402 
THE HARDENING WORLD 
some, brightly-coloured Tulip. Award of Merit to Messrs. J. 
Veitcli and Sons-, and Messrs. Bail' and Sons. 
Tulip Inglescombe Pink. 
In this we have a, May-flowering or cottage Tulip of large 
size, pitcher-shaped, and of a soft- flesh-red and darker inside, 
with a triangular pale blue blotch at the base of each segment. 
Award of Merit to- Messrs. Barr and Sons ; and to Messrs. W. 
Ware and Co., Limited, Inglescombe, Bath. 
Tulip Moucheron'; 
In this we have a large crimson Tulip- flowering in thei first 
half of May. Award of Merit to Messrs. It. H. Bath, Limited, 
Floral Farms, Wisbech. 
Notes on Onions. 
The year 1903 will long be remembered as ranking among 
the worst of bad seasons from a “ gardening ” point- of view. 
The cold, sunless-, and -excessively wet weather had been pretty 
general tlmoughout the country, and crops of all kinds had 
suffered more or less in consequence, according to- their char¬ 
acter-and the soil and situation in which they were planted. 
Onion, growers, and especially those who grow high-class 
stocks for -exhibition or seed-sa-ving, had a most disheart¬ 
ening season. From the veiy commencement in early spring, 
to the time of harvesting, the -weather had been, most trying 
and unfavourable to success, and it could easily be pro-phes-ied 
that the late shows would bring out but few really goo-d samples-. 
Not that large h-ulbs have been entirely absent from the beds, 
but as every grower knows, something more than mere size is 
necessary to constitute a good bulb for exhibition. There 
must be symmetry of form, firmness of texture and good 
finish, all of which qualities were sadly lacking in last season’s 
crop. 
Most -of the large bulbs were coarse and uneven, soft and 
flabby, rough-skinned and thick-necked, while the number of 
bolters has been far above the usual average. All this went to 
foretell that there would be difficulty in keeping the bulbs 
sound, even through the s-h-ow season, while the prospect of re¬ 
taining goo-d bulbs for seed-production this year was gloomy 
indeed. As, however, we cannot undo the results -o-f the past 
season, the best thing is to seek to- profit by o-ur experience by 
carefully noting the measure- -o-f success that has attended crops 
grown under varying circumstances, thereby enabling us to 
adopt in future the best po-sible method of culture. 
I have seen many stocks grown on soils- o-f varying character 
and cultivated on different principles, and doubtless: the crops 
from heavy, tenacious soils have proved most unsatisfactory. 
It is, of course, easily understood that the superabundance of 
moisture, combined with lack of sufficient sunshine, should tell 
more heavily against the heavy-ground crops than, in the case 
of crops grown, on lighter, and consequently drier, so-ils; still 
last, season’s crops went to emphasize the fact that light soil is 
far preferable to heavy soil for Onion glowing. All," ho-we-ver, 
have not the choice of soil or site in their own hands, and 
where only heavy soil is at disposal there is nothing for it but 
to make the best of the unavoidable, and by care and judgment 
much may be done toi surmount the difficulties inseparable 
from unsuitable soil and situation. 
Of greatest importance in wet seasons (and, for the matter 
of that, in dry seasons also) is that heavy land must be veiy 
deeply dug, not. only because the Onion is a deep-rooting sub¬ 
ject, but that deep digging greatly assists drainage in wet 
seasons, and assists in the retention of moisture in. dry weather. 
The- best Onions I ever saw were grown on ground that had 
been moved to a depth of 4 ft., and last season I lifted Onionsi 
from deeply-dug land that realised more than double the weight 
of those- from the same stock grown on similar land cultivated 
only one spit- deep. 
The manner of feeding affects in no small degree the keeping 
qualities of Onions ; this fact ha.s been more- forcibly impressed 
upon one last year than ever before. Onions are unquestion¬ 
ably gross feeders, but crops that have been heavily dressed 
with animal manure are already showing signs of decay, so 
also- are tho-se to- which chemical manures have been indis¬ 
criminately applied. One bed I fed with nitrate of soda has 
scarcely a bulb that has no-t burst, while the best bed I had 
was fed with frequent but light dressings of soot, sulphate of 
ammonia, and guano-, alternately. I should add that when the 
ground was forked over in spring previous to planting, a fair 
sprinkling of J-in. bones was worked in. To my mind, it is 
just folly to- apply liquid manure, in any quantity during such 
a season, as the past summer has been. The ground has been 
so- continuously sodden that it has been of the utmost import¬ 
ance to- allow the ground to dry on every possible occasion, 
thereby giving access to the purifying and sweetening air, 
whereas the application of liquid manure would only tend to 
still further clog and sour it. 
Harvesting Onions was- a difficult task last season, and unless 
extra care has been taken it will probably be found the bulbs 
have not thoroughly ripened. My usual plan has been to go 
over the beds a week before lifting-time, bending the necks of 
any that still remained erect, then in due course the bulbs- were 
lifted (choosing a bright, dry day) and laid out thinly upon the 
ground to- dry. Last year racks had to be constructed of 
ceiling laths on which to- lay the Onions, raising them so- that 
the air could pass under and around them. By this means 
they were prevented from rotting on the under-side, which they 
w ould certainly have done- if left upon the wet ground. As 
so-o-n as thoroughly dry, -all were, removed to- an airy shed and 
laid thinly out on a wooden flo-o-r. 
After all, the- difficulties are not insurmountable, and careful 
attention to minor details will ensure a useful and valuable 
crop- o-f one of the very best, vegetables grown. 
Albert J. MacSelf. 
Le-a. Farm, Fo-rmhy. 
The Culture of Violets in Pots. 
To cultivate Violets successfully in pots., one must commence 
with clean., healthy stock, either by runners- o-r divisions of the 
plants: after flowering in the spring, say from the middle of 
April. In the first case the runners are not so plentiful in the 
variety I specially recommend—namely, La. France, but during 
the season as they do- show on the parent plants they can all 
be propagated and will come in useful. By breaking up and 
dividing the o-ld plants^ any over-hard shoo-ts should be taken 
out and planted outdoors- fo-r stock ^ the others should be- 
potted up, say from two or four crowns, in pots 4 in. to 5 in. 
in diameter. 
The soil to be used should be of a fairly friable nature, 
two parts loam, one leaf-mould, one wood ashes and lime 
rubble, with a. little bone-meal, potting pretty firmly and stand¬ 
ing all in a cold frame, dewing with the- syringe morning and 
evening, and shading slightly from the sun until established, 
which ought to- be in- ten days or a. fortnight, when they can 
be moved to their summer quarters on a clean, firm bottom 
of ashesi. Carefully attend to watering and syringing, that 
being the best preventive from their worst, enemy, red 
spider.” They will benefit, from a drop of soot-water on,ce a 
we-ek when, their pots become- pretty well filled with roots. It 
improves the colour of their leaves-. 
Feeding must be veiy carefully carried out by the- cultivator, 
as overlarge and abundant foliage often comes to grief from 
mould or mildew during the long dark nights of winter in cold 
frames merely protected fro-m frost and wet. Exposed on all 
favourable occasion,si to light and air, soon after the New Year 
they can be gently assisted by putting them in a, cool pit, or 
shelf in a greenhouse or Peach-ho-use well up to the glass-. 
Temperature 45 to 50 deg. 
My opinion is the more gently they are moved on, the more 
regular the flowers will come, and the flowers- will be of better 
size and colour. ’ L. L. 
