M»y 27, 1886. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
421 
borders ridges will take the place of hillocks, and should be 12 to 18 
inches wide and rounded at top. 
Plants and Planting. —The most suitable plants are those taken from 
outdoor-grown stools. The old stools or plants should be taken up after 
flowering, or at the close of April or early in May. It will be found 
that there are plants of two descriptions—viz., runners of last year with 
more or less roots, and suckers that emanate from the stem of the plant, 
some, if not all, of which have roots of their own. These two kinds are 
suitable for immediate planting after being detached or separated from 
the parent. They should have the runner wire and any large old leaves 
removed in trimming prior to planting, which will increase the length of 
the stem of the runner and facilitate the operation, and suckers should 
be treated similarly in respect of the old leaves ; but in each case all the 
fresh, green, healthy leaves should be carefully preserved, and any 
straggling or long root stem of the sucker shortened, preserving, however, 
a good amount of roots to each. Runners are best; the suckers, how¬ 
ever, are good, but it is perhaps best to keep each separate— i.e., plant 
each description by itself. In any case they must be kept as much out 
of the sun as possible until planted, it being a good plan to lay them as 
prepared in wet moss up to the collar. Plant the large-leaved or stronger¬ 
growing varieties 1 foot apart every way, whether the plants are put 
three or seven in a group, in threes or sevens, the circles being respec¬ 
tively 1 foot, 2 feet, and 3 feet across, and the arrangement equi-distant. 
The dwarfer varieties will be accommodated with a distance of 9 inches 
between the plants. The ground should be made firm by treading when 
the weather is dry. Choose moist weather if possible for planting, and 
put the plant down so as to leave the centre clear of the soil after 
it is pressed down about the roots as it should be rather firmly, or as 
firm as the surrounding ground. Water at once, and through a rose, 
so as to settle the soil about the roots, which should be repeated each 
evening until the plants become established, to facilitate which a few 
branches of evergreens or twigs of deciduous trees in leaf stuck in the 
ground on the sun side, so as to shade the plants, will be well repaid in 
the after well- doing of the plants. Keep a sharp look out for slugs late 
in the evening and early morning, after or before rain. Dust the plants 
with quicklime late in the evening, which will destroy all it falls upon, 
and repeat as occasion requires. As a preventive a ring of dry soot may 
be drawn around each plant. 
After Treatment. —Weeds should be kept under by running a hoe 
through the soil frequently, indeed they never ought to get beyond the 
seedling state. When the plants are growing freely dust with dry soot, 
selecting a time when the plants are damp, as a dewy morning or late 
evening. By midsummer, or from then to early July, mulch the soil close 
up to the centre of the plants and outward to quite 9 inches, covering the 
ground an inch thick with partially decayed manure, as that of a spent 
Mushroom bed; moss litter, leaf soil, and cocoa-nut fibre refuse are 
similarly employed. If the ground is dry a thorough soaking of water 
should be given prior to mulching. In dry weather give a good watering 
once a week through the mulching. Runners must be removed as they 
appear, but it is best to leave a joint or two at the base of each runner in 
preference to cutting them quite close to the plant. Runners that do not 
make more than a few inches of wire before showing the tufted leaf 
growth, the nucleus of the runner plant should be retained and an opening 
made for it in the mulching, in which it should be placed on the soil and 
be pegged, or a little of the mulching, or a small stone placed on the wire 
near the runner, which will facilitate the rooting. In autumn remove 
any decayed leaves, and stir the surface lightly with a small fork, mulch 
again with partially decayed manure or other available material, and 
leave the rest to Nature. In applying the mulch care should be taken 
not to cover the crowns or bury any of the flower buds. During the 
prevalence of winds with frost in winter and early spring a few Spruce or 
other branches around and amongst the clumps or on the sides of rows 
will afford shelter to the flowers and foliage. 
Second Year. —After flowering thin out the crowns, leaving the most 
compact and least elongated, pointing the soil about each plant without 
much disturbance of the roots. Dress with soot during the first moist 
weather that prevails afterwards, and mulch with short manure, &c., as in 
the first year, keeping off all the long runners, and not encouraging any 
that are likely to cause crowding, it being essential that the plants be kept 
from becoming a closely matted entangled mass of runners and leaves. 
Weeds must be kept under, and drought avoided by watering in dry 
weather. A slight mulch in autumn after clearing off any useless old 
foliage will be t>f benefit. Plants so treated will afford a quantity of 
useful flowers, and by similar treatment will continue to afford them for 
years ; but the flowers are never so large as in the first year, and after the 
second it is preferable to replant; indeed fresh plantings should be made 
every year, so that there is a succession of different age. 
Varieties for semi-cultivation :— 
Section I.—Plant dwarf and close-growing ; foliage and flowers small 
to medium size ; flower stems short to medium length. Suitable for button¬ 
hole bouquets, knots for dresses, shoulder and hip sprays, and in small 
bunches for specimen or finger-glasses in boudoirs, house and table 
decorations :— 
Viola odorata plena, double, bluish purple. Spring. Syn. Double 
Scotch. 
