CHAPTER XXVHI 



THE SWEET VIOLET 



THE sweet violet, whose fragrance and beauty delight the 

 senses of the city dweller during the dark days of winter, 

 might well find a place in the garden of every amateur who 

 possesses a plot of ground removed from the grime and smoke of a 

 great manufacturing town. And yet how rarely does one see 

 violets grown to perfection save by the professional gardener 1 



It is true that the violet will not thrive in the absence of pure 

 air, but there are plenty of suburban gardens in which it might be 

 grown with every prospect of success if only the plants were 

 treated with proper care. Neglect of a few simple rules is in- 

 variably the cause of failure. One frequently finds a bed of 

 violets which produces nothing but leaves. The plants may have 

 been healthy enough to begin with, and they were probably well 

 and truly planted ; but after the first season of bloom they were 

 allowed to follow their own devices, to spread and become over- 

 crowded. The grower perhaps forgot, if he ever knew, that the 

 violet must be renewed and replanted every year. Failure to 

 perform this operation spells disaster. 



And yet when once the few rules to which I have referred have 

 been mastered, the culture of the violet ought not to present any 

 serious difficulties to the amateur who grows pansies and violas 

 with success For the violet is not in the least particular about 

 the soil hi which it is planted. Any soil hi which good vegetables 

 will thrive will be found equally suitable for violets. 



If, therefore, the amateur contemplate making an attempt to 

 grow violets hi order to obtain bloom during autumn and winter, 

 the month of April is a favourable time to set about the task of 

 making a violet bed. When this is ready the florist will be pre- 



