August 27, 1885. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
177 
somewhat disappointing. Its dwarf ccespitose tufts of leaves of 
glaucous hue, and the sky-blue flowers in profusion, seem to me 
the very type of sweet and modest grace and beauty. I have 
grown this charming little plant for years, and know something 
of its requirements. I remember well the great nuisance that 
slugs were to the first plants 1 ever had, and how I watched with 
anxious eyes lest it should suddenly be devoured, for slugs are 
particularly fond of it. After a year or two, when I became 
more familiar with it, I managed to root it in quantity from 
cuttings, which 1 believe was hitherto unknown, and from that 
time I could generally keep pace with the demand either by 
seedlings or cuttings. The seedlings in some cases were devoid 
of that pleasing glaucous hue which characterises the true plant, 
the flowers, however, being identical. I never saw it in finer 
condition than on the rockery of the late Mr. James Atkins of 
Painswick, where it grew with remarkable freedom. I have 
always found it to succeed best in about equal parts of peat and 
loam made rather sandy, and with plenty of depth for the roots. 
The way I used to obtain cuttings is as follows. Place a hand- 
light over the plant and keep comparatively close, giving air 
daily, still keeping it sufficiently close so as to excite new growth 
somewhat quickly. When 3 or 4 inches long, detach them with 
a heel from the main body and insert at once under a bellglass 
in very sandy soil, keeping quite close and well shaded. The 
seeds, which vary considerably in their germinating powers, 
sometimes lay dormant for eighteen months in the soil, others 
Fig. 82.—Iberis corifolia. 
will appear in a few months. These require very careful hand 
ling and watching, for it is in the very small state that they are 
most likely to be lost. 
Eeitbichium nanum. —Another plant to which the same 
correspondent alludes as having defeated all his attempts to 
cultivate successfully, and I fear many more could tell the 
same tale. It is one of the loveliest of all alpine gems, its 
miniature blossoms and the intensity of its lovely blue flowers 
bearing favourable comparison to the intense blue of the Vernal 
Gentian. It is certainly a fastidious alpine, and one requiring 
much skill and considerably more patience to know what 
its actual requirements are. One thing, however, I consider as 
certain, and which is, that it will never be a long liver if placed 
or planted on the level, whether that level be the border, the 
rockery, or in pots. I have experienced it to damp off suddenly 
and unawares in these positions. What it seems to need most of 
all, and what is most difficult to supply, is abundant moisture in 
spi-ing and early summer, in imitation of melting snows, and a 
dry bed in winter, during which season it is deeply embedded in 
dry snow. These conditions we cannot imitate in England, and 
consequently upon our variable winters, our incessant day by 
day changes, we are wont to lose a very precious gem among 
alpine plants. It would seem also to require that its tidy roots 
should always be in the cool, and to meet this I have never found 
it to succeed so well as when placed between two flat stones, after 
the manner in which the Parsley Fern (Allosorus crispus) and 
the Scaly Fern (Ceterach officinarum) inhabit the stone wall and 
cliffs in many parts of England. Choose a crevice where it can 
be accommodated in this way, and for the winter season a piece 
of glass may temporarily be placed overhanging it to shoot the 
water from its downy tufts, for it is the excessive damp gaining 
a lodgment in its intense downy tufts that destroys the majority 
of the plants which reach this country alive. I have attempted 
growing it in frames, keeping air on during all weathers, and I 
must say the severer the winter the better it has pulled through; 
not so, however, in mild winters, when the atmosphere is so over¬ 
laden with moisture. This little gem is widely distributed 
throughout the whole range of the Alps, and is often found at 
great elevations. Though I have to some extent been successful 
in its culture, my success is by no means complete, and others 
who have done well with it would render service by stating the 
exact circumstances under which it is placed.—J. H. E. 
LIFTING VINE ROOTS. 
Some gardeners—not all, of course—have a religious horror of 
touching the roots of their Vines once they are developed in the 
border prepared for them. They may be wandering deep down in 
some cold subsoil, the Vines may be showing unmistakeable signs of 
something wroDg, and yet they hesitate to disturb the roots lest they 
kill the Vines altogether. But a Vine is wonderfully long-suffering, 
and will permit its roots to be entirely lifted, of course with care and 
skill, as though it knew that the present tribulation were but the 
forerunner of something good to follow. When Vines are suspected 
of having their roots in the subsoil, away from control, and from the 
proper nourishment they need to enable them to flourish, no time 
should be lost in lifting their roots. 
Early spring or autumn should be chosen for the operation. The 
surface soil should be removed, and if good laid aside to mix in with the 
new compost afterwards to be applied to the roots. When the roots 
are approached a five-pronged fork should be used, and the soil gently 
and carefully removed from about them, care being taken that the 
soil is lifted in such a way that the roots run through the fork and 
are not broken by being caught sideways. 
All the old soil having been removed, and as many roots as 
possible having been rescued from the subsoil, all the roots should be 
carefully laid back and some of the new compost filled in, the first 
layer of roots being spread out when the soil approaches to with?* 11 
6 inches of the proposed top of the border. Sprinkle some fine son 
freely mixed with Thompson’s or other approved Vine manure over 
the roots, then fill in more good compost till within 3 inches of the 
top, then the remainder of the roots may be laid out, more fine soil 
put on, then a slight coating of good cowdung, and lastly a surfacing 
of a couple of inches of soil, leaving the border several inches higher 
than ultimately it is wished to be, as the whole will sink more or less. 
A supply of tepid water before the dung is put on will be of much 
service where the compost is on the side of being dry. 
Vines treated in the manner described may be relied od, other 
things being favourable, to amply repay for the trouble and expense 
bestowed on them. When once Vine roots are near the surface they 
may easily be retained there by judicious feeding on the top. A little 
fresh soil and Vine manure added every year will keep them on the 
top, and will amply reward the bestower. 
No mere tinkering will do when Vine roots are in the subsoil. 
“ Up, men, and at them ” must be the word of command, and there 
need be little fear that the result will be anything but entirely satis¬ 
factory. When Vines look sickly or show signs of failing health in 
nine cases out of ten such a course as described will work wonders— 
that is, of coutse, when the Vines are not eaten up with bug, as some- 
11 nes is the case, when the best plan is a total clearing out, a thorough 
cleansing, and planting other Vines.—S. 
VIOLAS. 
The long spell of hot dry weather which has been severely felt 
even in the midland districts has fairly tested the staying quali¬ 
ties of Violas and bedding Pansies, for experience has shown 
me that some of our best varieties, especially yellows, will not 
stand heat and drought well. 
I have for some years past been desirous of getting yellow 
self-coloured varieties free from any dark blotch or marking, and 
in Yellow Beauty, Yellow Dwarf, and other kinds I have suc¬ 
ceeded, but they are not robust enough in canstitption to stand 
hot dry weather. Queen of Spring is one of the best yellows 
which has no black blotch in it, and Golden Queen of Spring, a 
seedling from it, is deeper in colour, a more compact and stouter 
grower, a very early and continuous free-blooming variety, and 
