VIN 



618 



VI 



cies and several varieties. Hardy 

 evergreen trailers. Division. Com- 

 mon soil. 



VINE. Vitis vinifera. See Grape 

 Vine. 



VINE BOWER. Clematis Viticella. 



VINE LEEK. Allium ampeloprasum. 



VIOLA. Violet. Ninety-nine spe- 

 cies. Chiefly hardy herbaceous peren- 

 nials, annuals, deciduous and evergreen 

 trailers, a few are half-hardy, and a 

 few others belong to the green-house. 

 The herbaceous kinds increase by di- 

 vision or seeds : the shrubs by cuttings. 

 The annuals by seeds. Loam, peat, or 

 leaf-mould, and sand suits them best. 



VIOLET. Viola odorata. 



Varieties. — The best are Neapolitan, 

 double pale blue; Russian, h[\ie; Tree 



Russian and Neapolitan Violets. — 

 There are two double varieties of the 

 Russian, the purple and the white. At 

 the close of autumn, in a rich yet light 

 soil, some year-old plants of each va- 

 riety should be planted, some in a bor- 

 der which is exposed to the full meridian 

 sun; some in a border which only re- 

 ceives its morning rays; and a third 

 quantity in pots on a north border. The 

 only attention they require is to keep 

 them free from weeds, and to remove 

 all runners as they appear. These will 

 bloom in succession from March until 

 the end of May; and if those in pots in 

 the north border are prevented from 

 blooming by having their flower-buds 

 picked off as they appear until late in 

 May, and are then plunged in the 

 border which enjoys the morning sun, 



Violet, semi-double, blue, stem eighteen j they will, if carefully watered and at- 



inches high. Double Blue; Whiter 

 Pink. 



Soil. — All the varieties prefer a light 

 rich soil on a well drained subsoil. 

 Stable manure makes them too luxuri- 

 ant; and when they require the addi- 

 tion of a fertilizer, none is so beneficial 

 as leaf-mould, or the bottom of an old 

 wood stack. 



Propagation. — By Division, &c. — 

 They all multiply by parting the roots, 

 and by their side shoots rooting in the 

 earth. They may be parted or slipped 

 in spring, summer, or autumn, as soon 

 as they have done flowering, in moist 

 weather. Each plant may be slipped 

 or divided into several slips, not too 



tended, bloom in June and early in July. 

 The double purple may be most suc- 

 cessfully cultivated in this way. For 

 forcing, Mr. Ayres directs some year- 

 old plants of the Neapolitan varieties 

 to be taken up after having done flower- 

 ing, and planted in a light rich border, 

 a foot apart each way, care being taken 

 to remove all runners, but to injure the 

 roots as little as possible. A copious 

 watering is to be given at the time of 

 planting ; they should be shaded through 

 the summer, and all runners removed 

 as they appear. In September, the 

 Neapolitans with good balls of earth 

 are to be placed in forty-eight or thirty- 

 two size pots, and removed into a gentle 



small; and planted either at once to : hot-bed, and protected by a frame. If 

 remain, or the weakest may be planted | air be admitted freely and the heat be 

 in nursery beds; and in either method ! kept up very gently, these may be 

 each slip will soon increase into a large brought to bloom in February. Another 

 tuft, and flower abundantly the next mode of making the Neapolitan violet 

 year. 1 bloom during the winter is to plant some 



By Seed. — Sow it either soon after it ' of the runners at the end of April, in 

 is ripe, or early in the spring, in a bed small pots filled chiefly with leaf-mould, 

 or border of light earth, and raked in ; watering them until rooted, and then 

 and when the plants are come up an moving them to a cold shaded place, as 

 inch or two high in summer, prick them ' the north side of a wall — the colder the 



out in a shady border to grow till Oc 

 tober, and then plant out to remain. 



Pink Violets. — The best time to 

 plant them is in September, but they 

 should be planted in a dry situation. 



better. In October bring them under 

 the sunny side of the green-house, or 

 into an empty frame to be closed at 

 night, and then move them the second 

 week in December into a sunny window 



and not fully exposed to the sun at any or green-house. They will bloom in 

 part of the day. The principal points January, and for some months after, by 

 to attend to are, never to disturb them having a proper succession, 

 by clearing or digging about them, ^ Dr. Lindley says — " To have Russian 

 and always to plant them in a shaded j violets in flower during winter, you 



place. 



must treat them in the following man- 



