582 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
July 22, 1905. 
—* ——-—— —— —— ——-— 
OUR ... 
Northern Gardens. 
Flower Garden and 
Pleasure Grounds 
Carnations. — Grass should now be abun¬ 
dant, and layering should be performed with¬ 
out delay, especially if autumn planting is to 
be practised. Scoop out a little of the soil 
round the parent plant and cover the layers 
with a little sanely loam to facilitate the 
emission of roots and to form, a ball to the 
layer when it is being lifted and planted. 
Violas should also be propagated now 
when planting is to be done in autumn, but. 
next month will be soon enough to propagate 
those intended for spring planting. The cut¬ 
tings can either be inserted in'boxes and 
placed behind -a wall, or they can be struck 
in cold frames, keeping close and shaded till 
rooted. 
Sweet Peas. —By picking off all decaying 
flowers and preventing seeding, the flowering 
period will be prolonged ; water and mulch 
in dry weather, especially on light soils. 
Gunneras, etc. —Where Gunneras, Pam¬ 
pas Grass, or New Zealand Flax are grown— 
and they can be successfully grown in many 
parts of Scotland—they will require copious 
waterings in dry weather, unless planted in 
close proximity to water. 
Conservatory and Greenhouse. 
Vallota purpurea.— Many people have 
only very limited success with this highly de¬ 
corative plant. Expose the plants to the full 
sunshine for the next few weeks to thoroughly 
ripen the bulbs. 
Camellias.. —Plants that- are not too heavy 
to handle should be placed out of doors in a 
partially shaded corner. Great care has to 
be exercised in watering Camellias at all sea¬ 
sons, more especially after the setting of the 
flower buds, or a large proportion of these 
are sure to drop towards the flowering season. 
Tuberous Begonias. — These popular 
flowers have been very gay for some time. A 
little weak stimulant from time to time will 
prolong the season of flowering. Seed saving 
should now be attended to, as the seed pods 
show signs of ripening. Continue to stake 
and tie the young "rowing plants. 
General Remarks.— Pvemove from the con¬ 
servatory all plants as soon as they finish 
flowering, and introduce others from the 
greenhouse and frames. Promptly remove 
all decayed flowers and foliage, and let tidi¬ 
ness prevail everywhere. C. C. 
The Kitchen Garden. 
Rhubarb. —Where early forcing is carried 
out care should be taken not to pull any more 
of the stalks from the roots meant for this 
purpose. Naturally, the more pulling, the 
more inducement the plants have to throw up 
fresh growth, with the inevitable result that 
the crowns are weak and late in maturing. 
By leaving most of the early stalks the plants 
go to rest early, and the forcing is thus made 
an easier task, and the l’esulting crop much 
heavier and more reliable. For very early 
supplies Prince Albert is good, but the stalks 
at best are very small. For general forcing 
nothing is better or more to be depended on 
than the old Victoria. 
Spinach. —In some gardens this vegetable 
is never asked for after Peas and Cauliflower 
are in, while in others it is in constant de¬ 
mand all the season. A greatly-improved 
variety is Viroflay. The leaves are of enor¬ 
mous size, and of much thicker texture than 
the ordinary kinds. Another sowing or two 
should yet be made, as this variety is a very 
rapid grower. The end of the month is early 
enough to sow the prickly seeded varieties to 
stand the winter. 
Peas.. —Continue to assist this crop with 
frequent drenehings of liquid manure at the 
roots. This is especially necessary on light, 
dry soils. In this locality these are wonder¬ 
fully free from mildew so far this season, 
and promise a heavy yield. I have grown The 
Pilot for the first time, and am much pleased 
with it. It came in a full week before Wil¬ 
liam I., sown oil the same date, and on the 
same south border. 
Routine Work. —Finish planting Leeks as 
soon as possible now, as late planted crops are 
seldom satisfactory. Earlier crops, in trenches 
should be earthed up as necessary. Finish 
planting Broccoli and curled greens, and keep 
constantly stirring the soil among earlier plant¬ 
ings. Keep up constant supplies of saladings 
by weekly sowings of the quick-growing kinds. 
Where necessary tie Lettuces to blanch the 
hearts. These are very unsatisfactory this 
season, especially the Cos varieties. With 
us, even on the best land, they bolt before 
they are half size. Sow some Chirk Castle 
Turnip for late use, and thin all previous 
sowings as they become ready. C. Blair. 
