December 4, 186a. ] 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



421 



Judging from the above statement, it is evident that Captain 

 Oook Strawberry has answered remarkably well for tho market 

 gardonor in that part, yet I cannot affirm that it will do equally 

 well in every placo in which it may be tried, for it has been 

 proved beyond doubt, that varieties which will do well in some 

 situations will not succeed at all in others, hence disappoint- 

 ments frequently occur. I have no doubt, however, that somo 

 of your readers in various parts of England have grown this 

 variety, and perhaps they will bo good enough to give us tho 

 benelit of their experience with it. I presume it was raised by 

 the late Mr. Nicholson, as he sent out a seedling under that 

 name some years ago. 



With regard to planting Strawberries for profit, I am in- 

 clined to think after having tried various ways, that tho most 

 profitable and most simple method is to plant on land that 

 has been prepared in the manner so often recommended in this 

 Journal (in July, if possible), in rows 2 feet apart, and 1 foot 

 from plant to plant in the row, protecting the roots during 

 winter by a good top-dressing of half-rotten manure, put on in 

 November. By tins method I have never failed to secure a 

 heavy crop of fruit in the following summer. For the second 

 year, I find that it is bettor to let some of the weaker-growing 

 kinds run two rows into one — that is, instead of cutting between 

 every row in the autumn, to leave every alternate row uncut ; 

 thus nice little narrow beds are formed. I may add, that I 

 never dig between the rows, which is the practice of some, for 

 I consider doing so labour in vain. — Ecila. 



VIOLA CORXTTTA. 



I have no wish to continue the Viola controversy beyond 

 what I consider will interest your readers, or throw a little 

 light on this mysterious plant, as Mr. Wills and myself have 

 no hostile feeling in the matter. As stated in a previous com- 

 munication, should the two Violas differ, we have two really 

 useful plants instead of one, and should thoy not differ, no 

 great harm will be done by stating our own individual opinions ; 

 but if the former prove to be the case, the question to be de- 

 cided will be, Which is the original and true Viola cornuta ? 

 Here doctors may differ. My reason in again writing of this 

 Viola is to refer to a few comments offered by Mr. Wills in 

 your Journal, at page 38-1. Mr. Wills states that my plants 

 differ in habit from his, being more procumbent. The plants 

 sent to Huntroyde were taken up from the edgings that sur- 

 rounded the Dahlia ground, and were cut down closely in the 

 end of August, when more care had to be bestowed on the 

 Dahlias in preparing them for exhibition. This may in some 

 measure account for the difference of habit. With respect to 

 the colour of the foliage, I have some plants with darker foliage 

 grown in other portions of the grounds, in more exposed situa- 

 tions. Mind, I do not state that the plants grown by Mr. Wills 

 and myself are identical ; time alone will prove this, for, as Mr. 

 Wills observes, some of the flowers we have forwarded to each 

 other are so much alike that no difference could be detected. 

 Mi-. Wills next states tint Mr. Tillery has a blue variety nearly 

 as bright as the blue Pansy used at Cliveden. Now, the stock 

 of this Viola was sent from Worksop Manor to Welbeck, I be- 

 lieve, and from Osberton to the Manor. Indeed, we have but 

 the one variety in this part. Now, if the colours vary, and the 

 soil has no influence in the change of colour, is it the atmo- 

 sphere that does it ? Certainly they do vary. 



I have never raised any plants from seed, but we have it on 

 the authority of Mr. Miller, that seedlings come perfectly true, 

 and of the numbers which he raised last year all were identical 

 and true to colour. 



Next, Mr. Wills states that Mr. Tyerman after his visit to 

 Huntroyde, was of opinion that they had different varieties. 

 Such I believe was Mr. Tyerman's opinion at one time, for in a 

 letter which I had from that gentleman he stated as much ; but 

 after visiting Huutroyde, taking home with him some flowers, 

 and comparing them with his own, he could not detect any dif- 

 ference. However, as Mr. Wills has promised to send me some 

 of his stock, I will adopt his suggestion, and grow his plants 

 under the name of Mauve Queen, and the other under that of 

 Purple Queen, side by side, until their merits be satisfactorily 

 proved. Until then, I trust the Viola question will not be re- 

 vived, as no definite conclusion can be arrived at before the next 

 flowering season. — Edward Bennett, Osberton Hall, Worksop. 



