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ON THE CULTIVATION OF VIOLA ODORATA, 
Va7\ PALLIDA-PLENA, FOR WINTER AND SPRING FLOWERING, 
Of Viola odorata there are eig-lit varieties, none of which are considered equal 
to the NeapoHtan for fragrance, or for the facility with which it may he forced, 
during" the winter months. As we have been very successful in obtaining- abundance 
of unusually fine flowers, perhaps our mode 'of culture may not be unacceptable to 
some of our readers, and as the same remarks are applicable to the other varieties 
of Viola odorata, it will be unnecessary to mention any other than the Neapolitan. 
We take oW cuttings as soon as they have done flowering in May, and plant 
them under hand-glasses, in light garden mould at the foot of a south wall, where 
with gentle waterings and shading, they soon strike root ; after they have been 
hardened by leaving the glasses off during the nights for a short time, they are 
removed to any part of the kitchen garden where the soil is light, and planted nine 
inches asunder ; they must be watered during dry weather, and the soil frequently 
loosened with the hoe. 
The first week in August we prepare a bed for their reception, of the size of the 
frame intended to place over them, in the following manner : — a layer of broken 
pots or brick rubbish about nine inches thick, for drainage, upon this a compost of 
the following proportions, one foot thick;— two barrow loads of leaf mould, one 
barrow of free loam, one barrow of well-rotted manure, and a half barrow of clear 
sand ; these must be thoroughly mixed by frequent turnings, if mixed twelve 
months before using, so much the better. After the bed has been allowed a few 
days to settle, the plants are carefully taken up, trimmed of their runners, and 
planted four inches asunder. They should not be more than fifteen inches off the 
glass if possible ; we prefer a western exposure, as gentle watering before sunset is 
very beneficial in making the plants throw up their blooms vigorously ; the lights 
should be allowed to remain off during the autumn, except in very wet or cold 
weather, a lining of dry litter should be placed round the frame to exclude frost ; 
when they are in flower we never give them any air, except to dry the plants 
occasionally should the weather prove wet, by which means we obtain much longer 
stalks to the flowers, and the moisture in the frame caused by evaporation induces 
the buds to expand more freely. 
To insure a succession of flowers during the spring, we always transfer some 
plants to another bed about six weeks after the first ; more hand-glasses may be 
filled with cuttings than are required for the frames, and if they are allowed to 
remain under them without protection, they will flower exceedingly well after those 
in the frames are over, never removing the glasses except for the purposes of 
watering or gathering the flowers. We also make it a rule to pot some plants of 
the Neapolitan and double blue in shallow thirty-two sized pots, and introduce them 
into any convenient place, where the heat will not be more than 65° of Fahrenheit, 
by which means they may be had from the latter end of October to April. 
If the frames are exposed to a southern aspect they will require shading from the 
mid-day sun in March and April. 
VOL. III.— NO. XXXV. K K 
