JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
January 31,1895. 
ys 
neither found impracticable nor impossible. If one good all-round 
man, with a wide experience in judging such as “A. D.” has had, 
were appointed appeal judge, given a comfortable room convenient 
to the exhibition, with the daily papers on the table before him and a 
choice of teetotal drinks, he could pass a pleasant hour or two, and 
the dread of his appellate jurisdiction would make the judges so careful 
that he would very often have a maiden court. Not even a grumble 
would be heard, and instead of having his decisions supervised by other 
judges he himself would be the head of all. Would this not be worth 
his fighting for ?—C. E., Oargunnoch. 
National Rose Society.—The Trophy Classes. 
Neither your correspondent, “ J. B.,” or others who have taken up 
this subject, seem to be aware how their wishes have been more than 
anticipated by the Committee. At the November meeting "two reso¬ 
lutions were brought forward on this subject, one that the winner of 
the amateurs’ trophy should become a Vice-President for the year, and 
the other, that a large gold medal, the same size as the silver medal, 
should be substituted for the money prize. The cost of this will be 
£7 lOs., and its intrinsic value, I suppose, about £6. Possibly this may 
be extended, as I think it ought to be, to the amateur jubilee class also. 
The nurserymen present at the meeting who had been winners of the 
trophy in their own class thought it ought not to be extended to them, 
and the Committee decided on confining it to the amateurs.—D., Deal, 
The Queen’s English. 
Having had occasion to write to Mr. Foster-Melliar on the subject 
of his book I have received from him a reply in which I find the follow¬ 
ing slight reference to the little critique of a correspondent on page 75 : 
■—“ ‘Arcanum’ is right in his criticisms of my English ; but what of 
* may be excused making it,’ and ‘ way of producing such ’ in his own 
communication 1 I had rather not discuss my own book in print.” 
Of course, as Mr Foster-Melliar knows, I did not request him to do 
80 , and hope he will not object to the small citation from his letter. The 
best of writers make occasional “ slips ” in the Queen’s English, which 
they know so well.— A Reader. 
Rosa rugosa. 
I CAN fully endorse all “ A. C.” (page 76) says in praise of these 
Roses, for surely we have no flowering shrub of more constant beauty. 
The deep green leafage, remarkable freedom from insect enemies, a 
constant show of bloom through the whole summer and autumn, and, 
by no means the least, a crop of particularly showy heps. But when your 
correspondent claims for Mr. Martin seeming priority in the attempt to 
improve these I cannot quite follow him. Monsieur Bruant of Poitiers 
is doing considerable work in this direction, and has been for some time. 
In 1887 Monsieur Bruant gave us that beautiful semi-double hybrid named 
Madame Georges Bruant. I understand this to be a cross between Rosa 
rugosa and Sombreuil, and the plant, bloom, and whole habit seem to 
confirm this. It is one of the first to bloom and the last to cease. I have 
used the whi^e rugosa and this semi-double form very frequently in large 
wreaths and crosses. Nothing works up better, as the beautiful foliage 
is so well in keeping, and the pointed buds retain their shape and bold¬ 
ness for a long time. Within the past few days I have had a letter from 
M. Bruant, and also plants of his two new rugosas of this spring. Several 
good hybrid rugosas are now on the market, notably those from the 
raiser named, Cochet and Dr. E. Kaufmann. 
I have grown a few seedlings of rugosa alba and rubra for a long 
time, and find they vary considerably ; so much so that few will 
purchise seedling plants in preference to those worked from a good 
type of either variety. We might do worse than grow a few of these 
in pots on a north border, then house them with our Chrysanthemums 
and so secure a lasting show of handsome foliage, a few blooms and 
many berries up to and beyond Christmas. That they are capable of 
this I know from experience. Nor can we possibly find a Rose more 
suited to town and suburban gardens, seeming entirely unaffected by 
fogs and smoke, while all soils appear congenial. I hope to visit Reading 
with the N.R.S. and shall certainly look out for Mr. Martin’s hybrids. 
I may say that I, also, have found hybrids longer in flowering than 
naturally crossed heps.— Practice. 
BURR-KNOT APPLE. 
This is a very useful, free-bearing, culinary Apple, in use during 
October and November. It is also called “ Bide’s Walking-stick.” The 
following description is taken from Dr. Hogg’s “ Fruit Manual,” fourth 
edition. “Fruit round ; skin shining of a clear lemon-yellow colour 
with a blush of red on the side next the sun ; eye closed ; stalk half an 
inch long ; flesh white, tender, juicy, and of an agreeable acid flavour. 
The tree is a close and compact grower, and a profusion of burrs are 
produced on the branches which emit incipient roots. If a branch 
furnished with these burrs is inserted in the ground it will take root and 
become a tree.” The name of Bide’s Walking-stick originated from a 
person of that name having cut a branch for a walking-stick in 
Cheshire, and brought it to his place near Hertford, and inserting it in 
the ground it took root and became a tree. 