Preston, Linlithgow. 
Hardy Fruit. 
Cherries on walls will require attention in 
laying in and regulating young shoots. Small 
twigs of Willows can be used with advantage 
to hold in the growths, and save such a quan¬ 
tity of nails. When time can be afforded 
there is a great advantage in thinning fruit 
when too abundantly set, especially on the 
Morello trees, when late frosts did not affect 
them, the same in the blossom stage. 
Small fruit will now have hr be seen to in 
preparation for fruiting by getting them 
covered with nets where birds are trouble¬ 
some, as on most large estates they are, when 
there are protected woods all around. 
Raspberries are also a most useful crop 
where they can be well secured, and are a 
remunerative crop for the market, especially 
where mulching and watering can be carried 
out. 
Black and Red Currants will soon be a 
bit of work ; they are a tedious crop to pick. 
Where boys or women can be employed it is 
a great advantage. Now is the season for 
getting the forced lot of Strawberries set again 
for next year. Where a young break of 
Strawberries was planted in the autumn or 
spring get the strongest runners all laid into 
3 in. pots and sink between the rows, and 
filled with a bit of fresh loam and leaf mould. 
Peg down the runners with bits of Bracken 
Fern, and, if possible, put a small stone or 
two on the top of the pot ; it helps to retain 
moisture. 
See that they are well watered every other 
night, and pinch out the point of the "runner 
to retain all the strength, and expose as much 
to the sun as possible to keep them dwarf. 
J. Fkaseb Smith. 
Cullen Gardens. 
-♦- 
The Origin . . . 
OF THE 
Ainiature Viola. 
An interesting paper read before the Horlicul 
tural Club. 
After the usual monthly dinner of this club 
at the Hotel Windsor, on Tuesday, the 20th 
ult., at which Sir John Llewellyn presided, 
and which was well attended by the members 
and their guests, Mr. D. B. Crane read an 
extremely interesting paper on the “ Beauty 
of the Later Developments of the Pansy," 
illustrated by a bountiful exhibition of a 
large number of the most up-to-date samples. 
Undoubtedly the most interesting feature of 
the paper and of the exhibits consisted of the 
Tioletta, or miniature Election in the shape of 
extremely compact tufted plants suitable for 
rockeries, and covered profusely with smaller 
flowers of the Viola, type in many delicate 
colours. These are hybrids between Pansies 
and Viola cornuta, the result being the 
elimination of the lax spreading habit of the 
former and the introduction into tire 1 latter of 
the varied Pansy tints. A further and very 
important result is additional hardiness, the 
Violettas, being true perennials, while the 
Pansy often dies after flowering, and is a diffi¬ 
cult plant to maintain in form, especially 
under the drier conditions of Southern 
Britain. 
In the subsequent discussion, in which Mr. 
H. B. May, T. W. Sanders, C. T. Druery, and 
W. Marshall took part, the value of this new 
strain was warmly recognised, and consider¬ 
able stress was laid upon the fact that the 
improvement wa.s largely due to recourse to 
the normal species Viola cornuta as the seed- 
bearer instead of adhering to the practice 
common among- both British and foreign 
hybridisers of continually crossing variety 
with variety. 
The result of this' course is a greater and 
greater lack of stamina and loss of the 
natural habit of the species, so that although 
splendid flowers are often obtained, this is at 
the expense of the floriferou® nature of the 
plants, and, as a rule, when the amateur ac¬ 
quires them their quality speedily depre¬ 
ciates under ordinary conditions, and the pro¬ 
mise of the first flowers is rarely subsequently 
fulfilled. In the Violetta section the term 
“ tufted Pansies ” as distinct from ordinaiy 
Pansies is peculiarly well-fitted, while their 
caespitose habit of growth protects their roots 
from drought and also facilitates propagation 
by the encouragement of rooting offsets. 
Mr. Crane’s paper will doubtless eventually 
appear in extenso in the B.H.S. Journal; 
and in it he justly gives the credit of these 
new productions, based on recourse to the 
normal form of Viola cornuta, to the late Dr. 
Chias. Stuart, M.D., of Chirnside, Berwick¬ 
shire, who started by fertilising the wild 
Pyrenean form, with the pollen of a garden, 
Pansy named Blue King, obtaining twelve, 
seeds thereby in 1874. These yielded seed- 
