May 2, 1891. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
555 
doubtedly the king for size. The orange crown of 
Chas. J. Backhouse marks it conspicuously amongst its 
fellows. Beauty has an orange edge to its bell-shaped 
crown. Queen Sophia has a large golden yellow crown, 
while that of Princess Mary is much paler, but still 
beautiful. Queen Bess is of the same type, but flowers 
two to three weeks earlier. The segments are 
white in all cases. The small orange crown of Mary 
Anderson is very pretty. Of Stella, a variety very 
popular for bedding, there were nineteen beds. Auto¬ 
crat is also a large-flowered kind, with bright yellow 
segments and a darker crown. 
The typical Leedsii has white segments and a pale 
sulphur crown. It is a small Daffodil, but floriferous, 
dwarf and pretty. The variety Amabilis has a long 
primrose crown. Duchess of Brabant has a pale yellow 
crown, but ultimately becomes wholly white. Madge 
Matthews has a large pale lemon crown changing to 
creamy white. The large cup of Grand Duchess is at 
first highly coloured, but becomes paler when at its 
best. The crown of Mrs. Langtry is pale yellow, but 
finally becomes white with a yellow rim, and the 
segments are white. Beatrice becomes pure white 
finally. Minnie Hume has a soft yellow crown ; and 
Acis changes from orange to apricot-yellow. 
Of Barrii there are also numerous forms appearing 
intermediate between N. incomparabilis and N. 
poeticus, but most nearly approaching the former. 
Maurice Vilmorin has ultimately white segments and 
an orange crown. The cup of General Murray is only 
edged with orange. Orphee differs from the last in 
having primrose segments and a scarlet-edged crown. 
Conspicuus is a very fine form with large sulphur 
segments and an orange-edged crown. Sensation, on 
the contrary, has broad, pure white segments, and a 
canary-yellow cup edged orange - scarlet. Burbidgei 
approaches N. poeticus, but has narrow segments and 
a longer cinnabar-red crown. 
The varieties of N. poeticus are only yet in bud ; 
and of N. p. ornatus we counted twenty-eight large 
beds. Amongst newly imported bulbs from the 
Pyrenees we noted a variety like the Tenby Daffodil, 
with broad white segments and a short bright yellow 
crown, revolute at the mouth. Another closely re¬ 
sembled Sir Watkin, the renowned giant amongst the 
forms of N. incomparabilis. 
--- 
ON THE CULTIVATION OF THE 
VIOLET.* 
The genus "Viola contains a number of species dis¬ 
tinguished by their five-petalled corollas, with the petals 
disposed somewhat in the butterfly form. The leaves 
vary according to the species, being heart-shaped in 
some, in others ovate, sagittate, pedate, &c. Some are 
annual, others perennial. 
Violets were well known to the ancients, and named 
after Io, fabled to have been turned into a cow by 
Jupiter. The ancient physicians employed the roots 
and leaves in medicine, but in modern practice the 
flower only is occasionally employed as a test of acids, 
and for imparting a pleasing colour to tinctures. The 
Yiolet is frequently alluded to by the ancient poets as 
a remedy for the cure of wounds, and was used for this 
purpose by the Greeks and Arabians. Shakespeare 
mentions the Violet in no less than eighteen places in 
his works. 
About five species are indigenous to Britain, in¬ 
cluding the Sweet Yioiet (Viola odorata). This well, 
known plant is, in a wild state, spread over Europe and 
Prussian Asia, and common in some parts of Britain. 
If there is one flower more than another that can lay 
-claim to the honour of being everybody’s favourite it is 
the Yiolet; its delicious fragrance makes it such a 
universal favourite, for it is among 
“The first to rise and smile beneath spring’s 
wakening skies ; 
The courier of a band of coming flowers.” 
Sir "Valter Scott makes it the queen of wild flowers : 
“ The Violet in her greenwood bower, 
Where Birchen boughs with Hazels mingle, 
May boast itself the fairest flower 
In glen, injcopse, or forest dingle.” 
Propagation. 
