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JOUBNAL OF HOETICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEK, 



[ April 27, 1876. 



I cannot quite nnderstand why snch an excellent cultivator 

 of Violets ns Mr. Abbey does not practise " layering " runners 

 instead of running tiie risk of raising plants in other ways. Of 

 course it is a little troublesome, but the superior plants you 

 obtain, and the quantity, well repays the extra labour. I did 

 not have so many layered last season, but the previous season 

 my men layered about seventy thousand. The runners require 

 to be pegged down and slightly covered with soil. For pegs they 

 use the trimmings of pea sticks for the early runners, and 

 fern (the common Bracken) as soon as firm enough for use. 

 And although Victoria Eegina could be covered with a dinner 

 plate in December, 1871, yet by October, 1873, I had about 

 thirty thousand plants, and could, if I had given those planted 

 in the previous March sufficient room, have had a hundred 

 thoueand plants. The rooted runners ehould be taken off 

 from the parent plant and layered-in as soon as ready, and 

 they soon become well furnished with a thick mass of roots, 

 and will move anywhere at your convenience. If they have 

 been layed-in a long time, and you are not ready for the plants 

 to be put in their permanent quarters, especially if they are 

 beginning to grow freely, take them up and relay them ; the 

 slight check will greatly improve them. I am persuaded yon 

 will find that plants from layered runners are far preferable to 

 any others. 



I for one feel greatly indebted to Mr. Abbey for his details 

 of the frame or pit culture of Violets, and I am sure those 

 farther north must feel under far greater obligation to him. 

 The most simple mode is often a long time in being arrived at, 

 perhaps because it is so simple. My outdoor Violets were a 

 grand sight this season. Victoria Eegina was one sheet of 

 purple. I measured a space just to count the fully expanded 

 blooms, and in a square foot I counted 120, nine-tenths erect 

 and far above the leaves, and every one above 1 inch in 

 diameter — mostly IJ inch. 



There is quite a diversity of expression about the colours of 

 Victoria Eegina and Prince Consort. They must be seen 

 growing in quantity to speak very decidedly about them ; and 

 then Victoria Eegina has a most apparent red hue, but Prince 

 Consort a most marked blue appearance. I consider the 

 Victoria Eegina purple in colour, and Prince Consort blue in 

 colour, both much deeper at first opening, but both retaining 

 their respective shades to the last. The Victoria Eegina from 

 the very deepest purple at first opening till it fades away 

 (after a week in warm weather to three weeks in cold 

 weather) into a very pale purple; whereas Prince Consort is of 

 the deepest blue at first till it fades into the palest blue. — 

 Geoege Lee, CUvedon. 



FLAVOUR OF VEGETABLES. 



With all deference to " Clekichs," and without expressing 

 an opinion as to the merits of the Pea named by him, I main- 

 tain that no gentleman is competent to judge of the quality 

 of a vegetable unless he, or someone equally interested, will 

 personaily superintend the cooking of it. There are so many 

 ways of spoiling vegetables between the garden and the gentle- 

 man's table, without doing it wilfully, that it is a hundred 

 chances to one if the gentleman ever tastes them with all their 

 natural good qualities, as the gardener does at hia own humble 

 board. 



For making bad stale vegetables palatable the professional 

 cook is worthy of all praise. If they are hard and tough he 

 softens them and malses them tender; if they are yellower 

 brown when they should- be green or white, he changes them 

 to the desired colour, and even if they are tasteless he imparts 

 a flavour to them ; but, unfortunately, he trusts so much to 

 his own skill in this direction, that ho does not trouble much 

 about using them in their own native freshness. The gentle- 

 man, perhaps happily for himself, knows nothing about these 

 things. Green Peas to him are Green Peas, and nothing more; 

 he is never allowed to taste them in their natural purity. He 

 is, perhaps, a little more particular about the looks of a thing 

 than about its other qualities, and he gives way to the cook's 

 whims, prejudices, and old-fashioned notions about certain vege- 

 tables with certain meats, many of which are notoriously wrong. 



