696 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
June 30, 1888. 
FLORICULTURE. 
More Notes on Violas. 
Having read with great pleasure, in your last issue, an 
appreciative article on Yiolas, I enclose you some 
blooms of new varieties which I have raised, and as we 
are often bad judges of our own productions, I shall be 
obliged by your giving your opinion of them. I think 
the description “ Picotee-edged ” is well chosen and 
appropriate for the Skylark section, which may, per¬ 
haps, not be bedders, but which to cut for placing in 
glasses are very airy and sweet. A propo of Countess 
of Kintore, 1 may say that twenty-nine years ago (and 
I say this more with a sigh of resignation than regret), 
Viola Magpie or Wonderful came on to the floral stage, 
and held the field for eighteen years in its section. 
Then came Countess of Kintore, which has taken the 
lead since—only two moves in twenty-nine years. The 
latter is somewhat sleepy in the eye, but Queen of 
Scots is much brighter, and may prove to be the third 
move upwards.— J. Baxter, Daldowie , Glasgow, June 
25 th. [Queen of Scots is of a bright steel-blue colour 
in the centre around the golden yellow eye, and, as you 
say, is after the style of Countess of Kintore, but has 
white on the lower petals as well as the upper. With 
Crown Jewel we were simply charmed, as it is of a rich 
velvety maroon colour with a white edge, compact and 
beautiful in shape. Ravenswoo'd is of the richest blue- 
purple and very fine, while the soft rose, with a large 
white centre, of Lucie Ashton, is equally beautiful and 
appreciative. The irregular slaty blue margin of Gold¬ 
finch contrasts most strikingly with the yellow ground¬ 
colour ; a flower that no lady would pass without a 
word of admiration. Lady Gertrude, an improvement 
on The Mearns, is a deep clouded rose-purple, having 
the upper petals veined with purple on a pale rosy 
ground. One labelled “seedling” is after the same 
style as the latter, though nearly twice the size, and 
several shades lighter, both on the upper and the 
lower petals, but is shaded with blue round the eye. 
One flower exhibited an attempt at becoming double— 
a circumstance we have noted elsewhere. Being seed¬ 
lings of your own raising, we must say that they offer 
great encouragement to further efforts in the same 
direction.— Ed.] 
Carnations and Piootecs. 
On the important matter of disbudding, an operation 
that must be performed if the grower of these plants 
would have the flowers up to exhibition mark, I cannot 
do better than quote from Mr. E. S. Dodwell’s book on 
the Carnation. He states, “ A little careful observation 
will soon inform the least experienced. If the plants 
are full of strong growth, three buds may be left, 
if of a weakly growth, one bud only ; as a rule the 
buds to be left will be the main bud and those proceed¬ 
ing from the third and fourth joint, or fourth and fifth, 
counting from the top, but the operator must be guided 
in his selection by the appearance of the buds—their 
vigour, healthiness and regularity of form. A full 
flower may be expected where the young bud presents 
a broad obtuse top, whilst a thin variety is generally 
indicated by a sharp and long-pointed bud. As the 
buds swell a gentle application of weak manure water 
will greatly assist them, and towards the end of the 
month or early in July, as the season serves, some of 
the earlier varieties will require tying round the calyx 
to prevent the otherwise, for exhibition purposes, fatal 
calamity of a split pod ; for this purpose I prefer a 
strip of soft bast matting or the Raffia Grass, which 
now so generally takes its place. As this operation 
next, after the violence of disbudding, most interferes 
with the natural habit of the plant, leading to the 
unfolding of the petals in order and symmetry, which 
otherwise would be shapelessness and confusion.” 
Green-fly and earwigs will want looking after, the 
surface soil kept clear of weeds, and general cleanliness 
and healthiness all round closely attended to. —R. D. 
The Florists’ Ranunculus. 
I was pleased to see some of the old and refined 
florists’ Ranunculus at the exhibition of the Oxfordshire 
Horticultural Society a few days ago. They w T ere not 
of high quality of bloom, and this was, perhaps, owing 
to the vicissitudes of weather they have experienced 
during the past month ; but there were the elements 
of quality, and all the varieties were named. It is 
necessary to see some of the fine old named sorts, in 
order to be able to put them in comparison with the 
large and coarse flowers the Dutchmen send to England 
at this time of the year. They were shown by Mr. P. 
