228 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
December 10, 1895? 
FUORICUliTURE. 
Violas in Pots for Winter Decoration 
I have frequently felt that these charming plants 
are too much overlooked as indoor decorative 
plants, but that some growers might be induced to 
use them if attention was drawn to them. I saw 
t-.vo or three dozen plants in pots last spring in a 
neighbouring garden, and was much struck with 
their very pleasing appearance, and in a letter from 
Rothesay, Messrs. Dobbie & Co. inform me that 
they bloomed a quantity of plants in pots last spring, 
and they were very much admired as greenhouse 
decorative plants. We now have a great diversity 
of colours. The plants begin blooming early in the 
year and are profuse bloomers, and many of them 
are deliciously fragrant. The necessary treatment 
is very simple, taking a 5-in. pot and placing one or 
two strong plants in it as soon as it can be done, and 
keeping them in a cold frame until the end of 
February, then removing to a cool house to get them 
into flower by the end of March or even earlier. 
After blooming the plants can be planted out on a 
shady border, pegged down and top-dressed. 
As cut flowers for indoor decoration Violas are 
truly valuable—as the shoot or branch in a cut state 
keeps so long and well in water—and are so pretty for 
table or room decoration, their lovely tints of colour 
and their fragrance adding so much to their value.—- 
W. Dean. 
CHRYSANTHEMUMS AS 
HUMAN FOOD. 
Chrysanthemums are already put to a good many 
uses, but chiefly if not solely for decorative purposes 
in this country. At p. 213 we made allusion to the 
use of Chrysanthemums for flavouring soup at a 
dinner party in America. It is also pretty well 
known amongst " Chrysanthemophiles ” in this 
country that the flowers of Chrysanthemums are 
served up and eaten as a salad by the Japanese, who 
prefer the white and yellow varieties for the purpose, 
but for what reason they confine themselves to those 
colours is not evident. By a process of reasoning 
one can understand that yellow and white sorts would 
present a cleaner appearance, and be in fact more 
like blanched Endive, Dandelion or Lettuce, &c.,than 
the more highly coloured sorts, which when cut or 
chopped up and served with salad oil, pepper or 
other condiments, might present a livid and uninvit¬ 
ing appearance. But then we use Beetroot, which is 
not particularly inviting to the uninitiated. 
There is a considerable depth of meaning in the 
last word, for we know that many things are eaten 
with great relish after the initial acquaintance is got 
over and the taste for them has been acquired. 
Familiar instances might be mentioned in Tomatos 
Cucumbers and even Potatos. All underwent' a 
struggle before they became generally acceptable to 
the masses. Amongst foreign fruits, the Durian is 
very repugnant and objectionable to European 
palates, but it is eaten with great relish after a time. 
Even in the case of tea, it may be remembered what 
blunders were made with it when the first arrivals 
reached this country. The leaves were first boiled, 
and in a second experiment fried, with equally un¬ 
favourable results. The leaves in both cases were 
bitter and unpalatable—our ancestors never dream¬ 
ing that the fragrant brown liquid which they threw 
away was the only part they should have utilised if 
prepared in the proper way. 
As in the case of tea so it may be found with the 
Chrysanthemum at least in this country, that a liquid 
prepared from the flowers will be the most accept¬ 
able form in which the average'Briton may utilise it 
as an adjunct to, or in the preparation of food. An 
infusion of Chamomile flowers was more or less ex¬ 
tensively used by our forefathers as a tonic, why not 
of Chrysanthemum flowers by us, seeing that their 
most pronounced flavour and smell is that of 
Chamomile. 
The use of the Chrysanthemum as food in Japan, 
is in the form of salad ; in America the florets of 
choice varieties were chopped up and used as a 
flavouring for soup. In the latter case, the soup was 
probably only a tentative experiment, but both host 
and guest declared the soup to be good. A well-known 
‘ ‘Chrysanthemophile’' recently related in our office his 
experiments in the use of Chrysanthemums as food. 
He first tried them by boiling a quantity of white 
flowers, serving them up both hot and cold. But 
after giving them a fair trial himself, he gave up the 
mess in despair as too pronounced in flavour to 
stimulate his appetite. It was however very provo¬ 
cative of wry faces and mirth-producing grimaces. 
