THE VIOLA. 



iN the alps in central Europe, on the 

 Andes in S. America, as well as in 

 our British fields and hedgerows. 

 Violas of many species grow and flourish 

 — true " Wildings of nature," and many 

 of our modern garden varieties retain a 

 robustness of constitution and are re- 

 gardless of extremes which they must 

 have acquired and inherited from pro- 

 genitors who were wanderers by Hood 

 and field. This will almost serve to 

 show that their culture is a very easy 

 matter for in any good ordinary garden 

 soil which has been enriched by manure, 

 Violas will grow, and grow well. They 

 are not particular as to situation or ex- 

 posure, provided they are planted out 

 early, and get thoroughly established 



before the warm weather sets in. The 

 ground should be deeply dug in spring, 

 or as soon as frost disappears, and a 

 liberal quantity of decomposed manure 

 incorporated with the soil, and also a 

 quantity of soot — say a spadeful spread 

 over every ten square yards. Just be- 

 fore planting, the surface should be 

 broken up with a rake and made firm 

 and fine, a good dry day being cho.sen 

 for the work. Seeds may be sown now, 

 in a shady portion of the garden, but I 

 would advise amateurs to procure this 

 year's requirements from any florist or 

 nurseryman, as seedlings I think would 

 need protection in winter. 



1*'. Bkunton. 

 Mixpkhiirst, Grimsby. 



DAHLIAS. 



Fli:. Il-Jl. II.MIM.A. 



'I'-.-MvLV all the various forms 

 and varieties of Dahlias have 

 been obtained from some sin 

 gle flowered varieties im[)orted 

 tolMigland from Spain nearly onehundred 

 years ago. Being so easily grown, Dah- 



lias are always prominent among our 

 garden flowers, although of late the stiff 

 show varieties of large size seem less 

 popular than formerly. Indeed, the 

 single flowered varieties have been much 

 sought after by those who admire the 

 Daisy and the Marguerite. Cornell Bul- 

 letin 28, gives many interesting pointers 

 about Dahlias, from which we give some 

 extracts with illustrations Of late those 

 single Dahlias have been made dwarf 

 and compact in habit, and a race of them 

 is known as "TomThum Single Dah- 

 lias," which are much appreciated. 



To show what numbers of varieties of 

 Dahlias have been originated, we note 

 that in 1841 one English dealer had 

 over 1,200 varieties. 



" In the forties and fifties variegated 

 flowers were in great demand. Dahlias 

 were striped, banded, speckled, penciled, 

 dotted, blotched, and marked in all sorts 

 of curious ways. There was as nmch 



