72 THE GARDENING WORLD. October 4, 1890. 
Select Bedding Violas. 
The loss of popularity on the part of the zonal Pelar¬ 
gonium, Calceolaria, Lobelia, &c., has certainly been the 
gain of the Bedding Viola and Pansy. Gardeners have 
tired of discs, zones, bands, diamonds, stars, &c., of 
colours formed by Pelargoniums, Calceolarias, Lobelias, 
&c., and are finding among the bedding Violas, many 
charming tints afforded by varieties that are dwarf in 
growth, compact in habit, and singularly prolific of 
bloom. Among the most successful raisers of the 
present day is Mr. William Dean, Florist, Sparkhill, 
Birmingham, who grows Violas largely, and who is 
constantly adding to his collection, all the best types 
raised by others. 
Recently Mr. Dean forwarded to us a collection of 
blooms of the leading varieties, and as habit of growth 
of such a character, as that above described is indis¬ 
pensable in these days, and as Mr. Dean pays particular 
attention to this important characteristic in all the 
varieties he raises, it may be assumed that the habit 
of growth is in all cases of the flowers now about to be 
noticed, most desirable. 
We commence with Sunrise, shaded purple with 
margins of mauve purple, paling off to silvery mauve ; 
very pretty and distinct; this is a Scotch variety and 
most desirable as a hedder. Princess Beatrice and Mrs. 
Dransfield, are two varieties raised by Mrs. Dransfield, 
of Ilford, and which are not yet distributed. 
Princess Beatrice is something in the way of Sunrise, 
but paler in colour, and larger, and very good. Mrs. 
Dransfield is a shaded mauve flower, broadly margined 
with silvery white, very novel, distinct, and of fine 
shape. Duchess of Fife was raised by Messrs. Dobbie 
& Co., the flowers are white, edged with mauve or 
blue, and having a yellow centre ; very pretty. Gold- 
finder is from the same raisers, pale bright yellow 
edged with mauve-blue. Data, very dark plum-purple, 
fine in shape and of stout texture, was raised by Mr. 
Steel, Cornhill-on-Tweed, and is very promising. 
Marchioness of Tweeddale is also a Scotch variety, large 
pure white—snow-white with a slight golden eye ; very 
promising. Columbine is an old Scotch variety, white, 
broadly margined with pinkish mauve, and slight dark 
lines in the centre ; very pretty. Hugh Ainslie, also 
Scotch, has a rich violet centre, shaded with silvery 
lavender ; very pretty and distinct, and likely to make 
a charming bedding Viola. Bridesmaid is one of Mr. 
Dean s raising, primrose with deeper centre ; the raiser 
describes it as “A gem, of very dwarf and compact 
habit, and a most profuse and continuous bloomer.” 
The flowers are very attractive. Master of Arts is a 
near approach to the old Magpie, the rich plum-colour 
of the ground shaded with mauve and white, and also one 
of Mr. Dean’s raising, as also are the following :_Mrs. 
John Pope, unfortunately the flowers of this variety were 
somewhat damaged in the course of transit, but it has 
all the appearance of a grand Viola ; the centre and 
lower petal is of a rich dark glossy velvet with 
slight blotches of bright mauve-blue ; the upper 
petals rich mauve shading off to silvery mauve, 
and also of fine shape and substance. Primrose 
Beauty is of a dark primrose colour, the lower petals 
clear gold ; very pretty. Golden Circle is a clear gold 
self, very good in colour, of fine form, but rather small 
in size, owing probably to its being a late bloomer ; it 
promises to take high rank among the golden bedding 
Violas. In a communication Mr. Dean states, I have 
aimed at getting pure seifs, i.e., without rays or blotch, 
combined with compactness of habit. 
Other Scotch-raised flowers are Spotted Gem, claret 
shaded with mauve and having broad blotches of 
white, fine in shape ; Ethel Baxter, lower petals plum- 
purple, the upper petals shaded with mauve, fine in 
shape and substance ; Dawn of Day, this variety is 
flaked with lavender-blue on a white ground in some of 
the flowers, in others the colours appeared as an 
edging, very distinct and pretty ; Minnie Baxter, of 
the Magpie type, but not so much blotched ; the 
Meams, plum coloured, the top petal white ; and Lady 
Amory, plum-purple, the upper petals silvery mauve, 
are both of the Magpie type. 
