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JOUKNAL of horticulture and cottage gardener. 



[ AugtiBt 31, 1876. 



field days of Pinks and Carnations, Hollyhocks and Dahlias 

 Auriculas and Polyanthuses, which the " young 'uns " cannot 

 equal — times of floral refreshing whioh gladdened many a 

 heart — times of sober joy to those belonging to the " steady 

 plodding sohool," but which have no reflex in these modern 

 days ; but yet even now when the " tide seems to be turning " 

 there are a few left who believe in the "good time coming," 

 when real florists can again meet in congenial conclave and do 

 something more than talk about " bedding Geraniums." The 

 mention of bedding Geraniums brings to mind how these have 

 absorbed public attention, and while the great improvements 

 which have been made in them are admitted, they, even they, 

 are regarded as being super-patronised — " overdone." 



But what about Boses ? Well, these daring my few years of 

 absence have really advanced, the love of them has increased, 

 the cultivation of them has been perfected, and the exhibiting 

 of them has been the scene of many a triumph and many a 

 joy. If anything in the horticultural world has been " over- 

 done " one might think it were the growing and showing of 

 Boses. But no such thing is whispered ; none can say anything 

 againBt a good Bose, the charms of which are above mere 

 taste and the virtues beyond reproach. Tet it is said that 

 many a character of some Boses "written in French" has 

 been " overdone," and that the " new " in Boses is not always 

 better than the " old." 



Nor is gardening in the new world better than it is in the 

 old. We have flowers in the far west which are bright for a 

 time, but they lack the continuousness, the freshness, and 

 especially the sweetness of flowers " at home." Yes, England 

 is "home" yet. Whether it is by lack of moisture in the 

 ground, by extreme heat and an arid atmosphere, or all com- 

 bined, I know not ; but I do know that flowers of the gardens 

 and flowers of the prairie do not possesB.or at any rate diffuse, 

 the " sweetness of breath" that flowers do in England. And 

 after all they are the " old flowers," which are the sweetest as 

 they are the hardiest, the same as " old friends " are the 

 firmest and most constant. 



Such have been my thoughts since my return to " the west " 

 — a land where there is no display of pride, where a man is 

 not estimated by the number of rings which he wears, but for 

 the work that he does ; where gardening is improving every 

 day ; where flowers are spreading, and fruits and vegetables 

 are increasing ; and where those who aid in such pursuits 

 which benefit a nation are regarded with that respect which is 

 due to good services. 



Of good service has your Journal been to me and many. It 

 has taught us many useful hints, and given us wise counsel for 

 many years. Though England in gardening matters had 

 changed since I first left its shores, I found after a regular 

 perusal of your pages the " old country " just as I expected to 

 find it. Even the very designs of the " carpet beds " seemed 

 familiar, and the sober neBts of succulents, the golden lines of 

 Pyrethrum, and the crimson carpets of Alternantheras scarcely 

 evoked surprise as I examined them in " the parks " — parks 

 which have been designed with so much skill, and are managed 

 with so much ability, that, so far as my travels enable me to 

 judge, there is nothing in the "old world or the new" to equal 

 them. 



Yes, you are in advance of us in gardening matters, but your 

 advance on your own of a quarter of a century ago is an ad- 

 vance of " display " mainly. Is your present race of rising 

 gardeners equal in solidity, in steady, plodding, working per- 

 severance to those of the " old school ?" Are the young train- 

 ing themselves to works of usefulness by thoroughly mastering 

 the principles which govern the "old craft "• — are they, in a 

 word, " bottoming the business," or skimming the surface and 

 relying on achieving reputations by " making a show ?" If so, 

 and I cannot help having a suspicion that such is the case, I 

 shall continue to seek instruction from the " old hands," and 

 wish them, and you, and all prosperity. — Anglo-American, 

 Lafayette County, Wisconsin. 



BEDDING GERANIUMS. 

 The Geraniums in the trial grounds at Chilwell are now 

 Bhowing their true oharacter, and as some of them are better 

 than others for flower-garden deooration, the following classi- 

 fication may be of service to some of your readers : — First-rate : 

 Mrs. Turner, Mrs. Augusta Miles, Mrs. Holden,and Amaranth, 

 pink ; Dell and Corsair, scarlet ; Shakespeare, Col. Wright, 

 and Earnest, red ; Bev. T. F. Fenn and Mrs. Mellows, crimson ; 

 Edward Sutton and General Outram, dark crimson; Mrs. 



Jaeoby, salmon ; Lawrence Heywood and Mrs. Hole, magenta. 

