18GT. 
AM I :rtc::ax acxKkmji.tukist 
>:r a fni^ranccj stn)n;^ eiuni^cli ti> bo oppressive. 
Thu ori;^iiial siipi^le spe<'ies has been greatly iin- 
l»rove;l uiMin, and we have now plants that 
binoin more abiiiulanlly, ami that give flowers 
ot ililFerent shafles, down to white, and even 
doiioie ones, some of which are very large. 
One of the bcit of the older varieties is the 
Neapolitan, double, of a pure violet color, 
a free bloomer ami very fragrant. A quite re¬ 
cent variety is T.a Heine 
(Us —or Queen 
of Violets—a very large 
flower, as double as a 
rose, and looking as un¬ 
like a violet as need be. 
As we have seen it, it 
does not appear to be a 
veiy free bloomer. The 
Engli-h florists an¬ 
nounce three or four oth¬ 
er new varieties not yet 
tested in this country. 
The Russian Violet be¬ 
longs to another species, 
and has already given 
some well marked vari- 
eticf, one (T the latest 
«)f which is ealic-d the 
Czar. 3Ir George Such, 
of South Ai»boj', N'. .1., 
sent us materials for the 
accompanying illustra¬ 
tion, and the follotving 
notes upon the variety 
“ This fine flower was 
obtained from seed by 
Mr. Graham, of Craw¬ 
ford, in England. It is 
an improvement on the 
old Russian Violet, the 
floW'-rs being very large and sweet, of a fine 
ieep blue. The plant is remarkabie for e.vtreme 
luxuriance of growth; some plants in pots 
having produced more than one hundred and 
thirty flowers to a root, many of the blooms 
measuring an inch and a quarter in depth. 
“ A writer in the Tendon Cottage Gardener, 
savs ; ‘ I have now (Xov’. 3J), some splendid 
plants with full-blown flowers, which from their 
wonderful .size and sweetness, cannot be sur¬ 
passed; nor, indeed, can any violet come near 
the Czar.’ Another, under the heading of 
‘N-w things I have tried,’ says, ‘the Czar 
Violet has proved not only hardy, but very 
prolific. Its flt)wer 3 arc not only larger than 
the older kinds, but are decidedly superior in 
fragance.’ Mr. Graham, the raiser, says, ‘ the 
Czar Violet is now in bloom (October 1st), and 
will continue so through the winter, even during 
frost and under snow, until May.’ 
''Viola cornuta, which is now much used in 
England as a bedding plant, is not a. no\elty, 
having been intr^)'luced from Spain in 177G. It 
Was figur(!vl in the Ilotani^ il yiiig<izt,ne ; but u ith 
this c.xception, has remained for ninety jears 
almost unnoticeil. The flowers are slightly fra¬ 
grant, of a delicate slate-blue, a color very useful 
for toning down, and nmdering more cfTectivc 
the brilliant and glowing colors. 
“In England, Viola cornuta is ‘extremely 
hardv,’ thriving without care in any common 
garden soil, and flowering abundantly through¬ 
out the summer. On light and dry soils, how - 
ever, the flowers are not so large as those 
from plants on heavier and moister ground. 
There are three or four varieties of this violet, 
the triK! one b'-itig of better habit of grow’th 
^nd •no«e free flowering than the others.” 
Violets wdien grown in the garden do much 
better in a partially shaded place. Th(^ tTiay 
be had almost any time in the winter if one has 
a ^ frame and a few sashes, as it takes only a 
slight heat, that of the sun, to start them into 
flower. The plants are set in the frame in good 
soil, in August or September, and when cool 
Aveather comes on they are covered at night. 
Ry a proper management of the sashes, flowers 
NEW RUSSI.VN VIOLET—THE CZ.VR. 
m.ay be had until early winter. For later flower.s, 
the plants are covered with leaves, which, by 
c.xcluding the light keep them dormant. Wlieu 
Avanted to bloom, the leaves are removed and a 
foAV days of sun Avill bring them out. 