Southby, Bampton, Oxford, and there was also a 
second collection. Ranunculuses are like Tulips, they 
require careful culture and close attention ; but they 
repay all trouble in the beautiful refinement of the 
bloom, which comes as the result of good culture. 
I should like to see a revival in the culture of the 
Ranunculus with that of the Tulip. Both flowers are 
far too much neglected. The Tulip has an imperial 
splendour of its own ; but there is a feminine softness 
about the Ranunculus, and a sweet soft beauty that 
commends itself to anyone who looks upon a choice 
collection.— R. D. 
Gold-laced, Polyanthuses. 
Plants in pots that are bearing seed require attention; 
the soil upon the surface should be frequently stirred, 
and the plants kept free from decaying foliage and 
green-fly. As soon as the seed pods begin to turn 
brown, they should be cut. The practice I adopt is to 
place the pods in paper bags, and hang them up in a 
greenhouse to complete the ripening. As soon as the 
seed is gathered, I divide the plants and then re-pot 
them round the sides of pots, and plunge them in 
coco-nut fibre up to the rims of the pots for the 
summer, where they establish themselves ; and then in 
the autumn, having put forth roots and made a vigorous 
growth, they are placed in their flowering pots and 
wintered in a cold frame. As soon as the seed is ripe 
it is sown in a pan, and the surface kept moist ; it soon 
germinates, and during the autumn the forwardest, and 
in the spring the latest, plants can be pricked off into 
other pots to grow on into size.— R. D. 
-—>X<-- 
PLANTS OP GRACEFUL HABIT. 
In a general collection of plants which includes a large 
number of variegated and ornamental-leaved subjects 
a variety of light and elegant foliaged plants are 
necessary, in order to break the monotonous appearance 
of the larger-leaved subjects. I propose in the follow¬ 
ing article to give the names of a few really good and 
deserving plants for this purpose, and to indicate their 
uses and modes of culture, the best means of propa¬ 
gating them, and their general management. The 
present time is opportune for those who may intend 
beginning the cultivation of such plants, from the fact 
that it is the very best growing period of the year, and, 
consequently, the most favourable in which to watch 
such plants develop into nice little specimens, and 
afterwards to maturity. 
Commencing with young plants at the present time, 
and growing them along in a suitable heat, many of 
the subjects herein named may be made into beautiful 
table specimens by the autumn, and such being the 
case, they may be useful to some, either as exhibition 
table plants or for the general adornment of the dinner 
table, or they may be utilised for the delectation of 
the eye amongst the general collection of stove 
plants, &c. 
Aralias. 
The first genus to claim our attention is the Aralia, 
the stove species of which may be grown to perfection 
where a good heat can be maintained. Some kinds, 
such as A. Sieboldii, will grow in a greenhouse, but for 
the present I will confine my remarks to those generally 
known as stove plants. The following take rank as 
the best of the narrow-leaved section, and are con¬ 
sequently more serviceable, either for table decoration 
or blending amongst plants with a heavier foliage. 
A. Chabrierii (Elfeodendron orientale) is a pretty 
plant, having pinnate leaves of a deep green colour, with 
a crimson midrib. It is of free growth, and a general 
favourite. 
A. elegantissima is a very elegant plant, with palmate 
leaves of a dark olive-green colour, the leaflets being 
deeply serrulated on the margin, and the stem and leaf¬ 
stalks marbled with white. 
A. Reginas is larger in growth than the preceding, 
with palmate leaves of a uniform green colour, which 
are smooth on the edges of the leaflets. 
A. Veitchii is a well-known table plant, and one that 
is not likely to become at all unpopular for some time 
to come. Its palmate olive-coloured leaves are well 
known, the leaflets being deeply serrated. 
A. Veitchii graeillima is much finer in the leaflets, 
and is a very superior sort for table decoration, &c. 
