March 3, 1888. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
425 
FLORISTS’ FLOWERS IN COLD 
FRAMES. 
Aujriculas, Carnations and Picotees, and Polyanthuses 
have been having a rough time of it in cold frames of 
late. The plants were frozen hard for many days in 
succession, and everything about them in the way of 
moisture was dried up. To-day, the 28th of February, 
I have ventured to open the frames, and found the soil 
so dry that the plants were flagging, and all the 
frost had gone from it. Using lukewarm water, I gave 
the plants a good watering and then closed the frame, 
and covered up securely with mats to prevent frost 
laying hold of them again. I hope in a day or two to 
find the plants fresh and lively ; but it has been a trying 
time for such subjects in cold frames. Frost has 
reached the Auricula house also, and the activity that 
had begun to manifest itself at the end of January was 
suspended. Water was withheld all the time the frost 
lasted, but seeing that it was giving a little in the open, 
I have looked over the plants and found all dry. They 
too have had a good soaking with tepid water, which 
dressing. Perhaps some plants have a part of their 
neck or collar which will throw out roots by-and-by, 
exposed ; or it is found that the compost is somewhat 
exhausted and needs surface enrichment. It is not 
well that any part of the neck should lie bare, because 
of the important fibres that break from it ; and, there¬ 
fore, though I do not practise top-dressing with rich 
material, I always add enough of the same compost as 
the plants are growing in, to cover the stems that have 
grown bare.’’—(Rev. F. D. Horner). I may add that 
air may be freely given. The back shutters of my 
Auricula house, on the south, are always open, and I 
am glad when any gleams of sunshine fall upon the 
plants.— R. I). 
-- 
VIOLET, RAWSON’S WHITE. 
The quantity of Violets now coming into the London 
markets raises a feeling of envy in those who admire 
these little floral pets, whose perfume can be discerned 
at some distance, especially in a warm atmosphere. 
Unfortunately for the latter statement, the weather 
plant is perfectly hardy, and not affected even by a 
severe winter. As the days lengthen, however, and 
the temperature becomes warmer, the flowers assume a 
pure white, and are much more profusely produced. 
-->X<-- 
OVER-FEEDING- MARKET 
PLANTS. 
May I be allowed to comment on your correspondent 
Mr. Jacob Rose’s sensible remarks about over-feeding 
market plants at p. 411. Many growers agree that 
the excessive use of humid matter in fertilisers has a 
debilitating effect on the constitution of the plants. 
Disease gets into their constitution, as your corre¬ 
spondent puts it, and no amount of gentle treatment 
will set the same plants up again. Market growers, 
like some other classes of gardeners, get into a routine 
kind of rut, out of which it is not easy to persuade 
them. The more scientific research we make into the 
organs and functions of plant life, the more we are or 
ought to be convinced that decomposing humid matter 
is not essential to healthy and lasting growth, and 
Violet, Rawson’s White. 
was given at noon so that the pots and shelves could 
dry somewhat before night came on ; then the house 
was shut up close and the plants left to their fate. 
They were likely to suffer as much from the effects of 
drought as from the intense cold, in fact more, for the 
house has been kept quite dry, and damp has scarcely 
manifested itself. 
I find many of the Auriculas are already truss bare 
—that is to say, the trusses or buds are gradually 
presenting themselves to view. About the third week 
in January it seemed as if there would be an early 
bloom ; but now the very reverse appears possible. 
But much will depend upon the character of the weather 
in March. The plants must no longer be allowed to 
become dry, for moisture will be necessary to assist 
development. Water, when needed, should be given 
between eleven and one o’clock, so that the soil may 
drain well before frost threatens at night. 
It is very interesting to watch the early spring 
development of the plants. “Old leaves spring back, 
and the intense light green or snow-white foliage soon 
clothes them with some of that distinctness of habit 
that belongs to each at the prime of its yearly life. One 
function of February work, formerly thought indispens¬ 
able and practised still among many growers, is top- 
that has prevailed for the past fortnight favours 
neither the growth of the plant nor the emission of 
perfume, while the sale of the flowers themselves is 
much discouraged by keeping the buyers at home and 
indoors. Judging from their plentifulness in the 
markets, the season has not altogether been unfavour¬ 
able to production, although it is necessary to add that 
the growers always find it most economical and 
remunerative to give them the protection of a cold 
frame. Furthermore the atmosphere of London and 
the suburbs is almost fatal to the cultivation of Violets, 
or sufficiently so to render their culture on a large scale 
unremunerative. Outside of this boundary, however, 
they grow most profusely when enjoying the protection 
of a frame. The subject of the above illustration, 
namely, Rawson’s White, is a charming and free-flower¬ 
ing new variety, being sent out by Messrs. H. Cannell 
& Sons, well suited for cultivation in pots, frames, 
or in the open air, where it will be used as a 
bedding plant when it becomes plentiful and widely 
disseminated. Growth is free, and the foliage healthy 
and robust, while the flowers are produced with such 
freedom as to resemble a mass of white Lobelia at a 
distance. When exposed to cold winds in spring the 
flowers are slightly tinted with blush, although the 
development. It is much more in reason to act up to 
the theory that healthy, sweet rooting materials that 
will afford development and root ramification, and that 
will absorb liquid stimulants when the plants require 
them, are the best market growers can use. 
I have italicised the words, “ when the plants require 
them,” because the whole of the system depends on the 
time at which the stimulants are used. Ordinary 
liquid manures made up from the dung of animals should 
scarcely have a place in the category of liquid 
stimulants, from the fact that they cannot be had 
entirely free from humid matter. If anyone would 
like to make a simple investigation into the truth of 
the latter statement, he may easily satisfy himself. A 
filter and a microscope will be all the apparatus necessary 
for the experiment. It is therefore only a question of 
time, and the quantity of ordinary liquid manure used 
as to when the ball of soil in the pot will have become 
unfit for healthy root action. 
That the manufacturers of artificial fertilisers and 
plant stimulants are abreast of this fact, as a body, is 
somewhat doubtful. Some of them still persist in 
offering compounds that cause an excess of humid 
matter in the soil. It is within the reach of every 
intelligent plant grower to ascertain by practical trial, 
