182 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
November 20, 1886. 
succession of- fruit from the end of August until the 
middle or end of October. I have gathered fruit of 
Late Admirable on Lord Mayor’s day ; of course, there 
is not much flavour in a Peach so late in the season, 
however well-coloured it may be ; notwithstanding this, 
a showy dish is appreciated. — J. Simcoe, Cheltenham. 
-->S<>- 
SPRING GARDENING.—HI. 
As we are now in the very heart of the season, when 
all spring bedding arrangements should be taken in 
hand in right good earnest, I will now call attention 
to a group of plants, whose success materially depends 
on their being planted at the right time. I refer to 
Bedding Yiolas, 
Which, I may justly remark, are among the foremost of 
our spring and early summer-bedding plants—a group, 
which, taken as a whole, is greatly varied in itself, and 
possessing the profuse-flowering qualities of which so 
few plants can boast, while the delightful fragrance 
they impart, in some instances, can only tend to make 
them more deservedly popular among all classes. We 
have, in fact, no class of plants possessing so long 
extended a period of flowering and with so much variety 
of colour as the Yiola now combines. But, alas ! in 
how few cases do we really see them as they ought to 
be ? crowned with all the brightness and freshness of 
spring, as they should be. In good hands and with 
generous and thoughtful treatment, the Viola is, 
perhaps, one of the most charming bedding plants we 
possess, and one wdiich really needs so little care. 
Some cases, however, exist—and my own counts of 
the number—where some little effort is necessary to 
grow Yiolas to perfection, and this remark is particularly 
applicable to counties in the south of England. In 
my own case, the soil with which I have to contend is 
—if the orthodox theory be accepted at all, but which 
j, for one, am endeavouring to overthrow'—the very 
opposite for the well-being and successful culture 
ofthe Yiola, by its being on a deep gravelly sub-soil ; 
so much so, that in diy seasons it becomes so dust- 
dry that it is a marvel how plants exist at all upon 
it. To remedy this I use an abundance of cow T manure 
in a green state, and 'quite fresh as it is received 
from the cow-shed. In the very cooling nature of the 
manure, and the amount of moisture it contains wdien 
placed in the ground, I attribute much of my success 
upon a soil which, prima facie, appears quite opposed 
to their welfare. Therefore, I cannot too strongly urge 
the value of such manure for these plants, together 
with a liberal use of it. Another important item is 
Preparing the Beds 
For their reception, upon which I will briefly remark : 
In the first place, throw out the soil to a depth of 
4 ins ; secondly, dig the ground deeply below’; after 
w’hich, place a good layer of the manure, in the pro¬ 
portion of a large barrowful to every 5 sq. ft., this to be 
solid manure and not half straw ; after which, return 
the surface soil to its place ; if at hand, a liberal 
dressing of the burnt ash from the rubbish fire-heap 
may be given, which the plants at all times thoroughly 
enjoy, and which is not only valuable at planting time, 
but equally so in giving top-dressings and mulchings 
afterwards. The next step to be considered is the 
Planting, 
Upon which so very much depends, and especially so 
since the mistaken notion of spring planting seems to 
have become the order of the day. That such an idea 
is at once erroneous is obvious to all, which latter 
remark I mean to extend to those even who know little 
or nothing ot such matters ; for what can be more 
decidedly wrong than being engaged in planting any 
subject at the moment it is in full flower, and expect 
results equivalent to those gained by carrying out the 
work at the proper time ? No one would think of 
planting an Apple tree in full flower, and expect it to 
bear fruit the same season ; but though the subjects 
are so widely distinct, the observation applies with 
equal force to each. Hence the advantage of carrying 
out work at the right time, and the “right time” is 
the early autumn ; but as this period is rather an in¬ 
definite one, it may be ruled by the summer occupants 
of the beds, and as soon as these are cleared off, you 
may, if your plants are ready, begin at once. Any 
time, however, during October and November for 
Yiolas, and the earlier the better. 
