200 THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



The Violas require to be propagated and transplanted in 

 precisely the same manner as the pansies. They are very similar 

 in character, and succeed under the same conditions. The most 

 efifective and useful varieties are, V. Perfection, blue ; V. lutea major,. 

 bright golden-yellow ; and V. sulphurea rjrandiflora, pale sulphur. 



The well-known Silene pendula is one of the most useful spring 

 bedders with pink flowers, as it may be raised in any quantity in the 

 same manner as the forget-me-nots. The seed must be sown some 

 time in July, and if thinly in drills, no transplanting will be 

 necessary beyond transferring them to the flower-beds. Like the 

 pansies, the silene does best on a rather dry soil. The beautiful 

 Silene pendula compacta, raised a few years since by Mr. Williams 

 Cole, is much better than the species, for it is more compact and 

 produces a greater profusion of flowers. For masses, especially if 

 the beds are small, and also for second rows in borders, it can b& 

 strongly recommended. Seed is now cheap, and obtainable at all 

 the nurseries and seed stores ; so that there is no difiiculty in giving; 

 it a trial. 



The Wallflowers are all very hardy, may be propagated readily 

 by means of seeds or cuttings with the utmost facility, and, in point 

 of eS'ectiveness, they are unsurpassed. The seed should be sown 

 thinly in drills in an open quarter not later than the middle of 

 July. The plants will then require no transplanting. The best 

 results are obtained by sowing in May or June, and then trans- 

 planting once, and nipping out the growing point to promote the 

 production of side-shoots. Wallflowers may be kept an indefinite 

 number of years, but they have an unsightly appearance during the 

 summer season, and occasion a considerable amount of trouble ; 

 and the amateur will find it more advantageous to raise a fresh stock 

 annually. The Belvoir Castle Yellow is a fine dwarf variety, with 

 pure yellow flowers, and undoubtedly the best yellow spring flower- 

 ing plant we have for the centre of beds, and, in fact, for any 

 purpose where there is a difficulty in raisiog a stock of the alyssum. 

 The strain known in the trade as Dark Blood Bed is very useful 

 for large beds, as the flowers are of a rich crimson, and in a mass are 

 very effective. 



Previous to sowing the seeds of either of the foregoing, the drills 

 should be well watered, to assure the soil being sufiiciently moist 

 to assist the seeds to germinate quickly. 



Roots in Drains. — In a paper recently read before the Edinburgh Botanical 

 Society, some curious cases were cited of the entire occupation and stoppage or 

 drains by roots of trees. In one instance a two-inch pipe, with sockets, laid m an 

 orchard a foot below the surface, was completely filled witb the roots of an apple- 

 tree. In another, a root had entered a lead pipe and grown and branched into 

 numerous fibres which filled the pipe for a considerable distance. The strangest 

 case was where a willow growing near a dam had sent roots 25 feet beneath a road, 

 and penetrated a large leaden drain-pipe 7 feet below the surface, and stopped it. 

 The pipe was taken up and cleared, and the tree cut down. Tbe drain was relaid, 

 but some time afterwards was again stopped. It was then found that the stump, 

 which bad sprouted, had sent a mass of rootlets into the drain, which had filled ttie 

 pipe solidly, although their connection with the tree was only by a single rooclet. 



