150 THE GARDENER. [April 



for comparison. This Viola has been grown in the neighbourhood of 

 Salisbury for several years, and a Mr George Smith not only states 

 that it has been in his possession for some years, but that he can trace 

 its history for several years prior to having it in his possession j and 

 claims the merit of being the first person who introduced this plant 

 to the public. This appears fatal to the claim set up by Mr Jobson 

 that it is a seedling of his own. The Floral Committee at South 

 Kensington saw flowers of the two Violas, and the general impression 

 appeared to be that the two were identical, and the chairman of the 

 Floral Committee put on record that they were the same. The two 

 will no doubt be fully tested during the coming summer. Meanwhile 

 we cannot but express our sympathy with Mr Williams in having pur- 

 chased the Rotherfield stock, under a full conviction that it was only 

 to be found there and nowhere else, and his now finding it stated that 

 it is by no means so new, or so restricted in cultivation, as he had been 

 led to believe. The Salisbury Viola was most favourably noticed by 

 a correspondent in page 144 of our last number. 



SOME RANDOM THOUGHTS ABOUT GRAPE-GROWING. 



The present " age," especially the period of it we have reached, is 

 strikingly characterised by a sifting of theories, principles, and prac- 

 tices. What have long been held as settled truths, are passing through 

 the crucial ordeal of bold and startling investigation. In regard to 

 the cultivation of the Grape-vine, a similar ordeal is being applied. I 

 am one of those who believe that truth has nothing to fear from the 

 sifting process ; the chaff will be scattered, and the truth made more 

 evident, and be more firmly settled on an intelligent basis. 



Looking, however, at present into the many theories (bearing on the 

 treatment of the Vine) that are being advanced, they are plentiful 

 enough, one would imagine, to lead even the experienced cultivator into 

 a maze of bewilderment, while the position of the beginner must be 

 one difficult to realise. Doubtless, amid all the din of the discussion 

 there is secure and positive advancement, though some practical experi- 

 ence is certainly needed in order to separate the golden ore of ascer- 

 tained facts from the dust with which it is mingled. 



One Vine-grower literally kills the whole of the Vines he has at- 

 tempted to cultivate on the single-rod, or, as it is now termed, restric- 

 tive, system ; and forthwith he rushes into print, condemns the single- 

 rod system, and writes a pamphlet to convert growers to the big Vine, 

 or extension system, as the panacea for all the ills the Vine is heir to. 

 On the other hand, our preceptor is informed by another authority 