---- 
Propagatinef the Blackberry. 
BT A. S. PULLER. 
The most common method of propagating 
the blackberiy is by cuttings of the roots, Avhich 
may be made in the fivll or early in spring—the 
former being preferable. 
Take up the roots Avhen the plants have ceas¬ 
ed groAving, and cut them into pieces of from 
one to three inches in length. Then prepare 
some boxes, by boring holes in the bottom to 
Fig. 1.— buryiko cuttings. 
insure a good drainage, and place a layei of 
straAV oA'cr the holes to prevent the soil from 
falling through ; over this put a layer of roots, 
then another layer of soil, and so on alternately 
until the box is full. 
Bury the boxes containing the roots, on a dry 
knoll or slight elevation in the garden, bank 
them up Avith soil, and cover so deeply that the 
roots Avill not be frozen. In addition to this, it 
is Avcll to cover the Avhole Avith boards to carry 
otr the water, an.l if the soil is naturally tenaci¬ 
ous and wet, a sm.all excavation should be made 
at a point that Avill be under the center of the 
box Avhen put in place, as shown in figure 1. 
This arrangement Avill allow any surplus 
moisture Avliich may accumulate in the boxes to 
drain olF. Early in spring, so soon as the wea¬ 
ther and soil Avill permit, take out the roots and 
plant them in good rich soil, placing the pieces 
about three or four inches apart, in drills, and 
covering them tAVO to four inches deep, accord¬ 
ing to the nature of the 
soil. If it is a heavy 
one, twm inches will he 
sufficient. When the 
plants are to be cultivat¬ 
ed Avith the plow or cul¬ 
tivator, the drills should 
be three feet apart; but 
the best method is to 
place them not more 
than eighteen inches or 
two feet apart, and cul¬ 
tivate entirely Avith the 
hoe or fork. In a nat¬ 
urally dry and porous 
soil, it is a good plan to 
cover the entire surface, 
at the time of planting, 
Avith a liberal dressing 
of some codrse material 
as a mulch. This will en¬ 
sure a supply of moist¬ 
ure, and often save a 
large portion of the cut¬ 
tings, if not the entire 
stock. Cuttings made in 
the fall and placed Avliere 
they Avill not freeze dur¬ 
ing Avinter, have an ad¬ 
vantage over those made 
in the spring, from the 
fact that the peculiar process Avhich always pre¬ 
cedes the formation of roots, called the callus, 
has sufficient time for full development before 
actual root growth commences. The ncAV roots 
are usually emitted from the ends of the cut¬ 
tings Avhere the callus appears. The callus is 
ahva3’S produced first, roots succeed it, but Avhat 
relation the callus bears to the root is not fully 
known ; it appears to hold the same lelation to 
it that the cotyledons of some seeds do to the 
germ, i. e. it supplies the roots AA’ith necessaij 
food until they are sufficiently advanced and 
able to extract it from the soil themselves. 
The buds from which the stems are produced 
are distinctly adventitious, that is they do not 
arise from any previously formed or latent bud, 
but are developed from the matter between 
the bark and wood. From this ix)int the 
bud originates; first, by a very minute ag¬ 
gregation of cells, which assumes a conical 
shape, pressing outward through the bark ant 
up to the surface, where the leaves are spread 
out to the light and air. Sometimes several buds 
Avill be produced on a very small piece of roo , 
but when this occurs all will be comparaUve y 
feeble if they continue togrovv. In a M 
of such cases the strongest of them aa ill take 
the lead and the others fail. 
Figure 3 shows a piece of roo Avitli two 
shoots one of which has reached the sm-face, 
LkI tl e leaves expaneliag. Hants grown m tin 
manner are muel. betterthan those produee 1 .11 
the natural manner from snoliers, tecanse tliej 
are more abundantly supplied with fibrous i oots. 
Roo t cuttiii-s of from one to three Inches m 
kno-th, planted in good soil, will make plants 
one°to three feet high the first season. Plants 
may also be taken up, and the mots made m o 