The Violet is a hardy perennial, and is propagated by 
seeds, runners, and division. Seeds are best sown as 
soon as ripe in pans or boxes of light rich sandy soil, 
and placed in cold frames ; prick out the seedlings as 
soon as they can be handled, on a warm border, kept 
moist, and shaded from bright sunshine till they get 
' The first prize Essay ou this subject awarded by the Ealing 
Gardeners’ Mutual Improvement Society to Mr. G. Long, gardener 
to E. P. Oakshott, Esq., Orchardene, Montpelier Road, Ealing. 
established ; afterwards treated the same as divided 
crowns. 
Runners can be selected during tho summer, and 
either pegged down to the soil, or a stone can bo laid 
upon each, when they will soon form roots. But the 
best way to get runners is from the plants that have 
been lifted into frames the previous autumn. After 
these have done blooming, in April, spread some rich 
sandy soil among the old plants, and they will very 
soon throw out runners in abundance ; select three or 
four of the strongest from each plant, and either peg or 
lay a stone upon each, and they will speedily form 
plants for planting in May. 
By division they can be multiplied to any extent, 
and this forms the most simple, and perhaps the best 
method that can be adopted. Dig up the old plants the 
first week in May—plants that were divided the year 
previous are best—and divide into single crowns, pre¬ 
serving the strongest and best rooted for replanting. 
Cultivation. 
On light soils choose a position sheltered from the 
midday sun, such as a north-west border under a wall ; 
but on heavy soils this is not of so much importance. 
Trench the ground in autumn 18 ins. or 2 ft. deep, 
working in plenty of manure and leaf-soil, or burnt 
refuse if at command, as Violets are very partial to 
burnt or charred refuse of all descriptions. Leave the 
surface as rough as possible all the winter. In April 
give a good dressing of soot or wood-ashes, and dig it 
over, breaking it as fine as possible, and well mixing 
the soot or ashes with the soil. Plant out in May 
15 ins. from row to row, and 1 ft. from plant to plant. 
Keep the plants well watered in dry weather, and 
syringe or sprinkle every evening after a hot day. Cut 
off all runners as fast as they appear, unless wanted for 
propagation, and then leave only two to each plant. 
Keep down weeds by frequent hoeings. In hot, dry 
summers a mulching of rotted manure will be found 
very beneficial, also weak liquid manure given once a 
week, especially clear soot-water. 
By September they should he good strong plants 
from 8 ins. to 1 ft. across their leaves, and bristling 
with small flower buds. They are then in a fit condition 
to be lifted into frames or pots —as the cultivator may 
desire—for winter supply. Lift the plants with as 
much soil as will adhere to them, and carefully carry 
them to their new abode. The frames should have 
been previously got ready to receive them by being 
stood in the best place for sun and air, and well raised 
up at the back, so as to present a sharp slope to the 
south. Fill the frames to within 1 ft. of the top with 
hot stable manure and leaves in equal proportions, well 
mixed together and well trodden down, so that it will 
give only a very gentle heat for as long a time as 
possible. Spread over this about 4 ins. of good loam 
and leaf-soil, with any charred refuse that may be 
available. On this stand the plants as close as they 
will allow without crowding. Fill in between them 
with the same material, make level and firm, then give 
a good watering, and mulch with coco-nut fibre. Keep 
the frames closed for a few days till the plants are 
established; afterwards give air on all favourable 
occasions, removing the lights entirely whenever the 
weather will permit. Protect from frost with mats or 
clean straw. This I have found very valuable for 
covering, but do not leave the covering on an hour 
longer than is necessary. 
If some plants are potted at the same time as the 
others are lifted, and stood in cool frames, kept close 
till they are established, and afterwards stood on 
shelves in the greenhouse, close to the light, such 
plants will be found very serviceable for taking into the 
conservatory or dwelling-house. Use pots that will 
hold the ball without disturbing the roots, and use the 
same soil as for the frames. The pots should be clean 
and well drained. 
The best varieties for flowering in frames in winter 
are Marie Louise, lavender ; Neapolitan, lavender ; 
and Comte Brazza, white. All the above are double. 
Good single kinds for out-door flowering in spring are 
King of the Violets, Victoria Regina, Czar, white ; 
Czar, blue ; "Vellsiana, new, certificated ; and Argenta- 
flora. The above have not by any means exhausted 
the list, but the varieties mentioned will be found 
sufficient for all purposes. 
Violets should not be confined to beds such as have 
been described, but should be planted as margins to 
shrubbery borders, on banks, or rockwork ; in fact, 
they should be planted in all sorts of places where 
they may be allowed to exist and take care of them* 
selves, when they will repay the planter by filling the 
cold March air with unrivalled sweetness. 
