September 28 , 1882 . ] JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 289 
and in his very pretty garden on the Dover road has a nice collec¬ 
tion of excellent plants, more especially Teas, while the Sweet- 
briar hedge that surrounds his rosery is a delightful feature which 
might well be copied by others. I had not at the time leisure to 
visit it, but hope to do so at some other time. The object of my 
visit was accomplished, and hope it may in some little way prove 
of interest to the readers of the Journal.—D., Deal. 
PATRIE VIOLET. 
I AM agreeably surprised to find in this a valuable addition to 
our already numerous varieties of autumn and winter-flowering 
Violets with double flowers. It has flowers of a deep purple, with 
a considerable amount of white at the base of the petals or in 
the eye ; perfect half balls, in good examples the size of a florin. 
The footstalks are of good length but slender, and, like most other 
double varieties, do not support the flowers, which are from their 
weight prostrate. The foliage is very neat, not unlike the double 
Russian, but more heart-shaped. The plant is very floriferous, 
and from its neat habit is fine for pots, which for such varieties 
as this and the Neapolitan types need not exceed 5 inches in 
diameter, in which well-flowered plants are always acceptable for 
rooms. De Parme, Venice, and New York are fine grown in pots, 
and a succession can be had by drafting the plants from cold 
frames to a house with a temperature of 50° artificially at intervals. 
V. argenteseflora in pots, with its runners flowering from every 
joint as well as from the crowns right through the winter in a 
temperature of 40° to 45°, is useful for brackets. It is without 
an equal for elegance, sweetness, and abundance of blooms. The 
more I see of it the more I like it; yet its flowers are single with 
pointed petals, and the colour grey, whiter in late summer and 
autumn than in spring.— G. Abbey, 
FRUIT-JUDGING AT EDINBURGH. 
The chief aim of horticultural societies is to stimulate and 
foster a desire amongst gardeners to produce fruits, flowers, and 
vegetables of superior quality for supplying the wants of their 
employers, and as an encouragement to that end handsome prizes 
are offered for competition to gardeners who may be desirous of 
testing their skill by placing their productions side by side with 
those of their brethren on the exhibition table, where the merits 
of the respective collections are decided by judges appointed for 
the purpose. In some instances, however, quality receives little 
consideration, while quantity or size of individual objects in the 
competing collections receives an undue share of attention, and 
is the means of securing the coveted prize. 
In the culture of flowers and ornamental plants the cultivator 
has but one thing to keep in view—namely, the production of an 
object to please the eye. On the other hand, in the culture of 
most fruits and many vegetables his efforts should be to please 
the eye and satisfy the palate ; and he who is able to place on 
his employer’s or the exhibition table Pines, Pears, and Peaches, 
Grapes, Melons, and Plums, Apricots, Apples, and Figs that are 
pleasing to the eye and satisfactory to the palate has reached a 
good position as a cultivator. The eye, however, is a great despot 
or monopolist, and, like all despots, so long as it is satisfied cares 
very little whether other members of the same body or community 
are so or not. 
I am of opinion that in the case of some classes of fruit at the 
great Show at Edinburgh on the 13th and 14th inst. the eye 
asserted its despotic sway, and awarded the prizes without giving 
its coadjutor the palate a chance of expressing an opinion on the 
matter. This was strikingly evident in the class for six varieties 
of Grapes, two bunches of each. In the collection that secured 
the highest honours there were large well-formed bunches, some 
being certainly unripe and second-rate varieties. These large 
well-formed bunches caught the eye in “ the grey of the morning ” 
and satisfied it to repletion. If a few of the outer berries had 
been removed from these handsome-looking bunches, and one or 
two of the interior been submitted to the palate, I am of opinion 
that it would have recorded an opposite verdict to that rendered 
by the eye. 
In the class for twelve varieties of fruit the eye was again 
charmed with the collection that contained large bunches of 
Grapes of similar build and quality to those referred to ; and, as 
a consequence, the first prize was awarded to it. The third-prize 
collection in this class should unquestionably have occupied the 
first place. Every dish of fruit in it was ripe and fit to place on 
the table of a prince, whereas the large bunches of Grapes and one 
of the Pines in the first-prize lot were in an unfit state, as regards 
ripeness, to place on any table. 
