VIOLET. 



328 



VIOLET. 



extreme hardiness. All Vines like 

 a very rich and somewhat moist soil, 

 and thrive best when their roots can 

 get access to a drain, sewer, or 

 muddy pont. 



Vio'la. — Violacece. — Beautiful 

 perennial dwarf plants, natives of 

 Europe and K'orth America, and 

 growing generally on the moist 

 shady banks in woods. There are 

 nearly 150 kinds grown in British 

 gardens, but the most common are, 

 V. odorata (see Violet), and V. 

 tricolor (see Heart's-Ease). The 

 Fan-leaved Violet ( T^. flabellifoUa), 

 and the Hollow -leaved Violet {V. 

 cuculata), are both American species, 

 with large and handsome flowers. 

 All the species should be grown in 

 peat and loam kept moist, and they 

 all thrive best in a shady situation. 



Violet. — The common sweet- 

 scented Violet (F. odorata) is a 

 British plant, which grows in woods 

 or on and under banks. The white 

 Violets are found generally in cal- 

 careous soils ; and the sweetest I 

 ever smelt were, I think, those I 

 have gathered growing among the 

 limestone rocks in the woods of 

 Dudley Castle. In garden culture, 

 however, what are called the Nea- 

 politan and Russian Violets, are 

 the most useful, as they flower 

 during the winter months ; and of 

 these the Neapolitan are the sweet- 

 est. These delightful Violets, which 

 flower from October to April or 

 May, should be grown in pots or 

 boxes, where they can be covered 

 with a hand-glass in case of sevei-e 

 frost. They should be propagated 

 by runners taken off in May, and 

 removed to prepared beds in the 

 open garden, the soil of which 

 should be composed of equal parts 

 of heath-mould, leaf-mould, and 

 strong yellov/ loam, but no dung. 

 The plants should be a foot apart 

 every way, and kept clear of run- 



ners. They should be freely watered 

 during the summer months ; but 

 in August they should be suffered 

 to become rather dry, to give them a 

 season of rest. About the middle 

 of September they should be re- 

 moved to the place where they are to 

 flower, and this should be so con- 

 trived as to allow them to have n 

 bottom-heat of 70° or 80°. The 

 best mode of effecting this is to 

 make a hotbed, the surface of which 

 is brought to within ten inches 

 of the lights. The plants should 

 be taken up with balls of earth 

 attached, and the space between 

 them filled in with yellow loam, 

 rotten dung, vegetable mould, and 

 heath-mould. After planting they 

 should be well and frequently 

 watered during two days with warm 

 water, and then again about a 

 month afterwards. With these ex- 

 ceptions, the plants are kept di-y till 

 February. During severe weather 

 the hotbed must be covered with 

 mats, &c. , admitting dry air when 

 practicable. The surface of the bed 

 should be covered with coarse river 

 sand to keep off the slugs. Another 

 mode is to take off the runners in 

 May, and to plant them at once in 

 the pots or boxes in which they are to 

 flower. These pots or boxes should 

 be well drained by having a layer 

 of potsherds of considerable thick- 

 ness at the bottom ; and they 

 should be filled up with a compost 

 made of two-fourths of vegetable 

 mould, one of loam, and one of 

 silver sand. They should be co- 

 vered with a hand-glass during 

 heavy rains, or in frosty weather ; 

 and if the frost is very severe, a 

 mat should be put over the glass. 

 When the pots or boxes are intro- 

 duced into a sitting-room, they 

 should be watered twice a day, but 

 once will be sufiicient if the plants 

 i are grown in the open air. It must 



