326 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[March 14. 
and these possess an emetic quality in their roots 
which enables them to he given in the place of ipe¬ 
cacuanha. The roots of all the annual and herba¬ 
ceous species of the order partake of the same 
property in a greater or less degree, and this is the 
only general medical character in them which de¬ 
serves comment. 
Vtolet (Viola odorata, L .).— 
Sweet flower! spring’s earliest, loveliest gem, 
While other flowers are idly sleeping, 
Thou rear’st .thy purple diadem, 
Meekly from thy seclusion peeping. 
Thou, from thy little sacred mound, 
Where diamond dew-drops shine above thee, 
Scatterest thy modest fragrance round. 
And well may nature’s poet love thee. 
Bowring. 
Few flowers can lay claim to being so universally 
admired as the violet; and it affords a lesson which 
cannot be too deeply impressed upon the mind of 
youth and inexperience, that good qualities, when 
combined with modesty, will always command greater 
respect than when thrust upon our notice by assu¬ 
rance and self-sufficiency. 
Like many other plants whose action upon the 
human frame is not very perceptible, unless used in 
considerable quantities, the violet has had great 
notoriety for some years past in the cure of various 
disorders; but the experiments of late years tend to 
throw discredit upon its claim to the greater portion 
of its renown. The syrup made from an infusion of 
the flowers has long been known as a mild and 
agreeable laxative, and is really a very useful medi¬ 
cine for young children; it is combined with an 
equal quantity of oil of almonds, and one or two 
teaspoonsful are then given to newly-born infants. 
The syrup is also found beneficial for sore throats. 
The seeds and root likewise possess similar proper¬ 
ties; and the latter is also a good emetic, if half-a- 
drachm to a drachm of it be taken. The leaves of 
the violet are frequently bruised and applied to 
bruises ; and the flower w r as so highly esteemed as a 
remedy for weak lungs that a conserve, called violet- 
sugar, was, in the time of Charles II., continually 
recommended by physicians to their consumptive 
patients. On the continent an infusion of the dried 
flowers is even now very generally used as a sweat¬ 
ing-drink in colds and slight fevers. The Romans 
had a wine made of the flowers; and it is said that 
they are still used in the preparation of the Grand 
Signor’s sherbet. Old Pliny had so high an opinion 
of their virtues as to assert that a garland of A r iolets 
worn round the bead would i, prevent headache or 
dizziness,‘but modern writers know this to be an 
error, since a number of violets kept in a small 
apartment have produced faintness, giddiness, and 
even appoplexy and convulsions in some constitu¬ 
tions. This is, after all, but another proof that no 
pleasure is altogether free from bane. 
Heartsease (Viola tricolor, L.).- —The heartsease 
has ever been a favourite flower amongst our coun¬ 
trymen, and on that account has received many 
provincial names, the majority of them bearing some 
allusion to love. In days of superstition, and, it 
would seem, even in later times, it was called Herb 
of the Trinity, a name used, says a severe writer of 
the middle of the last century, by “ such physicians 
as are licensed to blaspheme by authority, without 
danger of having their tongue bored through with 
air hot iron.” 
Yet marked I wliere the holt of Cupid fell: 
It fell upon a little Western flower,— 
Before, milk-white,—now purple with Love’s wound. 
And maidens call it Love-in-idleness. 
Midsummer Nights' Dream, act 2, scene 2. 
When strongly bruised the heartsease gives a 
scent resembling that of peach-kernels. A decoction 
of the plant was formerly a favourite remedy in in¬ 
flammatory diseases of the lungs, and it is still used 
by some French physicians in chronic affections of 
the skin. The root (like that of most plants in this 
order) is emetic, but not sufficiently powerful to 
become of general use. 
EXTRACTS EROM CORRESPONDENCE. 
Chapman’s Prince or Wales Plum.—To those of 
your readers wlio happen, at this time, to be making 
their selection of fruit-trees, the following notice of 
Chapman’s Prince of Wales plum may be interesting. 
A description of it appeared in the Gardeners Chro¬ 
nicle, December 13th, 1845; and I was induced to 
order a couple of young trees from Brentford-end, 
the place of its nativity. One I trained as a pyra¬ 
midal, but allowed the side brandies to spread a 
greater distance from the stem than is the usual prac¬ 
tice with trees so trained. It was root-pruned in 
1847, and is now only 7 feet high; yet it bore, last 
year, upwards of 12 dozen fine plums. To shew that 
I have not exaggerated, or been mistaken as to the 
number, I may mention that the bulk of them were 
committed to six bottles of large dimensions, each 
containing two dozen, and some few were eaten from 
the tree. In 1847, the produce was about 15 plums; 
and in 1848, about twice that number. The other 
tree I allowed to grow up into a standard; but its 
situation is unfavourable, and it has produced but 
sparingly as yet. In 1846, I budded a strong stock 
with this plum, and trained it as described above. 
This tree is now eight feet high, and is covered with 
bloom buds. It produced four plums last season, 
coming into bearing like the other, in its third year. 
The Prince of Wales is a seedling from the Orleans, 
and resembles its parent in colour, except that it is of 
a redder tint It is larger, and more oval; and is 
quite equal, perhaps superior to the Orleans in fla¬ 
vour; but to make it a good dessert plum requires 
here a better season than we had last year. In 1818, 
the flavour was excellent. For certainty of bearing, 
this plum will not easily find its match. The frosts, 
last spring, which were most unmerciful to the bloom 
of my pear and plum trees, seemed to have no effect 
whatever upon that of the Prince of Wales; for, 
although its flowers expand rather later than those 
of other plums, they had to encounter some very try¬ 
ing weather, and I greatly feared for the consequences. 
I can safely affirm that Mr. Chapman, in describing 
his plum, has not exaggerated its merits in any one 
point. 
Although I have not met with equal success with 
other plums trained as pyramids, and root-pruned, 
yet I am satisfied that this class of fruits is greatly 
benefited by this system of treatment, where early 
fruitfulness is required. The roots of the plum, unlike 
those of the pear, are always near the surface, and 
within easy reach of the knife of the operator. Those 
who do not require a very symmetrical form in their 
trees, will find them generally run more readily into 
the balloon form, which saves the trouble of that in¬ 
cessant stopping of the upper shoots, which, in most 
cases, would be bettor avoided, and allows the treo to 
grow larger; and, consequently, if well managed in 
all other respects, to produce more fruit in the second 
year, after it acquires a bearing state. In order to pre¬ 
serve the pyramid form of my Prince of Wales, I was 