The Best Plants 
For the purpose are fresh-rooted cuttings, those which 
were inserted in July and August preferred, for these 
are now w T ell-rooted, and in excellent condition for 
removal. The operation of planting is an easy one, 
and is done by simply making a hole in the fresh dug 
ground, and inserting the plant up to the first green 
leaves, and finally making them firm in their respective 
positions. The frequent use of the hoe is of considerable 
assistance, and occasional dressings of burnt ash from 
the rubbish heap. This is the more advantageous to 
them if the plants are earthed up with ashes, for they 
root freely into it, and continue to throw up young 
shoots till the base of the plants are bristling with their 
numerous breaks, the surest possible sign of ultimate 
success. 
I have been tempted to thus fully dwell upon this 
charming group of plants, with a view to show, if 
possible, that although a commonplace subject, there 
is a wide difference between growing it to perfection, 
or, at least, as near to that point as possible, thereby 
making it one of the most enjoyable of spring plants, 
and merely putting it in any hole from which barely 
sufficient soil has been taken to admit it without 
doubling it up, or cramping it in such a manner that it 
never gets a start; and from the fact of having in¬ 
sufficient depth of soil to penetrate, it soon suffers 
when the heat of summer arrives. I would next refer 
to 
Varieties foe Planting, 
"Which, by the way, are numerous, though the number 
that have really good constitutions and free-flowering 
properties are somewhat limited, and to these latter I 
will confine my remarks. Of the most desirable white 
kinds we have Countess of Hopetoun to head the list, 
closely followed by Lady Polwarth. Next in order of 
merit is Mrs. Gray, a variety valuable for its fragrance 
and very pure flowers, following which are Jeffrayanum, 
Pilrig Park and Champion, the two latter being of 
similar bearing, and both having large pencilled flowers. 
In yellow, primrose and gold we have, of the former, 
Queen of Spring ; of primrose, Ardwell Gem is very 
good ; and of gold, we have Golden Queen of Spring, 
Bullion, Brilliant and Sovereign ; of purple and its 
kindred shades, Mrs. Chas. Turner, Queen of Purples 
and Cliveden Purple compacta are . the best; while 
Paragon is a rich violet shaded with purplish crimson. 
As an intense rich violet, Archie Grant stands out 
unique with bold erect flowers, and a splendid constitu¬ 
tion. Almost unique in its way is Countess of Ivintore, 
a flower of the Magpie type, in which the purple-steel- 
blue and white flowers find many admirers ; while of 
the blue, I think I need only name one kind, that is, 
True Blue, which is simply perfection, seeing that it 
possesses the freedom of flowering, -with which is 
combined a thoroughly sound constitution, and at the 
same time a habit so dwarf and compact, that might 
well be compared to some of the dwarf forms of bedding 
Lobelia ; and in company with the smaller silver-leaved 
Pelargoniums, in summer time, it is in perfect harmony. 
It was raised by Mr. "William Dean, of Walsall, and is 
certainly a very fine introduction. 
Of the shades of lavender, lilac and mauve, we have 
Duchess of Albany, Duchess of Sutherland, Elegans 
and Fairy Queen, the first and third named, perhaps, 
being the two best ; they all are very pretty, however, 
and the shade of colour is so distinct and pleasing from 
that usually found in the Yiola. I have at present 
refrained from mentioning the several fancy kinds, 
which, though very beautiful by their quaint markings, 
do not appear so well suited for bedding purposes as 
the more decided colours.— J. 
-—>3K—- 
ALLOTMENT GARDENS. 
So many of our readers take an interest in the 
allotment question, that we feel sure the following 
interesting remarks on the subject, culled from an 
admirable paper read at the last meeting of the 
Farmers’ Club, by an occasional contributor to our 
columns, Air. H. Eversliead, Hurstmonceaux, Sussex, 
will be read with interest:—“These who best understand 
the wants of farm labourers have always attached great 
importance to the provision of sufficient gardens and 
allotments for them. Many years since, some of those 
great land owners, whose names are known for their 
services to agriculture, were among the most active 
promotersof allotments; and just twenty-eight years ago 
this month, a respected member of our club—Mr. 
