18G7.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
61 
off a fragrance strong enough to tie oppressive. 
Tlie original single species lias been greatly im- 
proved upon, and we have now plants that 
bloom more abundantly, and that give flowers 
of different shades, down to white, and even 
double ones, sonic of which are very large. 
One of the best of the older varieties is the 
Neapolitan, double, of a pure violet color, 
a free bloomer and very fragrant. A quite re- 
cent variety is La Seine 
des Violettes — or Queen 
of Violets — a very large 
flower, as double as a 
rose, and looking as un- 
like a violet as need be. 
As we have seen it, it 
does not appear to be a 
very free bloomer. The 
English florists an- 
nounce three or four oth- 
er new varieties not yet 
tested in this country. 
The Eussian Violet be- 
longs to another species, 
and has already given 
some well marked vari- 
eties, one of the latest 
of which is called the 
Czar. Mr. George Such, 
of South Amboy, N. J., 
sent us materials for the 
accompanying illustra- 
tion, and the following 
notes upon the variety 
" This fine flower was 
obtained from seed by 
Mr. Graham, of Craw- 
ford, in England. It is 
an improvement on the 
old Russian Violet, the 
flowers being very large and sweet, of a fine 
deep blue. The plant is remarkable for extreme 
luxuriance of growth ; some plants in pots 
having produced more than one hundred and 
thirty flowers to a root, many of the blooms 
measuring an inch and a quarter in depth. 
" A writer in the London Cottage Gardener, 
says : ' I have now (Nov. 3d), some splendid 
plants with full-blown flowers, which from their 
wonderful size and sweetness, cannot be sur- 
passed; nor, iudeed, can any violet come near 
the Czar.' Another, under the heading of 
'New things I have tried,' says, 'the Czar 
Violet has proved not ouly hardy, but very 
prolific. Its flowers are not only larger than 
the older kinds, but are decidedly superior in 
fragance.' Mr. Graham, the raiser, says, ' the 
Czar Violet is now in bloom (October 1st), and 
will continue so through the winter, even during 
frost and under snow, until May.' 
"Viola cornuta, -which is now much used in 
England as a bedding plant, is not a novelty, 
having been introduced from Spain iu 1776. It 
was figured in the Botanical Magazine ; but with 
this exception, has remained for ninety years 
almost unnoticed. The flowers are slightly fra- 
grant, of a delicate slate-blue, a color very useful 
for toning down, and rendering more effective 
the brilliant and glowing colors. 
" Iu England, Viola cornuta is ' extremely 
hardy,' thriving without care in any common 
garden soil, and flowering abundantly through- 
out the summer. On light and dry soils, how- 
ever, the flowers are not so large as those 
from plauts on heavier and moister ground. 
There are three or four varieties of this violet, 
the true one being of better habit of growth 
and more free flowering than the others." 
Violets when grown in the garden do much 
better in a partially shaded place. They may 
be had almost any time in the winter if one has 
a frame and a few sashes, as it takes only a 
slight heat, that^ of the sun, to start them into 
flower. The plants are set in the frame in good 
soil, in August or September, aud when cool 
weather comes on they are covered at night. 
By a proper management of the sashes, flowers 
NEW KUS8IAX VIOLET — TUE CZiE. 
may be had until early winter. For later flowers, 
the plants are covered with leaves, which, by 
excluding the light keep: them dormant. When 
wanted to bloom, the leaves are removed and a 
few days of sun will bring them out. 
Propagating the Blackberry. 
BT A. S. FULLER. 
The most common method of propagating 
the blackberry is by cuttings of the roots, which 
may be made in the fall or early in spring — the 
former being preferable. 
Take up the roots when the plants have ceas- 
ed growing, and cut them iuto pieces of from 
one to three inches in length. Then prepare 
some boxes, by boring holes in the bottom to 
Fig. 1. — BURYING CUTTINGS. 
insure a good drainage, and place a layer of 
straw over the holes to prevent the soil from 
falling through ; over this put a layer of roots, 
then another layer of soil, and so on alternately 
until the box is full. 
Bury the boxes containing the roots, on a dry 
knoll or slight elevation in the garden, bank 
them up with soil, and cover so deeply that the 
roots will not be frozen. In addition to this, it 
is well to cover the whole with boards to carry 
off the water, aud if the soil is naturally tenaci- 
ous aud wet, a small excavation should be made 
at a point that will be under the center of the 
box when put in place, as shown iu figure 1. 
This arrangement will allow any surplus 
moisture which may accumulate in the boxes to 
drain off. Early in spring, so soon as the wea- 
ther and soil will permit, take out the roots and 
plant them in good rich soil, placing the pieces 
about three or four inches apart, in drills, and 
covering them two to four inches deep, accord- 
ing to the nature of the 
soil. If it is a heavy 
one, two inches will be 
sufficient. "When the 
plants are to be cultivat- 
ed with the plow or cul- 
tivator, the drills should 
be three feet apart ; but 
the best method is to 
place them not more 
than eighteen inches or 
two feet apart, and cul- 
tivate entirely with the 
hoe or fork. In a nat- 
urally dry and porous 
soil, it is a good plan to 
cover the entire surface, 
at the time of planting, 
with a liberal dressing 
of some coarse material 
as a mulch. This will en- 
sure a supply of moist- 
ure, and often - save a 
large portion of the cut- 
tings, if not the entire 
stock. Cuttings made in 
the fall and placed where 
they will not freeze dur- 
ing winter, have an ad- 
vantage over those made 
in the spring, from the 
fact that the peculiar process which always pre- 
cedes the formation of roots, called the callus, 
has sufficient time for full development before 
actual root growth commences. The new roots 
are usually emitted from the ends of the cut- 
tings where the callus appears. The callus is 
always produced first, roots succeed it, but what 
relation the callus bears to the root is not fully 
known ; it appears to hold the same relation to 
it that the cotyledons of some seeds do to the 
germ, i. e. it supplies the roots with necessary 
food until they are sufficiently advanced and 
able to extract it from the soil themselves. 
The buds from which the stems arc produced 
are distinctly adventitious, that is they do not 
arise from any previously formed or latent bud, 
but are developed from the matter between 
the bark aud wood. From this point the 
bud originates; first, by a very minute ag- 
gregation of cells, which assumes a conical 
shape, pressing outward through the bark and 
up to the surface, where the leaves are spread 
out to the light aud air. Sometimes several buds 
will be produced on a very small piece of root ; 
but when this occurs all will be comparatively 
feeble if they continue to grow. In a majority 
of such cases the strongest of" them will take 
the lead aud the others fail. 
Figure 2 shows a piece of root with two 
shoots, one of which lias readied tiie surface, 
aud the leaves expanding. Plants grown in this 
manner are much better than those produced in 
the natural manner from suckers, because they 
are more abundantly supplied with abrous roots. 
Root cuttings of from one to three inches in 
length, planted in good soil, will make plants 
one to three feet high the first season. Fhints 
may also be taken tip, and the roots made into 
