1879.] VIOLETS FOR WINTER FLOWERING. 123 



deeply as possible to get it on its own roots; or, worked on the seedling 

 briar, it appears to do very well. 



Such varieties as Niphetos, Isabella Sprunt, Rubens, Madame Fal- 

 cot, Devoniensis, Safrano, and other varieties too numerous to mention, 

 grow more bushy than the above two ; and if grown coolly in the latter 

 part of the summer up to October, and then placed into a temperature 

 of 55°, they will soon commence and continue to flower more or less 

 through the whole winter, well repaying the cultivator for the trouble 

 bestowed upon them. 



There is nothing better than E wing's Infallible Composition if the 

 plants are affected with mildew. 



Wm. Bakdney. 



VIOLETS FOR WINTER FLOWERING. 



The importance of a supply of Violets in winter, and the universal 

 esteem in which they are held for the pleasant odour they impart to 

 rooms where flowers are admissable, as well as their general utility for 

 a variety of other purposes, render their cultivation an object of am- 

 bition to all who are engaged in horticultural pursuits. Small bouquets 

 of Violets are things that the most fastidious in taste never tire of, 

 either in season or out of season ; they are especial favourites with 

 ladies when neatly arranged and surrounded with a few of their own 

 bright green leaves ; and they are also becoming fashionable for fill- 

 ing small glasses on the dinner-table, whilst they are highly prized in 

 many places as pot-plants for the conservatory. 



There are different ways of preparing plants for winter flowering in 

 pots, any of which appear an easy method of cultivation on paper ; but 

 Violets, like most other plants, inherit their likes and dislikes to cer- 

 tain soils, situations, and localities. This fact is not, I fear, sufficiently 

 recognised by those who are favoured with a suitable soil and a genial 

 climate. It is a fact, also, that certain varieties succeed better in cer- 

 tain localities than others — and this is one of the main points that I 

 would impress on intending cultivators. The situation the plants 

 occupy during the summer months also contributes in no small de- 

 gree to their flowering properties during winter; and if they are, 

 perforce, subjected to varying conditions of climate, they should on 

 that account be generously and skilfully cultivated in summer. Now, 

 in all cases of plant -forcing (which changes the natural season of 

 flowering, either earlier or later) there ought to be one principle kept 

 in view, and that is never to try to obtain by forcing what can be 

 achieved more satisfactorily by working quietly on a system nearest 

 to that which approaches the natural state. This is done by select- 

 ing such varieties of plants as are known to possess hardiness and 

 constitution, and to be the earliest to flower under a natural state of 



