Old Irish garden book

Zuiderzee · 15-04-2011 04:00PM #1

I use my Grandad's book of dept of Ag leaflets 1941 as a reference sometimes.
It contains advice leaflets 1 through to 111 inclusive.

It cost 2s6d and has been helping the family now fo 70 years.

Coves everything for small holders, poultry, livestock, bees, fruit and veg.

Nice advert in the fly leaf.

I'll throw up a few more scans in the coming months on the blog and here.

looksee · 15-04-2011 06:40PM

Thats interesting, I love that kind of social history - maybe we need a bit of that approach at the moment in the country!

Zuiderzee · 16-04-2011 02:47PM

Hell of a lot of more people getting into growing their own food.
With inflation and fuel costs rising, as well as interest, I think it can only grow further.
I feel that a lot of NAMA land could be turned into allotments.
The Dutch allotment system of which I had 6 years experience is a great model for councils to look at - provided they actually enforced their own regulations for once.
Here is the cover of the leaflet collection

In terms of social history the funny thing is that Michael Brennock - author of the excellent Irish Gardners Handbook used to update the old leaflets in later years.
He told me on the gardenplansireland.com forum thet he remember's them as individual leaflets which were free of charge and the bound copies for 3s/6d (three and six pence).
In later years when Teagasc took over the function from the Department of Agriculture he was responsible for updating leaflets for things like Early Potatoes, Main crop Potatoes, Onions, The vegetable garden and others.
The leaflets were the definitive word on the growing of those crops in those days

Old Irish garden book

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