When these flowers came to hand, and they were in 
the form of pretty bunches of a few blooms each, they 
were at once impounded by the ladies, having been 
opened in the presence of a numerous family gathering, 
Who were loud in their praises of the delicacy and 
general prettiness of the colours. They came to them 
as a new revelation in flowers, and it is our conviction 
that they are unfortunately unknown to very many 
gardeners who would otherwise cultivate them. It is 
one of the characteristics of the Viola to throw com¬ 
paratively long stems, and they can thus, be used in 
many ways in a cut state for floral decoration. 
The propagation of the bedding Viola is a simple 
matter. Cuttings can be made during the summer 
from the young growths ; and in the autumn the 
plants can be divided and replanted, thus securing 
substantial increase. But the Viola is a plant that 
liberally responds to generous treatment. Let the soil 
be deeply dug and well manured, and given something 
to sustain the roots, the floral service rendered is un¬ 
grudging and abundant. Water freely when required, 
mulch or top dress with some rich soil two or three 
times during the summer, and the Viola will make 
the garden smile with a winsome floral beauty welcome 
to all. 
With the Violas came a batch of blooms of fancy 
Pansies. The following were very fine, indeed a very 
choice half dozen, of which any raiser might be proud : 
Lizzie Duncan, Neill McKay, Parnell, Allan Ashcroft, 
Mrs. John Downie, and Mr. Philp. The following 
were very good also. Maggie A. Scott, A. Borthwiek, 
Harry Poison, James Alexander, Lord Hamilton, Dodo, 
Mrs. John Ellis, William Dean, Princess Beatrice, 
Donald Morrison, Miss French, and My Lady.— X. 
Pansies. 
Your correspondent, “ Devoniensis,” speaks disparag¬ 
ingly of the continental strains of fancy Pansies in 
comparison with our own varieties, and I join with him 
most heartily indeed in doing so. Our American friends 
are also going in heavily for Pansies, and the American 
florists seem to have any amount of strains, each better 
than the other. I obtained, through a friend in 
America, a dollar packet of seed from the supposed 
most eminent source, and I have obtained just what I 
expected, a lot of our old familiar German kinds of 
Bugnot and others, a long, long way behind our grand 
Scotch raised varieties. I must confess to being some¬ 
what taken aback with “ Devoniensis’s ” assertion that 
the Scotch strains were beautifully and distinctly 
marked, most of them ; and while they had substance, 
sadly lacked size. Then he goes on to say that “ the 
West of England strain is superior to the Scotch.” It 
is too late this season to bring the opposing forces 
into the battle field, but will “Devoniensis” 
undertake, next spring, to challenge the Scotch 
raisers with a couple of dozen or more blooms, 
for a substantial sweepstake, with the reservation that 
two thoroughly-well-known Pansy growers, acceptable 
to all exhibitors, shall be the judges, and that dis¬ 
tinctness, colours, size, form, and substance shall be 
the points of excellence ? I should have no hesitation 
whatever in naming one Scotch raiser, with his own 
raised varieties, and those he has introduced, who 
could take up the cudgel strongly. The Scotch 
varieties “ wanting in size” indeed ! ! Well, as an old 
Pansy grower, I say they are large enough, and if we 
are to get them larger, we must go in for a lot of new 
Pansy stands. But according to “ Devoniensis ” the 
Scottish raisers must look to their laurels.— Viola. 
-- 
FRUIT PRESERVES. 
Mr. Wilson’s note on the fruit preserve he has made 
from the Japanese Rose, reminds me that, in looking 
over the schedule of the jam exhibition, which the Royal 
Horticultural Society is promoting at the Drill Hall 
shortly, no invitation is given for preserves which are of 
other than ordinary fruit formation, such as is the 
preserve to which Mr. Wilson refers. It is all very 
well to ask for preserves made from bush fruits, 
Strawberries, Cherries, Plums, and similar fruits when 
you have them ; but when, as this year, we have a 
comparatively poor fruit crop, myriads of people are 
either falling back upon Blackberries, of which, happily 
there is an abundant crop ; or upon Vegetable Marrows, 
or other cheap and readily obtained matter. 
Of this class of preserve, no encouragement is given. 
Is ow I am having made some preserve, and very nice 
it is, from Tomatos, Vegetable Marrow, and Beetroot. 
Of this latter, so far, I have no knowledge beyond 
reputation, but am told that it makes a very pleasant 
preserve. Probably it forms the foundation of large 
quantities of our cheap and coloured jams. The 
Tomato jam is made by peeling the fruit, cutting them 
flatways in two, carefully removing the seeds, and then 
boiling the pulp with sugar and flavouring. The 
pulp naturally resembles jelly, but very much depends 
upon the flavouring. 
