950 
The Flower Garden. 
Sweet Violet?. —To have these charming 
flowers at Christmas is the aim of many 
gardeners, and in many nurseries large quan¬ 
tities are grown for market. The culture of 
^ iolets need not be confined to large gardens, 
as given a share of the attention meted to 
many other popular flowers success is fairly 
certain. Propagation is usually effected by 
division or from runners, the latter a ready 
method. Strong healthy runners should be 
selected in spring, and planted out one foot 
apart on a shady border. Moisture is essential 
to their welfare, and daily syringings through 
the hot summer months will promote growth 
and ward off attacks of red spider, to which 
Violets are prone if allowed to get dry at the 
root. When growth begins in earnest, young 
runners will again be sent out by the parent 
plant; these should be continually pinched off, 
the object being to consrve all the strength in the 
crown of the original plant. These plants aie 
quite hardy as a rule, and will yield flowers in 
plenty the following spring after planting. It 
is a common practice to lift the plants about 
the first week in September and plant them in 
cold frames. TV hen frames are not available, 
however, strong plants may be potted in good 
loamy soil and stood in a light greenhouse, 
where they will yield abundance of flowers 
much earlier than if left in the open. It will 
thus be seen that the popular Violets, so freely 
offered by florists through winter and early 
spring may be readily grown at home, and 
their cultivation sustains the interest in our 
gardens while the charms of our summer 
favourites are in abeyance. Strong young 
plants may be obtained cheaply from large 
growers in early spring. A good all round 
variety for the beginner is Marie Louise, which 
generally grows well and flowers freely. 
B W. J. 
The Kitchen Garden. 
Rhubarb. —This important kitchen garden 
crop seldom receives the attention it deserves, 
either in cultivation or in the selection of 
varieties. To ensure the best results, new 
plantations should be made every three or four 
years, and the best course to pursue is to tho¬ 
roughly prepare the land at this season. 
Rhubarb is a deep-rcoting plant; consequently 
it revels in a deeply-stirred soil. The ground 
should be trenched three or four feet deep, 
bringing up the subsoil to the surface, and 
leave in a rough, unbroken state till early 
spring. Work in plenty of good farmyard 
manure, and, should the ground be of a 
tenacious character, also plenty of burnt 
garden refuse, mortar rubble, and road 
Scrapings. Plant strong crowns before growth 
commences, allowing a good distance between 
each, at least 3ft. from plant to plant, and 
4ft. between the rows. 
Varieties.— There are now a great many of 
these, but it is just as well to remember that 
it costs no more, except in the first place for 
the purchase of the plants, to grow the best 
than those which are practically worthless as 
compared with the better sorts. The Sutton 
is one of the best Rhubarbs ever introduced 
for any purpose. It forces well, and is equally 
good in the open, being very productive, 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
December 16, 1905. 
large, of fine colour and quality. A new 
variety which has been brought before the 
public during the last two or three years by 
that well-known amateur gardener, Mr. S. 
Hobday, of Romford, will also, I am sure, 
take a foremost position, but I am not sure 
whether this variety is yet put into commerce 
or not. 
Winter Salads, —For the next two or three 
months these are likely to be in great demand, 
and no pains should be spared to keep up 
a regular supply. Endive now being win¬ 
tered in cold frames should be blanched as 
required ; Lettuce likewise. When this im¬ 
portant constituent is likely to run short, 
small quantities of seed should be sown in a 
gentle heat, duly pricked out thickly, and 
grown on in the same position, when it may 
be cut in the same way as Mustard and Cress. 
Carter’s Harbinger is the best one I know for 
this purpose, as it lends itself admirably to 
forcing. 
Chicory. —A few roots of this should be put 
in the darkest comer of the Mushroom house 
about every ten days 
Sow Mustard and Cress at frequent in¬ 
tervals, also Radishes, on a mild hot-bed, 
Onions in boxes, and place a few roots of 
Tarragon in heat. 
E. Beckett. 
Aldenham House Gardens, Elstree. 
Fruit Garden. 
