November 16, 1895. 
THE GARDENING WORLD; 
177 
the existence of the show. This necessitates the 
temporary removal of a section of the exhibits, and 
so nicely is the work carried out that very rarely is 
there a single breakage or other similar catastrophe. 
We shall be able to publish another portrait of a 
member of the council—that is, that of Mr. M. 
Dunn, The Gardens, Dalkeith Palace. 
The band of Her Majesty’s Scots Guards, under 
the direction of Mr. Henry T. Dunkerton, has been 
engaged to give two performances daily, and now 
that the building has the long-promised electric light 
installed there is an additional attraction in the way 
of illumination. A good light is in very great request 
for the evening audience, and in this respect Edin¬ 
burgh is certainly showing London the way, for 
some of the London shows have been most badly 
furnished in the lighting department. The addition 
of the electric light at the Waverley Market fully 
completes the unique suitability of the building for 
an exhibition of floriculture. 
The sad bereavement in which the President has 
been plunged by the almost sudden death of Mrs. 
Murray, on Monday last, is a matter that has evoked 
the most profound sympathy. The sad event has 
cast a shadow and a gloom over the proceedings, 
and it follows that the President will be precluded 
from taking what would have been, under brighter 
circumstances, an active part to-day in the cause to 
which he has already devoted much time and 
enthusiasm. 
- -— 
HINTS FOR AMATEURS. 
Violets in Frames. 
It matters little at what time of the year the Violet 
makes its appearance it is always well received, and 
its charmingly scented flowers are ever in great 
request. In spring we hail with effusion the advent 
of our sweet woodland friend, for it tells us that 
winter is past and gone, and the time of singing of 
birds has come. In autumn and winter the flowers 
borne by the more cultivated cousins of the wildling 
are worn in many a buttonhole, and adorn the 
loveliness of more than one society beauty. Oh ! 
those dear Violets, how I love them ! is the usual 
cry heard from the lips of femininity, while the 
masculine article, although he considers it beneath 
his dignity to indulge in such extravagant ejacula¬ 
tions, has usually a very warm corner in his 
heart for the Violet. Nor is this love for the 
modest flower the property of the upper classes 
alone, for all sections of society combine to do it 
honour. Its cultivation is attempted under circum¬ 
stances that can only be described as the reverse of 
favourable by many a cottage and small villa holder 
with excellent results ; for the Violet responds nobly 
to the efforts made on its behalf, and is never too 
proud to be seen in company with the most inex¬ 
perienced cultivator. 
In fact, it is without doubt one of the particular 
plants which seem to have been made on purpose 
for amateurs to amuse themselves with. While 
they may have their enthusiasm dampened for year 
after year in their dealings with other popular 
plants, it is very rare indeed that all efforts to coax 
the Violet to display its charms prove entirely 
abortive. True, there may be, and doubtless are 
grades in success, and it may take the experiences of 
several years of cultivation before the beginner can 
fairly master the best method of treatment, but the 
aspiring grower finds his labours rewarded to a 
certain extent at the outset, and he is thereby 
encouraged to go on better next year. 
Yes ! there is no doubt about it, the cultivation of 
the Violet is ridiculously simple from first to last, 
and, if anything like reasonable treatment is accorded 
it, success may be expected. As our chat this week 
does not purport to deal with the whole of the 
pros and cons of Violet culture, however, but is 
merely intended to take the form of a little seasonable 
advice, we will leave the propagation of the plants, 
together with the attentions they require in their 
earlier stages to a future time, and deal with the 
treatment they should receive during the dull 
season. 
