bedford  Street,  London. 