Trethewy, of Silsoe—read a paper to us on ‘ The Allot¬ 
ment System : Its Uses and Abuses.’ There were no 
accurate statistics relating to the number of allotments 
at that time, but we know that influential bodies, such 
as the Labourers’ Friendly Society, of 1830, were 
founded especially to advance the work which the 
Association for the Yoluntary Extension of Allotments 
has recently revived. Mr. Trethewy, in his admirable 
paper, gave examples of estates in Bedfordshire having 
many acres of land devoted to allotments. 
Mr. Little, of Chippenham, Wilts, mentioned that 
the number of allotments on the estates under his 
management were 700. A story was told by Mr. Gray 
which, I think, should be repeated. After referring to 
the labour riots and prevalence of incendiarism in the 
rural districts in 1830, he said that his own parish of 
Alconbury, Hunts, was notorious for badly-conducted 
labourers, so that the saying ran, 1 As bad as the parish 
of Alconbury. ’ A meeting was called at that abandoned 
place to consider the unhappy position of affairs, and 
the Bishop of Durham, having some land in a con¬ 
venient situation, offered it to the churchwardens for 
the purpose of allotments at 35s. per acre. The offer 
was accepted, and the land drained and let in allot¬ 
ments of twenty rods each, and forthwith the wicked 
people began to mend. The usual system of cropping 
they adopted was one-third Potatos for the family, one- 
third Mangels, and another one-third Beans for the 
pigs. There is such magic in a spade when used by a 
poor man in his garden that the condition of Alconbury 
soon improved, and the complete" regeneration of the 
people, which afterwards occurred, was attributed in 
no small degree to the influence of the allotments. 
An enumeration of landowners who have provided 
allotments for all claimants on their estates from that 
time till now would include most of the great pro¬ 
prietors and many of the small ones. During the 
existing movement in favour of allotments the news¬ 
papers have contained constant announcements of the 
provision of allotments by landowners who had become 
aware of the demand for them. As a rule, my limited 
space will forbid the mention of names ; but I may 
notice, as historical examples, that in Oxfordshire, in 
1841, the fifth Duke of Marlborough, a noted agricul¬ 
turist, the Earl of Macclesfield, the Harcourt family, 
and many other land proprietors set out allotments in 
numerous parishes in that county. 
The Law of Allotments. 
The extension of allotments, both before and after 
the passing of the Poor Law Amendment Act in 1834, 
was very great, and, no doubt, many of the numerous 
examples which have been reported in all parts of 
England, where the cottage gardens are deficient, date 
from that period, and were due to the voluntary action 
of land owners. Mr. T. Hall states, in his new work 
on “ The Law of Allotments,” that fifteen statutes in 
the present century, and thirty-four parliamentary 
papers within the past fifty years have related to 
allotments, showing how much has been said in 
Parliament on the subject compared with the very 
little it has done. The Acts relating to allotments, 
however, have been very limited in their operations, 
referring mainly to charity land, as in the case of Mr. 
Weyland’s Act of 1832, and of the Allotments Extension 
Act of 18S2. In 1843 two admirable philanthropists— 
Lord Shaftesbury and the present Lord Mount-Temple, 
then Mr. Cowper—were engaged upon the allotment 
question, as a host of other liberal-minded gentlemen, 
including many members of this club, have been 
at various times. 
On the motion of Mr. Cowper, a select committee of 
the House of Commons was appointed to inquire into 
the allotment system, and its report states that allot¬ 
ments existed in all the agricultural counties, but were 
not universal in any of them, while in the manufactur¬ 
ing districts they had not long been introduced. It is 
interesting to learn, from the evidence collected by the 
committee, that 3,000 allotments were held under the 
"West Kent Labourers’ Friend Society ; that 400 were 
let by the Corporation of Nottingham ; and that 800 
acres of allotments were in the possession of the 
Northern and Midland Counties Artisans and Labourers’ 
Friend Society, which was founded by Mr. James 
Orange, and supported chiefly by liand-loom weavers. 
There were allotments in fifty parishes in east Somerset¬ 
shire, their extension in the native county of Mr. 
George Mitchell having been due to the good example 
of the Bishop of Bath and Wells. As the farm labourer, 
according to Mr. Mitchell, has been habitually trampled 