The above are best grown in a good strong stove 
heat, allowing them sufficient room to develop their 
fine ornamental foliage. They succeed best in a soil 
consisting of loam and peat in equal parts, and require 
rather firm potting. Their propagation is best effected 
by grafting upon strong stocks of A. reticulata, which 
operation may be performed with every chance of 
success at the present time. The principal point in 
bringing the work to a successful issue is to have the 
stocks upon which the better kinds are to be grafted in 
a healthy condition, and the pots well filled with 
roots. They generally unite in a fortnight, and should 
be kept close in a warm propagating case during this 
period, gradually inuring them to the stove temperature. 
A. Guilfoylei is a variegated form with much larger 
foliage, somewhat resembling a large-leaved Panax, 
and is a useful decorative kind, while it i3 easily pro¬ 
pagated from cuttings. 
A. reticulata may be propagated from cuttings, and 
should be kept in quantity for a stock upon which 
to work others at any time when necessary. 
Panax. 
The Panax is closely allied to the Aralia, and is a 
beautiful class of ornamental stove plants ; their habit 
of growth is erect, with finely recurved foliage, forming 
a pleasing and most graceful plant. The leaves are of 
a cheerful green colour, pinnate and bipinnate, and 
toothed on the edges, which gives to them a very hand¬ 
some appearance. Their great fault is that they are 
very soft in their foliage, and consequently not 
adapted to withstand so much rough usage as Aralias. 
They grow freely in a soil similar to that recommended 
for the latter plants, and may be propagated by 
cuttings, or, in the case of some kinds that are weaker 
in habit, they may be grafted npon stocks of A. re¬ 
ticulata or A. Guilfoylei. 
Asparagus. 
Asparagus plumosus and A. plumosus nanus are very 
handsome-foliaged plants, and should be grown for the 
use to which their foliage may be put, independently of 
the fact that they make equally good plants for either 
suspending or training to trellis or rafter work. They 
grow best in a stove whilst in a small state, and may 
afterwards be grown in a greenhouse, flourishing 
best in sandy loam, which their fleshy roots can 
penetrate easily, and they can be propagated by seeds 
or by division of the root-stock. These plants 
deserve special attention, as they amply repay what¬ 
ever labour may be bestowed upon them. 
The use their foliage can be put to is great. It may 
be used as a mixture with flowers for table decorations, 
or it may be used to lay upon the tables, for it has not 
that tendency to wither up that Maidenhair Fern 
possesses. In the case of A. p. nanus, the leaflets may 
be cut and used for button-hole work or ladies’ sprays. 
At the period when the plant flowers it will be found 
necessary to avoid the use of the syringe about the 
plant, or else the bloom, which is of very delicate 
construction, will be spoiled for the object of fer¬ 
tilisation.— W. G. 
( To be continued.) 
-—-— 
PEACH TREES GUMMING. 
I do not know how it may be in other parts of the 
country, but in this district gumming amongst Peach 
and Nectarine trees is unusually prevalent this season. 
In our own case the attack is more violent than any 
experienced within the last ten years. Individual 
trees, which last year were furnished to the ground 
with fine healthy bearing wood, present at the time of 
writing a pitiable sight ; the greater portion of the 
bottom shoots are quite destroyed, so that what remains 
that is worth looking at is simply a mass of green 
shoots and fruit near the top of the walls. Other 
reports which reach me from other gardens only a few 
miles away, have the same story to relate. In one 
particular instance the havoc must be unusually dis¬ 
appointing to both employers and employed. Last 
autumn I paid a visit to the garden in question, and 
must honestly say the wall of Peaches and Nectarines 
—writing from memory over 100 yards long—was the 
best it has ever been my privilege to see, young trees 
five to seven years old, with dark healthy green foliage 
from base to summit; but sad to relate, this year their 
appearance is altogether the other way. Having stated 
the fact, the question arises, what is the cause ? Well, 
I cannot say with certainty, but will venture to put 
forth for what it may be worth a theoretical reply, viz., 
winter drought. In this theory I am to a certain 
extent fortified by what we have experienced in the 
gardens here. We have two kitchen gardens which 
we designate upper and lower respectively, the latter is 
situated about 100 yds. from a river, and nearly at the 
same level, consequently, extreme dryness at the roots 
is a thing unknown, and on the wall nearest to the 
water the trees look well, with an entire absence of 
gumming. In the upper garden, however, which lies 
high and dry, the majority of trees are as above 
described, with one remarkable exception—a tree about 