Some of the Chrysanthemum salad which he 
handed to a girl of eleven years cld, was eaten with 
apparent relish, and the plate held out for a further 
supply. As a salad our friend found Chrysanthe¬ 
mum flowers more to his taste. He also felt inclined 
to fry them ; but after what he has written below, 
we scarcely think he will. 
-- 
“CHRYSANTHEMUM SOUP.” 
The little paragraph in last week’s Gardening 
World about “ Chrysanthemum Soup,” reminds 
me that my experience may be interesting to enthu¬ 
siasts who are desirous of imitating the Japanese 
custom. Mr.John Thorpe is such a well-known Ameri¬ 
can devotee of the “ Mum ” that I am surprised he 
somewhat timorously tackled it by having the flowers 
finely chopped up in a soup. This seems to me 
only a half-and-half kind of way, but perhaps he 
wishes to educate his taste gradually, whereas I 
plunged at once by eating the flower boiled and also 
raw as a salad, and not as a mere flavouring to a 
soup. A fortnight ago I determined to make the 
attempt, and as my wife seemed to enter into the 
proposed experiment with a desire to do justice to 
the cause, I wrote to my friend Jones- -the only Jones 
in the "Mum” world—to send me a box of nice 
fresh blooms for eating. They duly arrived with a 
short note to say “ Warranted all fresh,” just as if 
they were a barrel of oysters, and a quiet, almost 
cynical, request to let him know how they agreed 
with me. Ah ! that Jones ! I owe him one, as you 
will see later on, for there was a hidden depth of 
meaning in his short espistle. 
The first consideration was how to proceed, and 
we agreed to boil some of the finest just as they 
were. All the blooms were pure white varieties, as 
I believe it is only white and yellow ones that they 
eat in Japan, Accordingly the saucepan was got 
ready and the blooms put into hot water with a few 
cloves a la Japonaise, but a difference of opinion 
arose between us as to the time required to cook 
them properly. It was settled, I blush to say, by 
the somewhat gruff rejoinder on my part that as I 
was the person who was going to eat them I ought 
to know, and my wife dutifully consented without 
raising another query on the point. They were in 
due time dished up, strained through a colander—and 
a nasty-looking mess it w'as. They had boiled down 
to a wonderfully smaller quantity, and the smell— 
well, it wasn't exactly like violets, but rather nearer 
rank cabbage water. The kitchenmaid standing by 
while all this folly was going on every now and then 
looked rather scrutinizingly at the mastei as if she 
thought he was qualifying for detention in the nearest 
lunatic asylum, and I felt bound to say apologetically 
" It’s all right, Mary, we are only making an interest¬ 
ing experiment.” 
The ugly mess, for the petals had now assumed a 
dirty brown colour with streaks of greenish tinge, 
was put upon a plate and with a fork arranged as 
temDtingly as was possible, my wife expectantly 
awaited the commencement of the novel meal. 
After several undecided looks I said I thought it 
would be nicer cold, and so the plateful of boiled 
Queen of Autumn was relegated to the pantry until 
evening. It was Sunday, and we indulge in the old- 
fashioned meal called supper. The two eldest 
children usually sit up to partake of it after going to 
church, and my new dish was brought out again, 
cold and nastier looking than before, for it had be¬ 
come almost entirely of a dirty pale green, and looked 
sloppy and repulsive. When the cheese came on I 
thought we might perhaps do better by serving some 
up as a salad raw and leave the boiled ones for the 
bonne bouche So a handful of nice pure white 
flowers was brought forth, the florets plucked from 
the stalks, and the whole carefully mixed with salad 
oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper. We all had a help, a 
small one of course, but curiously enough my eldest 
girl, whose appetite is one usually described by the 
household expression "finicking” passed up her 
plate for a second portion. The flavour raw is, in 
spite of a plentiful supply of condiments, bitter, pun¬ 
gent, and of a distinctly Chamomile-like nature. The 
florets are as crisp as Lettuce, having a decided 
tendency to repeat, and eaten in this way, although 
a doubtful delicacy, may be got down and probably 
kept down if the eater has a fairly strong stomach. 
I am quite of opinion that Tomatos require to 
have the taste educated up to them, so too does 
Chrysanthemum salad. The boiled ones next de¬ 
manded our attention, but it required more effort 
than the raw ones ; the taste was very similar, but 
with a peculiar sweetness wanting in the other dish. 
