Novembor 19, 1674. ] 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



445 



a Bmall Calville. Skin smooth and shining without any trace of 

 riipset, greenish at first, but when kept of a fine lemon-yellow 

 colour, with a faint blush on the siiie next the sun. Eye 

 filosed, set in a deep and ribbed basin. Stalk over half an 

 inch long, slender, and rather deeply inserted. Flesh white, 

 lirm, crisp, very juicy, and briskly acid, with a fine balsamic 

 uroma. Ripe in the middle of August. 



MR. SCOTT'S STOCK. 



The fruit {fig. 123) is small, very much like arusseted Golden 

 Pippin, obtusely 

 conical, even in its 

 outline. Skin yel- 

 low, much covered 

 with patches and 

 reticulations of 

 rough brown rus- 

 set. The eye is 

 very small and par- 

 tially closed, with 

 very short seg- 

 ments, and is set 

 in a shallow nar- 

 row basin. Stalk 

 half an inch long, 

 slender, inserted 

 rather deeply in a 

 narrow cavity. 

 Flesh yellowish, 

 rather soft and Fig. 123. 



spongy, not juicy, sweet. Core very small. 



It is quite evident, therefore, that whatever may be the 

 merits or demerits of Mr. Scott's stock, it is not the true 

 Pommier de Paradis. — H. 



VIOLETS. 



I WAS written to last season by a Violet-grower because I 

 spoke favourably of the Russian variety, when I said some- 

 thing to this effect, " that no other variety would take its 

 place in every way." But I wrote advisedly, although I admit 

 it is poor in shape, in length of stem, and is surpassed in 

 colour ; yet for freeness of flowering I have not seen anything 

 to compare with it, if duration is added too. Brandyana is 

 equally free, but only of about three or four weeks' duration. 



I have had plants of the old Russian, that, apart from the 

 flowers, could be covered with an egg-cup, with twelve or six- 

 teen fnlly-expanded blooms at one time, others that could be 

 covered by a teacup, with quite three times that number, so 

 that for pots or in a border it is simply beautiful ; but of 

 course there must be culture for this, and then the blooms are 

 generally all erect, which is not the case with many varieties — 

 Devoniensis, Crimean, London, and some others for example. 

 Of course I admit that the old Russian is far surpassed as a 

 market Violet by many others on account of their shape, 

 lergth of stem, size, and their colour too. 



What I am anxious to get is not only size, scent, and colour 

 (this we have in Victoria Regina ; length of stem we have in 

 many single varieties, as Devoniensis, London, Crimean, and 

 The Czar), but erect habit and profusion of bloom. I do not 

 dispute that Victoria Regina is the greatest improvement that 

 has ever taken place, but that there is not very much room 

 for improvement even now I must deny. Who would have 

 tliought some forty years ago of such a group of Cyclamens as 

 Messrs. Veitch staged last March at South Kensington V Set- 

 ting aside size, shape, colour, &a., and taking only the number of 

 blooms on a plant, in a comparatively small pot you might 

 have counted from five to nine dozen fully-expanded blooms ; 

 whereas the same size plant and pot forty years ago would 

 have been all but a wonder to have had nine or ten, instead of 

 so many dozen ; and why may we not hope for something like 

 this in the Violet ? 



I find Mr. Abbey is not favourable to growing Violets in 

 pots. When I wrote the last paper for the Journal I had not 

 tried to do this, and even now I know comparatively little of 

 pot-culture ; but since then I have learned that to produce 

 them anything like passable they must be kept in a cold pit 

 or frame near the glass, with the lights off every fine day, and 

 with as much air as possible when it is raining, with a tempe- 

 rature as cool as can be, so long as it is above freezing. Apart 

 from this there are drawn foliage, small flowers, weak stems — 

 indeed anything but an agreeable sight; and even suppose 



it is the temperature only that is too high, admitting that 

 there is abundance of air during the day, you may get a 

 dwarf compact habit of growth of plant but obtain no flowers, 

 .lust such were Mr. Mooremau's plants at the South Kensing- 

 ton Exhibition last March. Yet I am inclined to think that 

 with a little practice we might have not only passable but 

 even ornamental plants for the greenhouse or conservatory 

 from November till March, which would, I think, be an acqui- 

 sition. Of course there must be a supply kept up from cold 

 pits, as the plants would soon become unsightly in the heat. It 

 was intended to offer a number of prizes to promote this result, 

 to begin at the first meeting in the year, to be repeated in 

 February and March, and again in November and December, 

 but I was unwell when written to, and could not attend to it ; 

