i88i.] DUNDEE HORTICULTURAL ASSOCLATION. 421 



cool bouse or pit, they produce a wonderful crop of bloom in spring, and 

 are most useful for arranging among bulbous flowering-plants, Ciner- 

 arias, and other spring-flowering subjects. All the varieties, white, 

 purple, and scarlet, are equally valuable for this purpose, and I think 

 their colours are never more pure and efi'ective than in spring. They 

 last a long time, and are very useful for cutting. In this way they can 

 be had in bloom the greater part of the year, and when the strain is 

 true we do not get tired of them. A Florist. 



DUNDEE HORTICULTURAL ASSOCIATION. 



The ordinary monthly meeting of this Association was held in the 

 Templar Hall, Reform Street, on Friday evening, the 5th ult. — the 

 President, Mr Doig, Rossie Priory Gardens, in the chair. Mr James 

 Grieve, Pilrig Park Nurseries, Edinburgh, read a paper on "Florists' 

 Flowers." As subjects for his remarks he made choice of the Carna- 

 tion, Pink, Phlox, Pentstemon, and the Viola and Pansy. These he 

 considered the most valuable of the many so-called florists' flowers. 

 He gave the first place to the Pinks and Carnations, than which no 

 richer flowers were in cultivation. The herbaceous Phlox and the 

 Pentstemon then claimed Mr Grieve's attention. Most of the florists' 

 species of these, he said, were natives of America, and appear to have 

 been introduced into this country at various times from 1732 to 1818. 

 The Viola and Pansy were then treated of: though last on his list, they 

 were by no means the least worthy. No other class of plants ranked 

 higher in favour with the multitude ; nor was this to be wondered at, 

 seeing they flourished in almost any soil, blooming profusely in many 

 cases from early spring to early winter. This was especially true of 

 some of the bedding Violas introduced of late years, some of which 

 might well be termed perpetual bloomers. In treating these subjects, 

 Mr Grieve detailed in full the most successful and approved methods 

 of cultivation. In speaking of the culture of the Viola and Pansy, 

 Mr Grieve (an acknowledged authority) said they were in many cases 

 killed with over-kindness. All the knowledge required for even a 

 novice might be contained in a nutshell. The first essential was deep 

 digging, with a good supply of well-rotted manure ; of equal import- 

 ance, though less generally practised, was early planting and jilanting 

 degp, at least up to within an inch of the head of the plant. Planted 

 in this way, every eye under the surface would send up a shoot, and 

 thus form fine bushy plants, while at the same time the roots would 

 be protected from the summer drought. Another advantage gained 

 by this system of planting was that it obviated the necessity of water- 

 ing, which in the case of Pansies almost invariably produced scalding 

 or damping off at the necks. 



Mr John NicoU, Arbroath, then read a most interesting and highly 



