SUMMER ROSES. 61 



THE DOUBLE SWEET VIOLET 

 (viola odorata plena). 



BY A. N. F. G. 



I HAVE noticed articles in a former volume on the culture of tlie much 

 esteemed Neapolitan Violet, but I do not think the plan recommended 

 of growing the plants in an open border and transferring tiiem upon a 

 hot-bed just before forcing, a good one ; it gives a check to the plants 

 and they do not bloom so freely or near so fine as by the method I 

 have for the last four years adopted. The following is the method I 

 have pursued : — 



About the middle of April I place half a yard thickness of faggots, 

 large enough for the sized frame I purpose to place over it ; upon these 

 I lay a foot of mulchy dung, and over that a foot of good rotten manure, 

 and lastly, six inclies of good, rich, turfy loam and leaf-mould, equal 

 parts, not sifted, but chopped. The materials, of course, at the surface 

 have a due inclination to the sun, &c. I take good stock plants, and 

 plant them at nine inches apart over the entire surface, duly watering 

 them, &c. through the summer, not allowing suckers to be produced 

 beyond three inches from the old plant. Early in October I take off a 

 portion of surface-soil between the plants, replace with a little fresh, 

 put the frame over them, and give every attention to watering and a 

 free admission of air in dry weather. At the end of the month I iiave 

 a lining of dung and leaves placed to give a slight warmth, and pro- 

 tect the sides of the frame with straw half a yard thick, closely pressed 

 down ; and cover at nights with a foot thick of soft hay, and a covering 

 over it of asphalte. By this plan, and giving as much dry air as 

 possible, I avoid the usual objection of injury, by damping off and 

 weakening the plants by a high temperature. My plants bloom in vast 

 profusion from the end of November to April. 



SUMMER ROSES: 



THEIR CULTIVATION IN POTS. 



For this purpose, it is observed, in Hivers's Hose Catalogue, the best 

 double varieties alone ought to be selected, and that the plants should 

 be worked on stems not more than four inches high. Plants having 

 roots that are fibrous and compact are to be preferred, because they 

 admit of being placed in the centre of the pots. They should be potted 

 late in October, or early in November, in 24-sized or 8-inch pots, in a 

 compost of loam and rotten manure, or loam and leaf mould and 

 manure, in equal quantities ; if to a bushel of tiiis compost half a peck 

 of pounded charcoal is added, it will be improved. After potting, 

 they should be placed on slates, and then plunged in sawdust or old 

 tan, so that the surface of the mould in the pots is covered about two 

 inches in depth with the materials used for plunging. A sunny ex- 

 posed situation is better tlian under a wall, for when placed near a wall 

 the branches always incline from it, so that the plant, in lieu of being 

 round and compact, £us it ought to be, becomes one-sided. In February 



