12 
THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
September 1 190% 
TT Te ra 
iftitl il Ht ancy it i 
VIOLA CUCULLATA ALBA. 
Descriphign 
Bf Fiewerse 
May be Sown during this Month. 
The Violet. 
There is perhaps no flower that is a 
more general favorite than the Violet, 
which, like the Pansy, has been derived 
from the Viola, of which there are a 
great number of species. The only 
ones, however, which are cultivated by 
horticulturists are the garden types which 
have been derived from the indigenous 
British sweet violets. Great improve- 
ment hasbeen effected in this charming 
perfume flower, in increasing the size of 
the bloom, and introducing more varied 
color into them, without diminishing the 
characteristic perfume. The single 
yarieties, in particular, have “been 
improved. The double-flower violets 
have been produced from a variety of the 
common violet, the Neapolitan, The 
double types, though not as hardy as the 
single kinds, are also popular garden 
plants, flowering freely under suitable 
conditions. The flowers are delightfully 
fragrant, the perfume in many varieties 
resembling that of the wallflower. 
‘Tf fine flowers and plenty of them are 
wanted, the plants must be cultivated, 
and not neglected, as they sometimes are, 
The violet delights in fresh soil; it will 
not thrive in sour or exhausted land. It 
revels in decayed leaf-mould; but this 
valuable plant-food cannot often be 
obtained. A sandy, turfy-loam, with 
about one-foarth part of well-rotted cow 
manure mixed with it, makes an 
excellent compost. The plant is fond of 
lime, and if there be none in the soil a 
little should be added; it tends to keep 
down worms and insects, to keep the soil 
sweet, and helps to cause viyorous 
growth. Poor stunted. growth causes 
the plants to become a prey to red spider; 
and this involves attention in the way of 
sulphuring and syringing. If good soil 
and an abundance of water can be pro- 
vided, almost any fairly open situation 
will suit, but a partial shade protection 
from north winds and very hot suns is 
generally better. Division of the roots 
and by runners are the common methods 
of propagation, but cuttings taken off in 
the spring make plants less liable to form 
runners, which, of course, weakens the 
parent plant. 
Violet-roots are often a foot er 18 
inches long, so give them room to run 
well down into the soil, and be sure that 
they find something good at the bottom. 
They are not particular as to the con- 
dition of the manure, but the richer the 
better—only bury it deeply so that the 
roots, though not in contact with it at 
first, will, in their search for it, go down 
well out of the way of summer droughts. » 
If your ground is light, tread it in firmly 
before planting, and keep it firm after- 
wards. After planting, give a good 
soaking of water, and the work is done. 
By the time the warm weather comes 
your-plants ought to be beyond the reach 
of mischief. Nevertheless, keep watch | 
and, if very dry, water occasionally, and, 
above all, spread some cool, well- 
rotted dung over the surface of the 
Violet-beds. This will keep the plants 
free from red spider, and save them from 
scorching, 
Fragrance in the violet is of greater 
importance than even size or color. 
Length of stem, its stiffness and suita- 
bility for working-up into bouquets, and 
also freeness of blooming should be con- 
sidered in selecting varieties, The 
sweetness of the violet is very evanescent, 
few flowers so much so, A bunch of 
blooms in twenty-four hours after being 
gathered has already lost the best part of 
its perfume, when two days old its smell 
is suspicious, and on the third day it 
should be thrown away. Yet, if a box in 
which fresh violets have been packed be 
promptly closed up, the delicate violet 
fragrance may be detected there in all its 
purity many weeks after. 
Violets should be gathered as early in 
the morning as possible, and theic stems 
at once placed in water. If the flowers 
are to be sent away for some distance 
each bunch should be hooded over with a 
sheet of paraffin paper for protection, and 
to confine the fragrance. Our florists, 
when packing the flowers, usually lay the 
bunches close together in single layers on 
flats, which rest on cleats in the packing 
boxes. but sometimes shelves are used in 
which round holes have been cut to hold 
one bunch each. 
Violet plants bloom freely for two 
seasons, after which they become weak 
and straggling in habit, and the flowers 
produced are poor and few. The plants 
should be renewed after the second year, 
fresh soil being necessary to ensure 
success, 
The popularity of the violet is as old as 
the daffodil or the rose. In ancient 
mythology it was dedicated to Venus. 
