16 PRESENT-DAY GARDENING 



all true Violas. I had batches of new bedding Pansies 

 also. 



" I always looked upon Dickson's Sovereign, sent out in 

 1874, as one of the most useful bedding Violas of that day. 

 Alpha, more a Pansy than a Viola, came out with it, and 

 a number of Violas also from the same source. In 1875 

 I put into commerce of my own raising Crown Jewel, 

 Royal Blue, Lilacina, Mulberry, and White Swan all true 

 Violas ; and Mr. B. S. Williams distributed Mrs. Gray 

 a good white variety. 



" At this time the unobtrusive Viola, by sheer force of its 

 inherent beauty and great usefulness, had so forced itself 

 upon public attention that the Council of the Royal Horti- 

 cultural Society originated a trial on an extensive scale at 

 their Chiswick Gardens. A large number were sent in, 

 two inspections were made by the Floral Committee of the 

 Society, and the following were awarded first-class certifi- 

 cates of merit (chosen from the point of view of showing 

 compactness and dwarfness of habit, profuseness and con- 

 tinuity of bloom, and useful and effective colours ; chosen, 

 in fact, for those special features which made them effective 

 as bedding plants) : From Messrs. Dickson & Co. Alpha, 

 Golden Gem, Peach Blossom, Queen of Lilacs, Sovereign, 

 and Tory. From Mr. R. Dean Bedfont Yellow, Blue 

 Bell, Lilacina, Lothair, Lily White, Tom Thumb, The Old 

 Magpie (so named on account of the strongly contrasted 