Another class, that for single dishes of Peaches, supplied a 
further illustration of how the eye is fascinated by large-sized 
fruits. In this case the winning lot was composed of large 
unnamed fruit of a sickly yellow appearance, there not being a 
tinge of peach colour to be seen on one of them. 
At the beginning I remarked that the chief aim of horticultural 
societies was to induce gardeners to produce fruit, &c., of superior 
quality for the supply of their employers’ wants ; and the 
question I would now ask is this—Can bunches of Gros Guillaume 
and Trebbiano Grapes weighing from 9 to 12 lbs. be ripened early 
in September in any part of the United Kingdom to that degree 
of excellence that bunches of Madresfield Court and Muscat of 
Alexandria can that weigh from 2 to 4 lbs. ? Even supposing 
it could be done, are the larger bunches as profitable and useful 
for our employers’ tables ? and will they keep as well as those of 
the lesser weight 1 If these questions are answered in the nega¬ 
tive, as I expect they will, then why should our great horticultural 
societies encourage the production of such unwieldy bunches and 
award the chief honours to imperfectly ripened Grapes ? I trust 
this matter will be taken up by others competent to deal with it, 
as an important principle is at stake—namely, whether fruit that 
could not be properly included in a first-class dessert should be 
awarded high honours because of its size, while other examples 
abundantly large for any dish or table, and of much better 
quality, should be placed in the background ?—H. B. 
PLANTS FOR WINTER FLOWERING. 
It is now time for all plants which have been grown throughout 
summer in the kitchen garden to be lifted and placed in pots. 
The simplest way of managing these I have also found to be the 
quickest and the best. It is generally thought necessary, after 
potting any or all of these, that they should be placed under glass 
and kept in a close and moist atmosphere until root-action has 
commenced. But this is not so. In fact I have always managed 
so as to have root-action commenced before the plants have been 
housed. It may be useful to state the reasons why this system 
succeeds so well; and it may be premised that any plants which 
have previously been grown in pots do not need to be raised so as 
to break a portion of the roots a short time before lifting. With 
those which have not been in pots before, such as young Bouvardias, 
Chrysanthemums, &c., a slight raising a week previous to lifting 
is of advantage ; but as a rule this is a part of the practice which 
has been considerably modified, as we find that very few plants 
suffer in the slightest degree lifted at this season. No safer time 
than the present can be found for removing and replanting strong 
border-flowering plants, young fruit trees, Roses, and shrubs. 
There is not enough heat to cause flagging, and when the days are 
warm the nights are cool and moist, so that root-action takes place 
quickly. All kinds of plants prepared by planting out in summer 
are under exactly the same conditions with these ; and when 
placed in a shady position for a few days, with the little water 
that may be required, they become sufficiently established in a 
week to ten days to be removed into any house, whether cool or 
warm, without losing their foliage. Bedding plants which are 
occasionally lifted at this season are treated in exactly the same 
manner, and are found to do equally well. 
A compost of three parts turfy loam to one of cow manure rubbed 
fine is suitable. Drainage must in every case be good, as a suffi¬ 
cient quantity of water is a necessity, and all chance of water¬ 
logging must be guarded against. Another point to be emphasised 
is that the smallest pots possible to contain the roots of the plants 
should be used, and the soil should be rammed very firmly down. 
These two latter points will ensure a floriferous condition in the 
plants. To maintain this condition manurial aid must be em¬ 
ployed. This is done in our case by placing a small dressing of 
artificial manure once in every ten days on the surface of the 
soil, and is washed down when the plants are watered. A light 
position, ventilation when weather is favourable, and sufficient 
but moderate heat, are all that are required to give satisfaction 
to all concerned. Failure often follows through want of sufficient 
heat. A plant that will flower freely out of doors in August 
requires a stove temperature to flower in during winter.—B. 
Wasps. —Much has been written from time to time about wasps 
since “ Duckwing’s” first communication last spring, which caused 
many to take more notice of these pests than they probably would 
have done; and I feel sure the more they are studied, even by 
“ Duckwing” himself, the sooner he will be convinced that he is in 
error. Last spring there were many queen wasps here, and we killed 
numbers with a garden syringe, which I find the most useful thing 
to bring them down with; but notwithstanding this and the con¬ 
tinuous wet season there are many nests. We have already taken 
about a dozen, and I know of several more. This is not a large 
number in comparison with some places ; but I think it is a lot for a 