Vegetable Marrow is perhaps the cheapest of all 
preserving material, and very clear and pleasant it is 
when well prepared. As to the Beet jam I shall 
know more later on. I think the promoters of the 
Drill Hall show have been too exacting in demanding 
that the samples shown shall be in 2 lb. bottles, or 
clear jars. That would be all very well, perhaps, for 
the jars to be left untouched, but I fail to see why the 
judges require 2 lbs. of preserve to taste, if awards are 
to be made, as the remainder will probably be spoiled ; 
1 lb. jars would have been sufficient. 1 propose, not 
caring to have the trouble to fetch my exhibits on the 
third day, to submit my examples of these jams to the 
Fruit Committee for judgment. —A. Dean. 
- ->X<- 
HINTS TO FRUIT GROWERS. 
Now that harvest work and hop-picking are over will 
you allow me to call the attention of fruit growers to a 
few facts, and to follow them up with hints for the 
producers’ benefit next season. Orchard fruit generally 
has been a short crop this season. But the care given 
by growers to greasing and washing has very sensibly 
diminished the plague of caterpillars and aphides ; the 
trees look far more healthy than for many years, while 
the heavy rains of the past summer have kept them 
growing freely, and much wood has been built up. 
Added to this, the trees carry next to no crop (except 
in a few favoured spots); they are consequently in 
better health and condition than for many years, and 
this vigour has been ripened by the glorious sunshine 
of the past three weeks. Therefore, subject to the 
usual “if’s” incidental to fruit culture, and without 
prophesying, we may infer that 1891 will be a fruitful 
year—foliage is good, buds are plump, wood is ripened, 
and roots are in good order—four necessary conditions. 
In case of a heavy crop only the finest samples can 
sell freely at a good price, and I venture to suggest to 
growers that they should at once (September and 
October) have their old orchards examined, all crossing 
boughs should be removed and the heads of the trees 
be opened, so that a man can readily get his head and 
shoulders between the branches; all dead wood should 
be cut out, as it can be detected easily now that the 
leaves are on it. Cherries should have all “started” 
boughs [i.e., those split in gathering) cut clean away, 
as they gum much less when pruned now ; and the 
same remarks apply to Plums. Boughs over 1 in. 
across should be smoothed over with a sharp knife, and 
these cuts will partially heal before Christmas. Should 
old trees be over full of fruiting spurs they can be 
thinned from the under boughs, and all prunings 
should be gathered in a heap and burned at once to 
kill eggs of moths, &c., which generally choose loose 
bark and cankered spots to lay their eggs. By these 
means trees will still further perfect their growth, and 
the crop will become larger in size, more clear in the 
skin than where these precautions are not taken, and 
growers will secure a better price—while the strain 
being less on the pruned tree than on one that is not 
pruned, and consequently full of useless wood and 
foliage, the chance of a crop in 1892 is greater. Young 
orchards should have the central spray (fine shoots) of 
the standard trees cut away to ripen the necessary 
shoots to form a base for the future tree. These base 
shoots should be left at full length, and may be 
shortened in February or March next. Raspberries 
should have the old canes removed at once, and, if 
needful, the stools may be thinned. I strongly 
advocate this work to be done now, as no secondary 
growth will form to weaken the trees, and exhaustion 
by a heavy crop will not be felt in 1892 by the fruit 
trees taking a rest to recover from the over crop of the 
preceding year. Much good can also be done by 
hoeing plantations to sweeten the soil and make it 
more workable when the digging takes place .— George 
Bunyard, Maidstone. 
--—— 
OOOMBE WARREN. 
The Surrey residence of Bertram Woodhouse Currie, 
Esq., is pleasantly situated on the southern slope 
of Kingston Hill, and although it overlooks a flat and 
wide expanse of fertile and cultivated land, bordered 
with tall hedgerows, it is so surrounded and embowered 
by trees that little is seen of it until the visitor is close 
within the precincts of the mansion itself. The ground 
is beautifully laid out and planted with various Conifers, 
as well as trees that find a more suitable home here, 
such as the English Oak (Quercus pedunculata), the 
foliage of which, even now, is of a rich dark green, and 
beautifully varied by a heavy crop of acorns. The 
soil is a barren hill gravel, such as occurs on Wimbledon 
Common and Richmond Park, both of which are at no 
great distance off. The grounds are beautifully undu- 