 Second-rate : Pink, Mrs. Ffytch ; scarlet, Mrs. Hetley, John 

 Gibbons, Bev. F. Aitkinson, and Mrs. Whiteley ; crimson, Sir 

 H. S. Stanhope, Bayard, and Col. Holden; cerise, John Fel- 

 lows and Little Carr ; rose, Mrs. Paget. Third-rate : Lady 

 Byron, Lucy Bosworth,Mrs. Eogers, and Lady Sheffield, pink; 

 Louisa Smith, rosy crimson. 



It may be remarked that many which are not good for bed- 

 ding are excellent when grown in pots under glass. Lady 

 Sheffield, for instance, runs to seed immediately the flowers 

 open outside, while in the conservatory it is all that can be 

 desired. — J. M. 



VIOLAS.— No. 1. 



The Violas are an extensive family of plants, for the most 

 part of dwarf or spreading growth, and possessing such a com- 

 bination of flowers with foliage aB to give a greater satisfaction 

 to the eye than the beholding of bright unrelieved masses of 

 colour, which may dazzle and fatigue but do not attract. 



In Violas we have the sweet lovely Violet (Viola odorata), a 

 native, in purple and white varieties, with the little-differing 

 Bus6ian Violet (V. suavis), only flowering at an earlier period. 

 From these, with probably an admixture of the Chinese Tree- 

 Violet (V. arborea), in purple and white varieties, have arisen 

 our improved varieties of sweet-scented Violets. No one seems 

 to have paid any particular attention to this class of Violas 

 until Mr. Lee of Clevedon took them in hand and gave us 

 Victoria Regina, the beBt of all the deep blue or rather purple 

 single Violets, being much larger and deeper in colour than Czar, 

 also sweeter, commencing to bloom considerably in advance 

 of that variety. Of Victoria Begina I gathered fine blooms 

 on August the 17th of this year from plants which were rooted 

 runners planted in April last, and these will give flowers until 

 spring. Fine as Victoria Begina is it is far surpassed by Prince 

 Consort, a lighter colour — a blue in fact, with a circular 

 bloom, and of an endurance that has no equal in Violets. It 

 commences blooming at the same time as Czar — namely, Oc- 

 tober, though I had blooms last year in September. I allude 

 to these because it appears such a pity to cling bo tenaciously to 

 old favourites as the Bussian Violet when there are others with 

 very much larger, better shaped, and equally sweet or sweeter 

 flowers, and Btalks that admit of the flowers being readily 

 bunched, and therefore more serviceable and enduring. No 

 flower meets with readier acceptance and appreciation than 

 the Violet. 



The Pansy or Heartsease is another of the Viola family, 

 associated with our earliest recollections. From the common 

 Heartsease or Herb Trinity of our fields have been obtained by 

 sowing and hybridising with other species the numerous 

 varieties of the popular florists' Pansy. Viola tricolor varies 

 considerably in a wild state, and has been greatly improved by 

 the skill of the cultivator and hybridist. Most normal forma 

 under high culture increase in size both of foliage and flower, and 

 it is in these variations that occur sports — or departures from 

 the original — which it has been the care of the cultivator, when 

 the breaks were improvements on the parents, to foster and in- 

 crease. It is hardly possible to take in hand any species of 

 plant, especially of plants which are increased freely from seed, 

 without improving its Bize and beauty. It is only a few years 

 Bince the Viola cornuta became prominent through the efforts 

 of Messrs. Wills, Bennett, and others, and after the lapse of a 

 few seasons we are presented with varieties which for form and 

 size are scarcely distinguishable from Pansies — in fact, some 

 of these are no more like V. cornuta and V. lutea than are 

 the bedding Pansies like Viola tricolor. 



The genus Viola naturally divides itself into two sections — 

 namely, the Violets and the Pansies. The Violets have the 

 leaves mostly heart-shaped, though the foliage ia occasionally 

 pedate (V. pedata), and palmate (V. palmata), proceeding 

 directly from the root or stem without forming a shoot, and 

 perennial, the stem increasing slowly and upright, forming 

 what are recognised as " trees," and are continued by runners 

 rooting at a distance from the parents. In V. cucullata the 

 plant is furnished with a tubercled root-stem from which arise 

 the leaves and flowers without a stem above ground, producing 

 only leaves and flowers. It is deciduous, losing its leaves in 

 late summer ; it is the latest blooming of the Violets, and 

 continued this year into June. The variety I have is Mr. 

 Lee'B, there being several types or varieties of this the Hooded 

 Violet. The flowers are large, of a deep purple colour, and 

 very numerous. Unfortunately it is inodorous, but neverthe- 



