PANSTES AND VIOLAS. 



319 



Coming to Violas (fig. 110), one of the gardening sensations of last 

 century was the spring bedding at Cliveden carried out by Mr. John 

 : Fleming. Violas were largely used, and became known as Cliveden 

 ; Yellow, Cliveden Purple, Cliveden White, and Cliveden Blue. They 

 ' ■ were most effective for the purpose for which they were used. They were, 

 of course, much nearer to the wild types in habit of growth and form of 

 flower than our modern Violas. The latter are the creations of a host 

 I of raisers, nearly all of whom I have known personally during the last 

 thirty years. Here, to-day, I shall only name those who were the 

 pioneers in the v/ork — Grieve, of Dicksons & Co., Baxter of Daldowie, 

 Dr. Stuart, Dr. Dickson of Hartree, the brothers William and Eichard 

 ; Dean, all of whom except Mr. Grieve are now gone. In the popu- 

 : larizing of Violas, or, as he persists in calling them. Tufted Pansies, 

 no man has done better work than Mr. William Eobinson. In the 

 early days he persistently figured them in colours in ** The Garden," 

 I and I have at home now pictures of 'Jackanapes,' 'Quaker 

 ^ Maid,' ' Duchess of Fife,' ' Hartree ' and other old varieties. What 

 impresses one in this connection is the persistency of some of the 

 old Violas. I have before me a catalogue issued by Dicksons of 

 i; Edinburgh in 1880, and I find in it 'Archibald Grant,' 'Canary,' 

 t * Blue King,' ' Countess of Kintore,' ' Holyrood,' ' Grievei,' ' Lilacina,' 

 ' Sovereign,' and ' The Tory,' all of which are still grown, and one or 

 two of which have not yet been superseded. Advancing sixteen years, I 

 find another interesting list in the official Eeport of the trial of Violas in 

 Eegent's Park, held under the auspices of the Third Viola Conference, 

 In that list we find ' Marchioness,' ' Countess of Hopetoun,' ' Pencait- 

 land,' and ' Snowflake ' given among the best whites, and any list of 

 ' the best whites prepared to-day must contain ' Snowflake ' and ' Pen- 

 caitland ' — though I believe the modern ' Snowflake ' (fig. 113) is an 

 ; improved form. 



t * Sylvia ' is given among creams, and it is the best still. * Sul 

 j phurea ' is among the primroses, and none to-day possess a better habit. 

 ' The yellows in 1886 have all been eclipsed except ' Bullion. ' Other 

 i old names which appear and still survive are ' True Blue, ' ' Archibald 

 I Grant,' ' Favourite,' ' Wm. Neil,' and ' J. B. Eiding.' 

 I I do not propose to deal with exhibition Violas. If I were 



addressing an audience in the industrial centres of the North or in 

 I Scotland, they would not thank me unless I told them which Violas 

 j produced the biggest blooms and made up into the best exhibition 



sprays. I am sure you desire to know which are the hardiest, the 



earliest to bloom, and the most floriferous. 



Three years ago I startea an experiment in Essex to discover which 



varieties possessed these merits. I collected from the leading growers 

 jail the varieties they recommended for autumn planting, and in 

 j October I planted them in an open field in Essex. Time will not allow 



me to go fully into the details of the trial — these will be found in a 



book written by me and recently published by Messrs. Jack. It must 

 jserve to tell you which have survived satisfactorily over the three 



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