April 2 , 1871. J 



JOUENAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEE, 







WEEKLY 



CALENDAR, 















Day 



o£ 



Montli 



Day 



of 



Week. 



APRIL 20-26, 1871. 



Average Tempera- 

 ture near London. 



Rain in 

 43 years. 



Sun 

 Rises. 



Sun 



Sets. 



1 

 Moon 1 Moon 

 Rises, i C;Qts. 



Moon's 

 Age. 



Clock 

 after 

 Sun. 



Day 



oJ 



Year. 



20 

 21 

 22 

 23 

 24 

 25 

 26 



Th 

 F 



S 



Sdn 



M 



Tu 



W 



Meeting of Royal and Linnean Societies. 



2 Sunday after Easter. 



Meeting of Royal Geographical Society, 



t8P.M. 



Meeting of Society of Arts, 8 p.m. 



Day. 

 60 3 

 69.5 

 69.0 

 69.2 

 68 8 

 69.6 

 68.0 



Niffhf 

 85.1 

 37.2 

 37.4 

 36.8 

 36.0 

 37.2 

 36.4 



Mean. 

 47.7 

 48.3 

 48.2 

 48.0 

 47.4 

 48.4 

 47.2 



Days. 

 17 

 16 

 22 

 21 

 17 

 17 

 18 



m. h. 

 66af4 

 55 4 

 53 4 

 61 4 

 49 4 

 47 4 

 45 4 



m. h. 

 2af7 

 4 7 

 6 7 

 8 7 

 10 7 

 U 7 

 IS 7 



m. b. 

 41 af6 

 69 5 

 21 6 

 47 6 

 18 7 

 8 

 60 8 



m. h. 

 46af7 

 54 8 

 59 9 



3 11 

 morn. 



3 

 57 



Days. 

 1 

 2 

 3 

 4 

 5 

 6 

 7 



m. B. 

 1 6 

 1 19 

 1 31 

 1 43 



1 54 



2 5 

 2 IG 



110 

 lU 

 112 

 113 

 114 



lis 



116 



From observations taken near London during forty-three years, the average day temperature of the week is 59.2'^, and its night tem- 

 perature 36.6°. The greatest heat was 80=, on the 25th, 1840 ; and the lowest cold 18=, on the 24th, 1854. The greatest tall of rain was 

 1.40 inch. 



VIOLETS— THEIR KINDS AND CULTURE. 



S I grow Violets to a considerable extent for 

 market, I will state my experience on their 

 cultivation, which, however, only applies to 

 them in the open ground. I do not grow any 

 in pots. 



In the first place, I wiU make a few re- 

 marks on the varieties, beginning with the 

 white Violet of our hedgerows. This well 

 repays cultivation, both by the size and the 

 number of its flowers. The old Russian, too, 

 although sometimes not so early in late summers nor so 

 late in spring, is not always so— at least with me, for this 

 season it was much earlier than any except Russian Su- 

 perb, which is worth trying where there is space, on account 

 of its earliness. The Czar is certainly fine, and very pro- 

 ductive. There are three other varieties of single blue 

 which must not be overlooked. The best of these, at least 

 I like it best, is Devoniensis ; it has a fine quite distinct 

 purple shade. The other two are London and Crimean. 

 These three have stems from 4 to 6 or more inches long, 

 but not strong like The Czar or Giant, and they flower 

 quite a month later than the old Russian ; and even after 

 this very tiny flowers are produced throughout the summer, 

 and afford a delightful scent, although, being so small, they 

 are scarcely perceptible. There are some other single 

 varieties, and I grow one, a dull pale red, very like the 

 common white, except in colour. Another, which is white, 

 a little earlier, but not so large nor so pure in colour, is 

 White Russian, and another is quite as pm-e as the com- 

 mon white, and about ten days earlier ; it is very distinct, 

 having a hairy stem and spur, the spur purple or pinkish 

 pm-ple, and the plant is a profuse bloomer. This I find 

 very useful. I have no name for it. 