 but if growers of Violets will give their attention to it another 

 season, I may hope for something of the kind. — George Lee, 

 Clevedon. 



THE POTATO SEASON OP 1874. 



The Potatoes have had a very trying season to contend with 

 in this neighbourhood. Frost did not take its final leave of 

 us until after the 21st of June, and then severe drought set 

 in, accompanied by great heat, which nearly prostrated the 

 plant; indeed, the Ashleaf and other early varieties succumbed, 

 and were prematurely ripened. They were taken up in the 

 beginning of August ; the crop was good, but they ran small. 



The drought at that time had been so severe that the late 

 varieties had scarcely formed any tubers, but from the 7th to 

 the 16th of August we had 1 A inch of rain, after which they 

 commenced to grow at the top in a most vigorous manner 

 In the last week of September the disease began slightly to 

 show itself, and they were at once lifted. The crop was good 

 beyond expectation, and many of the tubers very large, with 

 no disease at the root, and a very slight amount of super- 

 tuberation. They were put up in long narrow graves, in 

 a fortnight were examined, and were then found to be half 

 and in some oases more than that bad, and so rapid had the 

 course of the disease been that many were quite rotten. The 

 Dalmahoys were the least affected ; the Pink-eyed Regents, 

 York Regents, and Dunbar Regents being the worst. Sutton's 

 Eedfkin Flourball, as usual, stood the best, and the quality is 

 better than it is ordinarily, owing, I suppose, to the heat and 

 drought. Those grown in the field surpass those produced in 

 the garden in point of quality. It is becoming a great favourite 

 with the cottagers, who appreciate its heavy-cropping and 

 disease-resisting qualities. In looking over the cottage gardens 

 and allotments for judging on the estate of H.B.H. the 

 Prince of Wales last summer, comprising five parishes, that 

 variety was found to be very generally cultivated, and the 

 growers rather proud to be able to point out a good patch of 

 Redskins. 



I have always thought that the Potato was the most subject 

 to the disease at a certain stage of its growth — viz., a short 

 time before arriving at maturity, but I have a pit planted 

 September 4th, the plants now about 15 inches high, and 

 within the last few days they have been stricken very badly, 

 with scarcely a bit of green left. — J. Platt, Gardener to Sir 

 W. Ffolkes, 'HiUington. 



WHITE FLOWER FOR THE HAIR. 



White flowers suitable for decorating ladies' hair, bouquet- 

 making, &c., being somewhat scarce, or at any rate not easily 

 to be obtained all the year round by people who are not aided 

 by a stove or hothouse, the plan which I adopt for supplying a 

 want which is I think frequently experienced is as follows : — 

 Take a bloom of any good white Fuchsia with a white tube and 

 sepals not reflexed ; holding the tube between the finger and 

 thumb of the left hand, with the other hand remove the 

 coloured corolla with a dexterous twist and pull. This leaves 

 a beautiful cruciform flower of the purest white, somewhat 

 like a gigantic Jasmine. Half a dozen of these made into a 

 bunch with a little green or white tissue paper and a spray of 

 Maidenhair Fern make a charming ornament for a lady's head, 

 and one which will puzzle the uninitiated immensely. These 

 blooms can also be wired for bouquets, and used in many 

 ways. They are of a good firm texture, and stand hot rooms 

 very well. The few people to whom I have shown the result 

 like the effect of the flowers very much. — Salopian. 



[There can be no two opinions as to the beauty of the 

 arrangement, but as it is not every one who could give the 



