VIOLET 



VIOLET 



1943 



.^^\ 



Viola cornata var Papilio { 



crop to grow. This is true only o( blooms of ordinary 

 qviality and only as regards the total amount of work 

 required per year as compared with a crop of roses, car- 

 nations or chrysanthemums. The best Violets are pro- 

 duced only under the best conditions, and it is a singu- 

 lar fact that many persons who have thought they had 

 mastered Violet culture after a few years' success have 

 failed subsequently. The Violet is still everywhere 

 grown by local llorists, but good Violet culture has been 

 the latest to attain a high degree of specialization. The 

 present status of the subject is admirably presented in 

 Galloway's Commercial Violet Culture, New Vork, 1899. 

 rrtrieh'(?s. — From Viola odorata, a species indigenous 

 to Europe, parts of Asia and Japan, many cultivated 

 sorts, both single and double, and of different colors, 

 have been derived. The varieties most highly prized 

 and of the greatest commercial value to American flor- 

 ists are, in the order named: of the double varieties, 

 Marie Louise (Fig. 2688), Farquhar, Imperial, New Y<trk 

 (Fig. 2r)90) , and King of Violets, dark blue flowers; Lady 

 Hume Campliell, Neapolitan (Fig. 2689) and De Parme, 

 light blue; Swanley White (Fig. 2691), Queen of Vio- 

 lets and Belle de Chatenay, white, and Madame Millet, 

 Odorata Rubra and Double Red, red or pink. Of the 

 single sort the varieties most highly prized are. in the 

 order named: California, Princesse de Galles, Luxoniie 

 and La France, ymrple; White Czar and Rawson's 

 White, white, and single reil or pink. 



Prnpa(iulin>i.-]n conmiercial Violet growing, plants 

 are propagateil chiefly in I'imr \\a\s: (1| Bv cuttings 3 

 or -i in. long, made from well-developed runners and 

 rooted in clean, sharp sand; [2] by divisions, made by 

 taking up the old plants, usually' after flowering has 

 ceased, and sejiarating them, ail divisions with old roots 

 and hard woody stems being discarded, and the young, 

 well-rooted ones traiis|ilaiiled :t i.r 4 in. apart each way, 

 and watered and slnided for a few days, until thev are 

 well establish. -d. wlien they can be lifted with a ball of 

 earth and set where desired; (:i) by callings made from 

 young, unrooted i-rowns ..r ilivisii.ns id' the old plant 

 removed during the winter or spring without disturbing 

 the flowering plant, and rooteil in clean, sharp sand, as 

 in the case of rtinners; (4| liy removing well-rooted 

 young divisions, crowns or ofl'sliouts, \A-itIjout disturb- 

 ing the flowering plant and caring fur them the same as 

 divisions made in spring. 



i.'0(7.— As a rule, Violets ih, well in any good, well- 

 enriched soil. The best n-sults, however, "are obtained 

 from soil prepared from sod taken from a rather heavy, 

 sandy loam that is well draine<l and capable of retaining 

 ami giving up an abundance of moisture at all times. 

 The soil to be used in the Violet house, stationary frame, 

 or in pots, should be prepared the previous fall. Frcnu 

 a suitable loam, strip off the sod to a depth of 3 or 4 in. ; 

 i;ompost this wdth well-rotted manure, preferably cow 

 manure, and pile in alternate layers of from 6 to 8 in, 

 of sod and 2 to 3 int;lies of niantire. In this condition 



./J I >^'"M,, 



r.#k^^.ii^- ^Jt^X I 



2686. Viola blanda ('/ 1). 



2687. Viola pubescens ( -^ ^-.i). 



let it stand exposed to the weather until spring, and 

 then, just before it is to be used, chop down and add 

 pure bonemeal at the rate of 27 ounces per cubic yard of 

 soil, after which worli over several times, or until the 

 whole is thoroug^hly pulverized and mixed, when it is 

 ready for use. For movable frame culture, scatter from 

 1 to 2 in. of well-rotted manure over the sod in the fall, 

 then turn under by spa<line: or deep iilowing, and in 

 that condition let it stand exposed to the action of the 

 weather until sprin<i:. Just licl'ore ])lanting time plow 

 again, top-dress with pure bonemeal at the rate of G 

 ounces per square yard of soil, and harrow or work over. 



Methods of Culture. — Among American florists four 

 methods of growing Violt^ts are in ci'mmon use: viz., 

 field and house culrure. house culture, frame culture 

 witli or without arriti^ial ho;it. and pot culture, the extent 

 to which they are used bfing in the order named. 



Field and house culture: Early in the spring the young 

 plants are set in the field and cultivated during the sum- 

 mer. Some time in September or October they are lifted 

 with a ball of earth and ti-a-ns])lanted into beds or benches 

 in the house, where they bloom during the winter. 



House culture: The plants are grown under glass, 

 either on benches or in solid beds, during the entire 

 season. This method should ta.ke the place of all 

 others, for with it the v.-ry best conditions and closest 

 attention can be dven tlie ]dants at all times, and as 