Insects, &c. 
Red-spider is the most troublesome, and in hot dry 
weather it is very difficult to get rid of, should it once 
gain a footing ; but by following the instructions given 
about watering, syringing, and mulching, it ought not 
to do any damage. Damping of the foliage will some¬ 
times take pjlaee in frames in winter, especially in 
foggy weather, when sufficient air cannot be admitted. 
Pick them off and keep as dry as possible. If water is 
required it should always be done on a fine morning, 
so that the foliage can get dry before night. 
-- 
fJIfjaittttgs Jjrattt tip '((Torlb 
of jltints. 
— c —-- 
The Hollyhock Rust in America. —This dreaded 
pest of the Hollyhock (Puccinia malvacearum) first 
made its appearance or elicited attention in Europe 
about the year 1869, and spread with great rapidity, 
destroying the fine collections of Hollyhocks in Britain 
as well as on the Continent. Of late years the disease 
has been less virulent, and seems to have spent its 
force as appears to happen in the case of many diseases 
which affect man himself. It was unknown in America 
before 1886, but evidently has already obtained a 
footing in the United States. Whether it will repeat 
its history in the New World, as in the Old, remains 
to be seen. The Americans are fully alive to the im¬ 
portance of their immigrant or visitant, and are taking 
steps to check it in Massachusetts and Ithaca. It is 
believed to have been imported in a resting state with 
seeds. 
Stachys palustris and S. tuberifera. —It 
seems strange that so few of the edible plants indi¬ 
genous to Britain should have been brought under 
cultivation and improved. Most of them have been 
imported from the Continent in the improved condition. 
Stachys tuberifera has been brought all the way 
from Japan, receiving a considerable amount of 
attention, both here and on the Continent, while 
one at least of our native species, namely, S. 
palustris, bears well-developed, tuberous rhizomes. 
There can be no question about its hardiness, for it 
proves a troublesome weed in wet fields in some parts 
of Scotland, when the rhizomes are uncovered and left 
on the surface of the ground by the process of tillage. 
The Vine Louse. — The Phylloxera and the 
American Vines have grown up together in the New 
World. As the latter have not been exterminated, it 
follows that they have arrived at a mutual adjustment. 
The injury to the roots produced by the former—which 
in about eight years after the first attack destroys the 
Vines in a European vineyard—the American Vines 
are able to withstand and repair. I myself saw 
American Vines growing in the Botanic Garden at 
Bordeaux, to all appearance in perfect health, yet 
when the roots of those were exposed they were swarm¬ 
ing with Phylloxeras. It is indeed believed that the 
invasion of France by the pest is due to the importation 
of American Vines about 1862. The use of American 
Vines in districts thoroughly infected with Phylloxera 
was eagerly supported by the Vine growers from the 
south, but was received with less favour by those of 
the west of France. The Vines are used either as 
“direct producers,” or as stocks on which European 
Vines are grafted .—Kew Bulletin. 
Albinism in British Plants. —Those who have 
devoted some time to the observation or study, or to the 
collecting of British plants, cannot fail to have noticed 
how plants are prone to produce albinos, particularly 
amongst those having normally pink, rose, mauve, red, 
purple or blue flowers. Thus I have picked up white 
varieties of Malva moschata, Campanula rotundifolia, 
Geranium molle, G. Robertianum, Orchis maculata, 
Carduus palustris, C. arvensis, Ballota nigra, Convolvu¬ 
lus arvensis, Calluna vulgaris (several shades of white), 
Erica Tetralix, E. cinerea, Lychnis diurna, Centranthus 
ruber, Erythnea Centaurium, Fritillaria Meleagris, 
Matthiola incana, Polygala vulgaris, Scabiosa succisa, 
and probably some others. Many albinos, even of 
British plants, besides the above I have seen under 
cultivation in gardens, and some of them are choice or 
highly ornamental. It will be seen that none of the 
above have yellow flowers normally, nor any of those 
shades such as orange. On the contrary, some plants 
usually having white flowers occasionally develop 
colour varieties, such as Lychnis vespertina with pink 
or rose flowers, and Achillea Millefolium with rose 
flowers.— F. 