Now I will turn to the double varieties, and begin with 

 those which are white. The old Double White I find very 

 serviceable, partly on account of its long stem, and partly 

 on account of its continuing longer in bloom than the 

 common single one, and I have grown the Queen for some 

 years. I had it the first year it was sent out, and although 

 some- yes, the majority of the flowers are with me a mix- 

 ture of white, pink, and grey, and many not very double, 

 yet they have deskable qualities, for if you obtain but few 

 really good flowers, yet a good one is something remark- 

 able in size, colour, and scent ; there is often a crop of 

 flowers in autumn, and they are some weeks later than our 

 hedgerow Violets. There is another double white which I 

 cannot say much about, as I have not succeeded with 

 it— Alba compacta. I do not think that it will do for market 

 so well as some others. Lest I should omit it I must here 

 observe that the Double Red is rather a favourite of mine ; 

 it is anything but compact in growth, but when gathered it 

 is very distinct and pretty, and continues as long in bloom 

 aa any that I know. The Neapolitan is very distinct and 

 beautiful, but requires protection in winter. The Tree 

 Violet mth me is a little earlier than the old blue, and 

 very double. Brandyana is very distinct and pretty, and 

 with me such an abimdant bloomer that the flowers are 

 Ko. 625.-VOL. XX., New SSEms. 



small ; it is blue, purple, and white striped. I do not find 

 it profitable for market, as it flowers so freely that the 

 blooms are short-stemmed, and not fit to gather. I can 

 manage to gather any other variety with stems of suffi- 

 cient length — about an inch or so — but not this. I can- 

 not say anything about The King, for I did not procure 

 mine direct from Messrs. Henderson, and I rather think 

 it is not true. I cannot distinguish any difference between 

 it and the Tree Violet ; I have fine rows of it, but some 

 200 yards distant from the Tree Violet ; possibly this is not 

 a fair trial. I shall pass over other varieties at present. 



I wiU next refer to soil. This I think cannot be made 

 too rich, provided it is light and porous ; with this there is 

 no lack as to quantity or quality of bloom. Soil is, I think, 

 much more important than aspect, although aspect must 

 not be overlooked. A position to the north of high trees, 

 and not subject to the drip from them, I ftnd the best; 

 many of my plants are to the north of such trees with 

 naked stems, so that the sun shines underneath in winter, 

 but they are shaded in summer. If, however, the soil is 

 deep, light, and rich, they will bear a considerable amount 

 of sunshine. 



Sunshine is very favourable to the increase of red spider. 

 I find one of the best remedies, I might say the best, for 

 the destruction of this insect is to cut off all the leaves 

 about the end of August, and to give a good dressing of 

 soot. The red spider is thus for the most part cleared 

 off, and the insects left on the stems or hearts have but 

 little chance of siu-viving; at least, I invariably find a 

 healthy growth afterwards, and it continues throughout 

 the winter. I have tried letting the leaves remain, but 

 there is then a very poor weak growth, large patches be- 

 coming quite rotten if the weather has been very dry ; for 

 the leaves that are very much affected with red spider die, 

 and in wet weather cause the decay of their neighbours. 

 If, on the other hand, you cut off the leaves, and do not 

 dust them with soot, and if dry weather succeed yon still 

 have them covered with insects, and little or no good is 

 effected. 



Perhaps I ought to say a few words about axtifieial 

 drainage. This may be secured either in a separate bed 

 or in patches in an ordinary border — for a bed by putting 

 in 1.5 or more inches of stone or rubble as drainage, with 

 at least 18 inches of soil on the top, and in an ordinary 

 border by taking out a hole 15 inches in diameter, and 

 about 2^ feet or so deep, putting the drainage in the bottom, 

 and fiUing up with the soil. 



I must not quite omit the time of planting. If the plants 

 you procure are not in pots I think September the best 

 time ; but if you plant in winter or spring after growth 

 commences it is necessary to cut off all the young leaves. 

 I find the plants do very weU planted in any open weather 

 from September till AprU. 



I plant my Violets at 18 inches apart in beds of three 

 rows each ; this affords room for hoeing the intervals 

 between the rows while the plants are growing. I some- 

 times plant them at 6 inches apart, sometimes at 1 foot 

 apart in the rows, just as I have a large stock of plants or 

 otherwise. They soon spread and fill the beds ; but they 



No. 117?.— T»L. XLV., 0lJ> Sehibb. 