As a rule, unheated frames filled with leaves and 
with a good layer of soil upon the top are employed 
for the accommodation of the double varieties during 
the winter, and generally a good harvest of bloom is 
reaped. To do this, however, some little care must 
be exercised now. The plants will have been trans¬ 
ferred to their permanent quarters about the end of 
September or the beginning of October, the soil 
made nicely firm about them, and a good watering-in 
given. Treated thus they will have grown away 
freely enough up to the present time, and will have 
produced a few flowers. Now the great aim in 
growing plants in frames in the manner referred to 
is to get a more or less abundant supply of flowers 
all through the winter. Of course it stands to 
reason that blooms will not be produced with such 
freedom during the season of dull skies, of mantling 
fogs, or of keen frost and snow, no matter what 
trouble and pains are taken, as when Nature is in 
her gayer mood, and the sun shines warm and 
bright. But still, much may be done towards 
obviating the harmful effect exercised upon the 
plants by untoward climatic conditions by just a 
little forethought. After the first watering-in, the 
watering-can may be laid by, in so far as the Violets 
are concerned. It is much better to keep them on 
the dry side during the months of November, 
December, and January ; for if too much water is 
given damp will soon step in and claim the majority 
of the plants for its own. 
Covering up is also a most important item, and 
one that must receive constant and regular attention. 
Russian mats are undoubtedly the handiest pro¬ 
tective material to use, and, as they can be obtained 
so cheaply now, we should recommend their use in 
preference to anything else. At this time of the 
year the frames must be covered up each night, no 
matter what the appearance of the weather may be, 
for the weather is like the New Woman—we never 
know what she is going to do next. It is imperative 
that all the light possible should be given the plants, 
and thus the coverings must be taken off in the 
morning as soon as practicable. During spells of 
severe frost it is not possible to do this, and thus 
we can only hope that the clerk of the weather has 
none of them on his list of events for the winter of 
1895-96. 
Ventilation. —The absolute necessity for an 
abundance of air cannot be too pressingly dwelt 
upon. By no means must coddling be allowed or 
sickly, drawn plants will be the inevitable outcome. 
As soon as the thermometer has risen above freezing 
point the lights must be opened and kept open until 
it drops again. We have no hesitation in saying 
that lack of sufficient air is the prime cause of so 
many partial failures, or, to put it more mildly, 
qualified successes in growing Violets. Fogs, of 
course—at least, such fogs as tickle the throats and 
lungs of Londoners are a doubly-distilled nuisance, 
and are especially harmful to Violets; but as we 
have as yet no means of successfully counteracting 
their evil effects, the only thing we can do is to hope 
we may not get them.— Rex. 
-- 
Questions asked by amateurs on any subject pertaining 
to gardens or gardening will be answered on this page. 
A nyone may give additional or more explanatory answers 
to questions that have already appeared. 
Rats in Vineries.—Tell Ajax to nail pieces of herring 
on the wall above ground and place the traps under¬ 
neath nicely covered with fine soil, doing the work 
with gloves on. No doubt he will know all about the 
old Sampson trap, which settles them at once when 
carefully set with a good flag about two feet square. 
Any suitable bait, such as the entrails of poultry, fish, 
or a piece of tongue ; beef frizzled before the fire will 
answer. There is also the box trap; instead of wires 
at the far end have a piece of glass so as they can see 
right through. The glass should lift out as it is 
easier to bait the trap. A few drops of oil of aniseed 
takes away the smell of new traps and should be 
sprinkled over the soil where the traps are set. 
There is also the pitfall—a box of sufficient depth 
from which they cannot jump out. The top must 
be the narrowest part, and if it is lined with tin all 
the better. Place corn or Sunflower seeds, nuts, 
meal or anything inside to get them in. Anyhow, 
Ajax must have a will in the matter and be deter¬ 
mined to settle them. The ordinary way of going on 
will not do, especially where there are corn stacks or 
pigsties, and farm buildings. Move the traps every 
time a rat is taken to some suitable place, always 
keeping them set.— J. L. 