[In answer to a correspondent who inquires if we have seen 

 the botanist's Viola cornuta growing, we are able to reply in 

 the affirmative. Many years since we saw it blooming pro- 



fusely in the garden at Wolvesey Palace, Winchester, and Mr. 

 Weaver, gardener to the Warden of Winchester College, drew 

 our attention to it. Wo have no doubt it is there now. — Eds.] 



I nAVE here a dry north border -1 feet wide, sixteen yards of 

 which are planted with Viola cornuta. Tho plant commences 

 blooming in May, and continues in bloom till September. I 

 prize it much, and think it justly deserves all that I have heard 

 said of it. Your correspondents must not, however, depend on 

 seedlings, for here, as in most other cases, the flowers of the 

 offspring from seed vary much in size and colour, and the ten- 

 dency is to deteriorate rather than to improve. I saw last 

 summer in the garden of W.J.Blake, Esq., at Danesbury, near 

 Welwyn, a batch of seedlings in bloom, the flowers of which 

 varied in size and tint, and the habit was not in every case pre- 

 cisely similar. The best of these seedlings were not superior, 

 if equal, to the variety I grow and increase annually by division 

 and cuttings. — William Paul, Waliham Cross, N. 



VINE-BORDERS— FORCING GRAPES FOR 

 MARKET. 



As my tabular arrangement for the formation of the Vine- 

 borders at Huntroyde Park is incorrect, will Mr. Wills kindly 

 oblige by giving us the exact proportions of the different 

 materials he intends using to make up the 2800 square yards 

 of compost necessary for the completion of his border ? Any 

 additional information as to cost of material, size and price of 

 flags, ttc, that he may be able to give, would I am sure, be 

 very acceptable to many readers of the Journal, and par- 

 ticularly so to me, for I should be very willing to double the 

 cost of my Vine-borders if by so doing I could double the 

 growth and produce of my Vines. I know very little about 

 gardening, but I have seen many nooks and corners of the 

 world not easily accessible to gardeners, and I know something 

 of the climate of most places where the Vine succeeds beet. 

 What little knowledge I have acquired in this way I am now 

 applying to the culture of the Vine on a large scale, intending 

 to cut early and late Grapes by the ton. Before giving an 

 account of my first year's experience in Vine-growing, I wish 

 Mr. Wills to understand that I never before planted a Vine 

 under glass, neither have I seen them planted nor witnessed 

 their growth afterwards. It is, therefore, jut possible that the 

 readers of the Journal may be more amused than instructed by 

 the statement I am about to make. 



I may as well state at once, that my garden was formerly a 

 part of the great common that extended almost without a break 

 from Hounslow to Staines. It was enclosed about forty years 

 ago, and since that time has been used as arable land until 

 within the last three years. The soil is a stiff loam 9 inches 

 in depth, upon a clay subsoil. Before the houses were begun 

 I had the foundations, stokeholes, and patl 1 out, and 



the soil taken out down to the clay. This soil was well mixed 

 with about one-tenth part of stable manure. When the houses 

 were finished, a concrete bottom was made inside and level with 

 the ground outside. Upon this was placed the soil without a 

 particle of drainage of any kind. The Vines were then planted 

 without breaking the balls, and with no more care than would 

 have been taken with ordinary bedding plants. They were 

 well watered and syringed with spring water only, but had no 

 fire heat. The following table will give a good idea of their 

 summer's growth : — 



When their growth began to cease they were shortened to 

 10 feet, and after maturity to 8 feet, the length I intended 

 them to remain for fruiting. 



The canes in No. 2 and No. 3 were stopped at 12 feet to 

 make room for two hundred young Black Hamburgh Vines for 

 future planting. All the Vines planted in the three houses 

 are Black Hamburghs. I have, however, iu pots of all sizes, 