There are a number of trees of this variety in the gardens here, and it 
is also to be found in some of the cottage gardens in the neighbourhood, 
several of which trees I have been informed have been grown from 
cuttings. My first knowledge of it was on taking charge of these 
gardens four years ago. Every year all the trees, some of which are very 
small, have produced good crops of fruit, and though last year was a 
bad Apple year, and most varieties were badly infested with insect 
pests and made but little growth, all my Burr-knot trees fruited well, 
and also made good clean growth. 
This, I believe, is quite a local Apple, or at any rate a north of 
England Apple. I have looked through the catalogues of several of our 
fruit tree growers and books on fruit culture, but do not find it men¬ 
tioned in any of these. A few weeks ago one of our greatest authorities 
on fruit culture told me he had known this Apple for fifty years, but 
had never seen it in the south of England, and a reader of the Journal oj 
has procured trees from several different nurserymen under 
the above name, but in no case did he obtain the true variety. My 
reason for penning these notes is to gain information, and I shall be glad 
if any correspondents of the Journal can tell me when this Apple was 
raised and who was the raiser.—J. S. Upex, Wiggauthorge. 
THE HISTORY OF THE VIOLA. 
In the Journal I have on two or three occasions referred somewhat 
fully to the introduction into notice of the Viola cornuta by Mr. John 
Wills, and of the work followed by others, but as the Viola has now 
become so very popular both as an outdoor decorative plant and at our 
exhibitions, I feel that a more complete history would be of much 
interest to.those interested in the cultivation of this plant. 
The honour of being the first person to hybridise the vaiious species 
of Viola belongs to Mr. James Grieve, the manager of Messrs. Dicksons 
and Co., Pilrig Park Nurseries, Edinburgh, who in the year 1861 
collected plants of Viola lutea on the Pentland Hills, and V. amoena 
from Moffatdale, and went to work hybridising and raising seedlings, 
using the pollen of various Pansies. From Viola lutea he obtained 
Dicksons’ Golden Gem, Grievei, and others of that type. V. amoena 
was the parent of all the Blue Bell type, and V. stricta of all the ray less 
type of the earlier period of the Viola. Mr. Grieve having raised rayless 
varieties for twenty years writes, “ Of late years size has been the first 
point aimed at by so many, which is an error.” 
The credit, however, of first bringing the Viola into notice as a 
bedding plant must be given to Mr. John Wills, who, in 1862, was 
gardener to Sir Philip de Grey Egerton, Bart, When in London the 
same year he saw half a dozen plants in bloom of Viola cornuta, and 
tried to buy them, ultimately purchasing three of the plants. This was 
in the summer, and by propagation he obtained a large stock. In 1864 
Mr. Wills obtained plants of Viola lutea for the purpose of testing it as 
a spring decorative plant, using it extensively at Huntroyde Park, 
Burnley, whilst gardener there. This fine old species produced Lutea 
grandiflora or Lutea major, a variety still grown, and of which I saw 
a grand bed in the Birmingham Botanical Gardens during the past year. 
It was about the year 1870 that Mr. Grieve went thoroughly into the 
work of hybridising Violas and raising seedlings, using Violas lutea, 
stricta, montana, cornuta, and others. His earliest seedlings were 
Vanguard, Celestial, Polly, Oculata, The Fairy, Lutea major. Golden 
Gem, Grievei, and Pallida. Finding a great demand for Violas, he 
worked assiduously, and in 1872 twelve of his new varieties were figured 
in the “Floral Magazine” for that year—viz., Eyebright, White Per¬ 
fection, Canary, Advancer, In Memoriam, Regina, Dickson’s King, 
Snowflake, Tory, Favourite, Claret, and Scotia. Of these Tory and 
Snowflake are still frequently to be met with in gardens. In the same 
year the firm exhibited at the Crystal Palace a collection of 100 varie¬ 
ties of seedlings and others, chiefly their own raising. Like the Fancy 
Pansy when I introduced it, our Scottish florists at that time gave the 
cold shoulder to the Viola, and when the firm exhibited collections as 
they did at the Edinburgh shows, “ Here comes Grieve with his weeds,” 
was the common salute he received. 
Other growers also began to take up tbe Viola, for in 1870 Mr. B. S. 
Williams, of Holloway, sent out Viola Perfection, followed by Sensa¬ 
tion and Admiration, varieties raised at Rotherfield Park Gardens, in 
Hampshire. In 1872 Mr. R. Dean, of Ealing, introduced Blue Bell, 
which soon became a very popular variety. Some little time after he 
sent out Corisande, Lothair, and Piineess of Teck, raised in his seed 
grounds at Bedfont. Some Tom Thumb varieties of Violas or miniature 
Pansies were raised there from seed, having a very compact dwarf growth 
and small flowers, resembling the Violetta (section of the present day, 
but florists did not seem to care for them. 
In 1874 Messrs. Dicksons & Co. sent out Sovereign and Alpha, and 
in their catalogue of that year twenty-five varieties of Violas are 
named. In 1875 Mr. R. Dean sent out Crown Jewel, Royal Blue, 
Lilacina, Mulberry, and White Swan, Mr. B, S. Williams introducing a 
good white variety Mrs. Gray, raised at Eglinton Castle Gardens. 
About the year 1878 the writer of these notes raised True Blue, and 
subsequently other sorts such as Queen of Lilacs, Golden Queen of 
