330 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ October IG, 1890. 
find it anticipating its usual period of flowering, as this will likely 
mean its failing us in spring. 
The Tradescentias are old-fashioned plants which are apparently 
again coming somewhat into favour. They are beginning to re¬ 
appear in good collections. I have grown several varieties, and 
seen some others, and had I to make a selection of four I would 
choose T. virginica (blue), T. v. alba, T. congesta (light blue), and 
one which I have under the name of T. atro-rubens, the brightest 
of all. They are almost continuous bloomers, and this damp 
season appears to have suited them well. Some of the perennial 
Sunflowers are still in full bloom, and looking over them I do not 
see any to equal at this season Helianthus multiflorus maximus. I 
much prefer it to the double varieties, not even excepting Soleil 
d’Or, the subject of so many criticisms. From all I have seen of 
it I feel bound to say that generally speaking it is distinct from 
the. ordinary double Helianthus multiflorus, but that its value 
varies in different gardens. I have seen it very good, but last 
week I saw it in a Lanarkshire garden, and then it was very poor 
indeed, and not equal to the ordinary form. Chrysanthemum 
uliginosum is now in full flower, and despite its strong growing 
propensities is of great value as a succession to the other hardy 
species. A gardener of my acquaintance was in the habit of 
cutting these down when about 18 inches high, and this had the 
effect of reducing their height, although it also retarded the bloom. 
It is a little surprising in going through gardens to see so many 
worthless perennial Asters. I have seen but few I should care to 
add to my collection •with the exception of a tall, large-flowered 
one named Robert Parker and one named Galatella linifolia, which 
is very bright, and is covered with flowers, which are, however, not 
of good form. I expect this is synonymous with Aster linarias- 
folius. I have a considerable number of these Asters, some of 
which can hardly be considered among the elite of hardy flowers, 
but are useful for cutting, and help to give interest to the garden 
in dreary days. Too soon, however, we shall have to say with 
Bryant :— 
. . . “ on the hill the Golden Rod, and the Aster in the wood, 
And the yellow Sunflower by the brook in autumn beauty stood, 
Till fell the frost from the clear cold heaven as falls the plague on 
men, 
And the brightness of their smile was gone from uplands, glade, and 
glen.” 
—S. Arnott. 
STRAY NOTES. 
The article by “I. M. H.” on Violets in the Journal of 
September 18th was an excellent one. He gave the solution to a 
problem in culture which seems perplexing to a novice :—viz., You 
must cut off all runners as soon as they form in summer and 
autumn, and yet your fresh plants in the spring must be young 
ones, and not the actual old crowns. The answer to this puzzle is 
that a few runners here and there are very short, and form plants 
that do not reach much beyond the margins of the clumps, and 
also some early cut-off runners, I think, form plants close in to 
the old stools. One naturally leaves these in cutting off the thin 
string-like runners round the plants, and in the following spring, 
when breaking up the stools for fresh planting, it is not difficult to 
choose these instead of the worn out centres. Cutting off the 
runners is very important ; it is by constant care in this respect 
that great strong clumps are formed which bloom in extraordinary 
profusion nearly round the year. It is a troublesome job, especially 
late in the season, when leaves and flower buds, neither of which 
should be injured, are mingled with the runners all round the 
plants ; but a neglect of it is one of the first causes of failure. A 
second, and more important fault, is the adding of manure in any 
shape ; the ordinary groom and gardener thinks “ a dressing of 
muck ” will do good to anything, but it will ruin Violets unless 
you want fine leaves, and them only. I was rude enough the other 
day, in sending a large bunch of Violets by post to a friend, to say 
that I had not enclosed any leaves, as his own plants, I knew, could 
furnish them. And a third source of failure is the delaying till too 
late in the spring to make the fresh plantation ; it should be done 
early in April as soon as the blooms are practically over and the 
new leaves begin to grow ; and the plants should not be tucked in 
any odd place, but carefully planted in rows in a good open part 
of the garden. We very seldom block up the lights in the winter ; 
they are altogether off if it is not actually freezing, or altogether 
on if it is. We aim at as much air as possible compatible with the 
warding off of frost. We have an Ivy screen close to the Violet 
frames, and use these leaves alone for Violets in the winter. 
