CULTURE OF THE GENUS VIOLA. 
347 
Ill gathering the fruit, great care is requisite. The great error into 
which most persons run, is gathering too soon, always allow the fruit 
to hang on as long as possible, or otherwise it withers and becomes 
tasteless. Always gather them when quite dry, and be careful not 
to bruize them; take them at once to the fruit room,and place them 
in the drawers, in layers singly; cover over the first layer, with dry 
saw-dust, and place another layer, and so on until the business is 
completed. There is no difficulty, by this mode of preserving, (and 
in a house constructed on this principle) of keeping the choice Ap¬ 
ples and Pears throughout May and June. 
The house must in all cases be built in a dry situation, and the 
ventillators (2) should have free access to the atmosphere from the 
outside of the house. A flue should also run under the floor; and 
the enterance door may be half glazed. The roof may be covered 
with thatch. The outer walk (7) is intended to keep the walls of 
the house dry in winter, and cold in summer. The arches may be 
gothic, and the materials rustic. A table should be placed round the 
middle pillar (1) two feet wide. 
FLORICULTURE. 
ARTICLE VI.—CULTURE OF THE GENUS VIOLA. 
This genus contains more than a hundred species and varieties, 
the greater part of which are ornamental and deserving of notice. 
They are chiefly hardy, and will thrive in a mixture of peat and 
loam; and, with a few exceptions, they are very low growing plants. 
The tender species are, V. arborescens, decumbens, humilis, csespi- 
tosa, pygmea, betonicaefolia, and Broussonetiana. These may all be 
treated as half-hardy plants; and all with the exception of arbores¬ 
cens, may be propagated by a division of the root. The V. arbores¬ 
cens, may be either increased by cuttings or layers. The best time 
to put in the cuttings is as early in the spring as they can be obtain¬ 
ed, generally in March. They are easily struck, if planted in alight 
rich sandy soil, and covered with a hand-glass, in a shady part of the 
greenhouse. The V. odorata, and its varieties, are well known and 
appreciated in our gardens, for the delightful fragrance they emit. 
The great point amongst gardeners is to have these throughout the 
winter; for this purpose a double variety, called the Neapolitan is 
evidently the best. The old blue violets seldom force so well, but 
the other may be had in perfection all through the winter with very 
little trouble. The culture may be stated as follows:— 