— alba plena, double, white. Spring. Syn. compacts. 
— elegantissimaplena, double, blue, indigo centre, waxy petals, finely 
imbricated, lovely, small in all its parts. Spring. 
— rubra, Bingle, pink. Spring. 
— parmaensis, semi-double, white striped rose. Spring. 
— Patrie, double, deep purple-violet, streaked red. September to 
April. 
— suavis (Russian, Scotch, London, floribunda, &c.), single, blue. 
Spring. 
— suavis superba (Russian Superb), larger in all its parts than Russian ; 
flower blue, rosy purple tinted. Spring. 
— suavis alba, single, white. Spring. Syn. albiflora. 
— suavis purpurea plena, double, deep purple. Spring. Syn. 
Double Russian. 
— suavis alba plena, double, white. Spring. Syn. Double White 
Russian. 
— suavis King of Violets, double, indigo blue. Spring. 
Section II.—Plant medium and compact-growing ; foliage medium 
size ; flowers medium to large ; flower stems medium to long. Suitable 
for similar purpose to Section I. on a larger scale :— 
Viola odorata argenteceflora, single, white, tinted rosy purple, purple 
spurs. Spring. If the runners are allowed to remain it flowers most of 
the year. 
— rubra plena, d rnble, pink. Spring. 
— suavis La Peine, double, white tinged purple. Spring. 
— suavis Queen of Violets, double, tinged purple, flowers occasionally 
very large. Spring. Syn. Belle de Chatenay. There is a form of this— 
viz., caerulea plena, with double light purple flowers. 
— suavis Devoniensis, single, purple, sometimes flowers a little in 
autumn, mostly in spring. 
— suavis Wilsoni, single purple, white eye, quaint in form, having 
narrow petals. Spring. 
— stiavis Lavisiana, single, lavender, white eye. Spring. 
Section III.—Plant strong, foliage large, flowers large, flower stem 
long. Suitable for large bouquets, vases, &c.:— 
Viola odorata suavis, Garden vars .:— 
Czar, single, purple. Autumn, winter, and spring flowering. 
Victoria Regina, single, purple. Autumn, winter and spring. Raised 
by Lee. 
Odoratissima, single, bluish-violet. Spring. Best of the large varieties 
for outdoors. Raised by Lee. 
White Czar, single, white. Autumn, winter, and spring. 
Section IV.—Plant medium ; foliage medium large, pointed, and 
comparatively smooth, shining, light bronzy green; flowers medium to 
large ; flower stems medium to long. More tender than those of the other 
sections. The most chaste and sweetest of Violets. 
Viola odorata suavis pallida plena, double, lavender, white eye. 
Spring. Syn. Neapolitan. 
— pallida alba plena, double or semi-double, white. Spring. Syn. 
Wh;te Neapolitan, Swanley White, Count Brazzi’s White Neapolitan. 
— Marie Louise, double, lavender blue, white eye. Autumn, winter, 
and spring. 
— New York, double, deep mauve, streaked red, white centre. Sep¬ 
tember to April. Syn. Odorata pendula, Venice, Marguerite de Savoie, 
Marie Louise of some, Count Brazzi’s Neapolitan. 
— De Panne, double, deep lavender, white eye. Flowers in autumn, 
but mainly in spring. 
— Duchess of Edinburgh, double, cream-white ground, each petal 
tinted mauve, bordered blue.—V iola. 
The Chiswick] Hobticultubal Society’s annual Exhibition 
will take place on Tuesday, July 15th, in the Royal Horticultural 
Society’s Gardens, Chiswick, when prizes will be offered in sixty-four 
classes, ranging from £5 to Is., for plants, flowers, fruit, and vegetables. 
A number of special prizes are contributed by friends of the Society, such 
as the Duke of Devonshire, Marquis of Bute, Lady George Hamilton, 
Leopold de Rothschild, Esq., and others. The Hon. Sec. is Mr. J. 
Fromow, Chiswick. 
- Messes. Robeet Veitch & Son, Exeter, send us some fine 
flowering branches ofj Choisya teenATA to let us see “ how freely it 
blooms in the open in Devon. The bushes are 4 feet high and 4 to 5 feet 
through ; and after having been in our nursery at Exminster, near Exeter, 
withstood the severity of the'past winter, are now covered with blossom 
and in rugged health. We do not think its hardiness is sufficiently well 
known, or it would be ortener met with than it is. Luxuriant growth, 
handsome foliage, large, Orange-blossom-like flowers, and a delightful 
perfume place it in the first rank of flowering shrubs.” We have seen 
this handsome shrub out of doors in the neighbourhood of London, but it 
needs to be grown against a wall, and is then seldom injured by frost. 
_“Entomologist” writes— “Recent inquiries about cankee 