If you would taste the full delicious flavour of Marrowfat 

 Peas, you certainly must not have them served with duck 

 which has highly-seasoned stuffing, nor with lamb and mint 

 sauce — no, nor yet have the smallest particle of mint boiled 

 with them, dear and time-honoured as the custom is. If yon 

 grow the old-fashioned bullet-shaped Peas under either their 

 old or their new names, nee mint with them by all means, for 



they have no particular good flavour of their own ; but with 

 the best Marrow Peas it is diilereut. It would be nearly as 

 pardonable to boil onions with them as mint, for in either case 

 the flavour would be spoiled. I have often been amazed at the 

 praise lavished on vegetables, and especially Peas of second- 

 rate quality, by men whose taste and judgment in everything 

 else horticultural is almost unquestionable, till I thought of 

 the mint, soda, Ac, and then it became intelligible. 



I once knew a cook of great repute who would not have 

 Veitch's Perfection Peas three parts grown (they were too large 

 for him), if he could get some inferior round kind about the 

 size of Canna seed. Size was the first consideration, flavour 

 and colour he could give in his own way. I have no objection 

 to people having Peas with their lamb or duck, but I do object 

 to their pronouncing judgment on the quality of the Peas 

 under such conditions. 



To be judged correctly Peas should be gathered as nearly 

 as possible of one age ; personally I prefer them nearly fully 

 grown. They should be used as soon as possible after gather- 

 ing, and on no account must they remain in bulk long. They 

 must have a large quantity of water, which must boil before 

 the Peas are placed in it, and the fire must be sufficiently 

 brisk to keep it boiling with the lid entirely off the saucepan. 

 Nothing should be added to the water but a pinch of salt. I 

 am very sensitive to the least bit of soda; it seems to have a 

 depressing effect. This may be partly imaginary, but I do 

 not think it is, and I rarely venture to taste green vegetables 

 out of my own house. — Wm. Tailor. 



SUBTROPICAL BEDDING.— No. 1. 



The distinguishing marks of beauty in a plant that is need 

 in subtropical bedding arrangements are its massive yet grace- 

 ful form, and the shape, firmness, and also elegance of the 

 leaf. Now, the way in which we often see ornamental-foliaged 

 plants used, beauty and perfection appear of no consideration, 

 the stately plants being so crowded together that their beauty 

 is lost. Look for instance at a large bed of Solanums, Cala- 

 diums, DraciEuas, Ferdinandias, Wigandias,orEieinus. When 

 they are closely planted a clump of shrubs would be quite as 

 effective. Now, how are the grand qualities of this class of 

 plants to be seen to the best advantage — the eye gratified and 

 perfection attained ? In the first place they must not be 

 planted so closely as to touch each other, and at the end of the 

 growing season they will be robust, graceful, and vigorous ; air 

 and light will play between the leaves and branches, and they 

 will grow into shapes worthy of admiration instead of gaunt 

 and meagre forms that cannot be recognised as attractive. 



In the carrying-out of a well-arranged scheme of subtropical 

 bedding it is essential to use plants of a compact habit and of 

 bright colours, for it would be just as monotonous to gaze on a 

 number of tall as it would be on a number of dwarf plants. 

 Tall plants are necessary for the relief of the dwarfer varieties, 

 and the dwarf plants wonderfully increase the appearance of 

 plants of nobler growth ; so we must use them collectively, and 

 adjust them so as to harmonise together. 



The form of beds is of great importance in the arrangement 

 of subtropical plants, for such plants we want in no formal or 

 geometrical order, and we must therefore avoid points and 

 angles and elaborate designs. The more irregular are the out- 

 lines of the beds the more natural will the plants look and 

 form predominating features. Each bed may be varied in 

 shape by turns and curves, but avoiding large broad beds, 

 rather keeping to long and narrow forms, for they are greatly 

 preferred for growing, also showing to advantage, plants which 

 are subtropical in character and which look more natural than 

 they would if planted in a choice design. 



BED No. 1. 



1. Fieus elastica. — This is a well-known favourite plant, and 

 is generally appreciated for indoor decoration, as it will grow 

 and thrive better in a liviug-room than any other plant with 

 ornamental foliage. The leaves are so stout and leathery that 

 the dry atmosphere and dust have but little effect upon the 

 plant's health. But our purpose is to speak of it as a sub- 

 tropical plant. The free growth and nobleness of character 

 peculiar to its habit entitles it to be classed among the most 

 useful decorative garden plants. Plants can be increased either 

 by cuttings or by eyes. Cuttings will take root freely when the 

 wood is firm— that is, in the autumn (September and October) 

 when the plants have done growing, or early in spring before they 

 begin to grow. At these times there is no difficulty in striking 

 them. After the cuttings are taken off from the parent plan 