Dried and used like Mint or other herbs in soup, the 
bitterness is very marked, and this way is of course 
less unpalatable than the two preceding. We had 
determined to have some petals fried in butter, to 
carry out the experiment more fully ; but oh, horror! 
we discovered when too late that those Lewisham 
mums that were left were infested deep dowm in 
the florets with an abundance of green fly, which 
we—in happy ignorance—had not attempted to look 
for in those we had eaten. I used to be able to 
devour cheesemites, but chrysanthemites I cannot 
bring my mind to. 
Kind friends will please refrain from making in¬ 
quiries as to further experiments, because for the 
remainder of the season " I am not taking any.”— 
C. Harman Payne. 
-—t-- 
CALANTHES AT BICTON. 
The beauties of this estate have so often been told 
that little need be said of the glorious avenue of 
Araucaria imbricata—noble trees of some 40 to 50 ft. 
high, many having the branches sweeping the grass 
underneath. Nor is it necessary to speak of the fine 
specimen conifers in other parts of the grounds, the 
Bamboos, and Dracaenas, etc., that in the month of 
December appear in all their freshness and beauty. 
Under glass the Pines are good. Palms, Musa, 
Camellias, etc., in other structures ; but what struck 
me most, when calling there a day or tw-o ago. was 
the exceeding brightness of a good-sized house 
devoted to stove plants. Here Mr. Mayne had 
gathered as nice a lot of foliage and flower as it has 
been my good fortune to see for many a day. Not but 
what other establishments may have, even now', good 
displays; but here, immediately on entering, was a 
bank of Calanthe Veitchi superba with flowers of 
intense colour and fine substance. The spikes 
averaged 4 ft. in length, and on many we counted 
twent5'-four open flow'ers, perfectly fresh, with a 
quantity still further to expand. A large plant of 
Adiantum Farleyense full of dark green fronds was 
suspended over the Calanthes, a combination not 
often noticed. Along the whole bed of the stove 
were Calanthes equally good, the C. vestita rosea 
and lutea being well represented, but not so nume¬ 
rously, and a grand lot of Crotons, Dracaenas, rich 
in colour, with good plants of the scarlet-bracted 
Poinsettia, Begonia semperflorens rosea, Euphorbia 
Jacquinaeflora, and a large piece of Anthurium 
Scherzerianum w’ith a quantity of its scarlet and 
showy spalhes. -The whole combined to make a 
display that struck me as being most praiseworthy 
on the part of the grow'er and pleasing to the be¬ 
holder.— IV. Swan, Bystock, Exmouth. 
THE DOUBLE CHINESE PRIMULA. 
None of the varieties of the Chinese Primula have 
ever attained such popularity as the old double 
white. Many strictly double varieties have been 
raised, but their existence at the present day is 
merely nominal. They must have exceptionally fine 
qualities to encourage growers to preserve them by 
annual propagation in order to keep up a stock of 
good, healthy plants. Primula sinensis alba plena is 
like Camellia japonica alba or Azalea indicaalba in 
this respect, but the turn shrubby species do not 
require the annual propagation that the first-named 
entails. In speaking of the popularity of a variety 
of Chinese Primula, the single and semidouble 
sorts that can be raised from seeds with 
facility and tolerable certainty need not 
be taken into account, because they can be 
perpetuated with comparatively little trouble. Many 
of them are undoubtably popular, we know', but if 
they had to be perpetuated by annual propagation 
from cuttings or division we doubt much whether 
they would be grown to any extent, or retained in 
cultivation tor many years. The purity of the 
flowers o, the old double white, the quantity of 
flowers a well-grown plant will produce, and their 
utility for decorative purposes, either on the plants 
or in a cut state, will ensure the perpetuation of the 
variety lor many years to come. The illustration 
accompanying this will show the general contour 
and aspect of a plant that is so familiar to many. It 
was prepared from a photograph sent us by Mr. H. 
Dyer, the able grower to Messrs. Jefferies & Son, of 
Cirencester. The old double white Chinese Primula 
is one of the specialities of this firm, and Mr. Dyer 
succeeds admirably in its cultivation. 