I think “ T. M. H.” is right in keeping to the two sorts, Marie 
Louise and Comte de Brazza, and I have four times as many of the 
former as I have of the latter, which are never so fine except in 
the leaf, and are of no use except in the spring. I see a Violet is 
advertised by a large firm which is “ in every way to supersede ” 
Marie Louise ; but “ as at present advised ” it is the best Violet, 
and I for one do not want anything but the best. I picked a good 
bunch from my fresh plants about the middle of July. I made no 
note of the exact date, but it was before we had done Rose-showing. 
We have been picking ever since, and hope to do so till the begin¬ 
ning of next April. It is a grand large flower, and will take a lot 
of beating. The old Neapolitan Mr. Beachey recommends is a 
charming colour, but a very poor flower, and a great many are 
required to form a bunch. .We do not want so many sorts of 
Violets, or Apples, or anything to the hindrance of the multiplica¬ 
tion of the best. 
Roses ? AVell, if we are exhibitors in the large classes we must 
have many sorts. The National Rose Society is of considerable 
service in pointing to the best, and in protection against duplicates ; 
but even as it is, the mediocre varieties, which are too good to 
discard, and yet ought not to take up the room of newer and better 
sorts, are becoming rather a nuisance. 
I see in the Journal that the Americans are starting a society 
to protect, as by patent, the raisers of novelties in horticulture— 
an excellent idea, especially if it will not only protect the raisers- 
against the public, but also the public against the raisers, by insist¬ 
ing on everything patented being distinct and of merit. Is not 
that so, fellow students, of the merits of “ Brown’s Bouncing 
Broccoli ” and “ Price’s Paragon Pea ? ” 
How useful is an ever-ready supply of liquid manure! By 
putting solid manure into the soil you lose all control over it,, 
whereas with the liquid you have your hapd on the tap so to speak,, 
and can put on the spurt when it is required. A neighbour’s Peach 
tree had no bloom to speak of, and no fruit at all ; the soil was 
rich, and the shoots were thick, strong, and gross. My only Peach 
tree on a little bit of west wall is in poor soil; its shoots were 
small, thin, twiggy, and hard, but it had a fair amount of bloom,, 
and set five dozen of fruit. They would have been very small, and. 
perhaps a good many would have fallen off, but, commencing in 
July, we gave it two or three thorough drenchings of liquid manure,, 
and had as fine a lot of Peaches as I could wish. It is the same with 
Tomatoes. I wish I had sold some of mine (I see inferior sam¬ 
ples in the shop windows labelled at the same price per lb. as legs- 
of mutton), or at least weighed all I have gathered out of doors. 
As I have not done so I will not estimate, for that is fallacious. 
I have at last found the disease on one plant, which I have 
carried away and carefully burnt. It is strange we have not had it 
before, if it is actually the same as the Potato disease, for that was- 
upon us badly at an early period. I am trying to persuade the 
labourers about here that the best possible way to assist the Potato- 
disease is to do as they do, and always have done—viz., leave all 
tubers touched with it scattered about on the surface of the ground 
to rot gradually ; but they do not see it, and as I cannot promise- 
them they will have no disease if they do otherwise, they do not. 
think much of my advice. _ 
I have been reading somewhere an account of the fine gardens 
at Shrublands in Suffolk, as they are now, converted from the 
most rigid adherence to the bedding out system to a more natural 
and less artificial state of things. Tea Roses are extensively grown 
without winter protection, and the gardener, somewhat naturally,, 
says that they are hardy. He is not alone in this statement. A 
professional Rose grower of note affirms the same in his catalogue,, 
and the meaning of it is that his grounds and those at Shrublands 
are each on the top of a hill. If the gardener at Shrublands had 
to grow his Teas in the meadows below, by the river, as I have, he- 
would, I think, alter his opinion. The difference is astonishing, 
and more than one would imagine, considering it is a matter of at 
most not more than 3° or 4° of temperature. The top of the hill,, 
if you can, for Tea Roses, Apples, and everything that is likely to 
be injured by frost, but I do not think they thoroughly understood 
this in old times. We read of the sheltered valleys as being fruit¬ 
ful and flowery, and exposure was dreaded for half-hardy things, 
but we know now that low-lying valleys are dangerous, not because 
exposure to winds is necessarily desirable, but because frost i& 
strongest and most hurtful in low localities, especially by the side- 
of rivers, where there is much evaporation. 
An article in last week’s Journal dealt with fish culture. It is 
true that this is much neglected, and perhaps also true, as some 
say, that more food per annum can be raised from an acre of water 
than from the same amount of land, but what I think is also over¬ 
looked is plant aquiculture. We ought to get more flowers, and 
more edible or useful vegetable produce from our water. Will not 