Old Pelargoniums.—Ihe question asked by Sepia 
(p. 108) is worthy of consideration, and while 
sympathizing with him in his fruitless endeavours 
for several years to save his old plants, I will venture 
to say mistaken kindness was, to a great extent, the 
cause of his failure. I have frequently seen it stated 
in such periodicals as prefer to cater for the wants 
of amateur gardeners, and also in the gardening 
column of the newspaper, that it is only necessary to 
pull the old stools of Pelargoniums up, and hang 
them head downwards in a dark cellar, and they 
will, if potted up, in spring break again and make 
vigorous growth and handsome plants. But how 
often are they, with the advent of spring, reduced to 
dry, withered stumps without a spark of life. There 
is no reason, however, why the same plants should 
not do duty for several years without becoming 
leggy lanky stumps without a truss of bloom and two 
or three leaves struggling to reach the clouds. A 
very clever gardener I once served under, wishing 
to increase his stock of particular varieties of Zonal 
Pelargoniums, after having taken all the available 
cuttings, and when frosts were imminent had the 
old plants all pulled up and laid in the potting shed, 
where two or three men were then ready with sharp 
knives to cut them down (as is stated in the reply to 
Sepia) well back to the hard wood ; also the longest 
roots were trimmed. Forty-eight size pots were 
then prepared, into which there were placed round 
the soil of the pot, as many as we could get in, gen¬ 
erally about five or six, filling up and shaking 
amongst the roots any fairly good light soil in a 
moist condition, not wet nor yet too dry. When all 
were finished (perhaps it occupied several days) a 
good watering was given, and they were placed on a 
shelf in a vinery with a temperature between, say, 
40° and 50°, and carefully examined about once a 
week at first. Those which were dry were watered, 
and soon showed signs of life and activity by breaking 
with|strong vigorous shoots and leaves, soon requiring 
more water. These, in due time (about February), 
were shaken out and potted up singly in sixty-sized 
pots, and made very bushy and useful stuff, with 
very few failures. The secret of the whole process 
is to cut hard back, and be careful with the watering 
pot. 
I set a man to cut down some in a similar way 
last autumn, and he failed to carry out my instruc¬ 
tions by giving them no water at all; consequently 
they were nearly all thrown away. If Sepia has a 
greenhouse, from which he can exclude frost, he 
need not throw his old friends away, but he must not 
be afraid to use his knife.— A .P. 
Taking Cuttings.— IV. L. T. comes up with the 
query as to when is the best time for inserting 
Chrysanthemum cuttings. He says he has put the 
question to four different growers and as got as many 
different answers : No. 1 saying that the sooner they 
were in after the middle of November the better; 
No. 2 replying that some time in January suits him 
best; No. 3 advises him to wait until February ; 
whilst from No. 4 he received the somewhat vague 
advice to put the cuttings in when he could get them. 
Accordingly he is slightly puzzled and wants to 
know which of the four he is to believe. 
Although the old proverb reads “ in a multitude of 
counsellors there is safety,” IF. L. T.'s experience 
will doubtless lead him to supplement it by sayiDg 
“ and puzzlement too.” True enough the statements 
of these various advisers would seem to be conflicting, 
and yet they are not really so ; their variance being 
caused in great measure by the special object the 
cultivator has in view, and to a less extent by the 
requirements of the locality in w!iich he is placed. 
There is a good deal of grim humour in the answer 
given by adviser No. 4, " to put the cuttings in when 
you can get them ” ; for it is very hard to persuade 
some varieties to throw up cuttings, particularly if 
they are sorts that are new cr rare. But to revert 
to the question of the best time to insert the cuttings, 
unless W.L.T. has had a good deal of experience in the 
management of Chrysanthemum cuttings during the 
winter, and also proper conveniences for accommo¬ 
dating them, we should not advise him to put them in 
too early. If they are not properly looked after, early 
cuttings are very liable to damp off, unless more 
heat than is good for them is given, when the plants 
become weak, straggling and sickly. If cuttings are 
put in towards the end of January they will have 
quite sufficient time to make good plants by next 
autumn. It is quite true that those who go in 
largely for showing get their cuttings in much earlier 
than this, but, as has been previously intimated, 
there is too much risk attached to this system to 
recommend it to the amateur whose experience is of 
the limited order of things. 