Indoors, 
Early Grapes. —The middle of the present 
month is a suitable date to close the earliest 
permanent vinery, where ripe fruit is ex¬ 
pected in the month of May. Let the night 
temperature fluctuate from 45 deg. to 50 deg., 
according to the reading of the thermometer 
outside, which in the case of no frost can 
be easily maintained without the aid of fire 
heat. On the other hand, if the fires have to 
be lit, merely keep the pipes luke-warm, in¬ 
creasing it a few degrees each week after the 
new year comes in. Syringe the rods, also 
surroundings, twice daily in bright weather, 
once sufficing overhead on dull, wet days, 
admitting a chink of air when the sun raises 
the thermometer above 70 deg. In the case 
of outside borders, it would be well to cover 
the same with a foot or more of fresh Oak 
leaves, which would stimulate root action 
and be of much help to the Vines in starting. 
Fermenting material is not so much used in¬ 
side the vineries as of yore, as it is so untidy, 
but few will dispute the good effect it has 
in ensuring an even break on the Vines. 
Successional Vineries. —Push forward the 
pruning, cleaning, and top-dressing of the 
bordeis so that all may be in readiness for 
starting at a given date, which all practical 
gai’deners have where several are at com¬ 
mand. Old rods of many years’ standing 
with unduly long spurs may be supplanted 
by running up young canes from the base, 
provided the borders are in good order, and 
cutting away the lowermost spurs as the 
said new cane extends in length. This is a 
good method of renovating a vinery for some 
few years when one cannot conveniently re¬ 
plant a whole house. Houses containing 
bedding plants should be freely ventilated 
in favourable weather, so that the Vines get 
the necessary rest, and, where such are 
planted outside, hay-bands should be twisted 
around the exposed stems in case of severe 
frosts. The recent rains will have put matters 
right with outside borders, and where the 
rainfall is heavy it may be necessary to put 
wooden shutters on to carry off excessive 
moisture, especially wliete early forcing is 
practised. Grapes still hanging on the Vines 
should soon be cut and bottled, details of 
which will be given in next week’s calendar; 
meanwhile give the Grape-room the annual 
cleaning, so that all may be sweet before the 
bunches are put in. 
Outdoors. 
Pruning, —-Last week’s remarks dwelt on 
wall and other trained trees in the open ; we 
will now dilate for a short time as to the 
method to be adopted with standards, bushes, 
and pyramids. As regards the first, be it 
Apple, Pear, or Plum, purchased trees from 
a nursery always have the foundation of a 
head farmed, which should consist of eight or 
more branches, these to be again shortened 
about half their length, assuming free growth 
has been made after the first year of plant¬ 
ing ; and even if they have not, the leaders 
should have their points removed, as many 
will be fruit-buds, which, if allowed to bear 
fruit, a yeaf’s growth would be lost. This 
should be practised some few years, or until 
the tree bears good crops of fruit, when it 
will be seen very little pruning becomes a 
necessity, the principal item being, as with 
older trees, to annually thin out a few of the 
worst-placed branches so that sun and air 
can do their part in ripening the wood as well 
as the fruit. Bush and pyramid trees must 
be restricted, as they usually occupy a promi¬ 
nent position in the garden. These, again, if 
annually carrying fair crops, need but little 
attention with the knife, but should they 
make wood a yard or more in length, which 
is often the case when the blossom gets cut 
with frost, they should be shortened rather 
more than half their length ; other growth 
not required for extending the tree should 
be spurred back to within in. of their 
origin. The growth of the tree must be the 
guide in pruning the leading shoots: some 
grow erect, while others are more spreading, 
according to variety; therefore cut to a bud 
in whichever direction you require the new 
shoot to take. Above all, allow ample space 
between spur growths, cutting clean away 
annually one here and there where anything 
like crowding occurs. 
Red Currants bear fruit on spur growths, 
so require to be pruned back fairly hard each 
winter, and, in case of extension, leave the 
leading shoots with about, 6 in. of this season’s 
wood, cutting close to an eye ; cut away any 
branches that are inclined to spread and reach 
the soil, as the fruit would get dirty from 
the rain splashing the soil over them. 
Black Currants require somewhat different 
treatment, as the major part of the fruit is 
borne on the previous year’s wood, and 
strong young shoots must be encouraged 
from the base each year, dispensing with a 
few old exhausted branches each pruning 
