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JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
August  1,  1895. 
In  the  Violet  we  have  a  plant  that  flowers  with  the  greatest  freedom 
during  the  dullest  months  of  the  year,  and  in  my  opinion  Marie  Louise  is 
the  best  variety,  as  it  is  very  free,  continuing  in  bloom  from  September 
till  March.  At  the  beginning  of  March  the  plants  receive  a  top-dressing 
of  sifted  leaf  mould  worked  well  in  between  them,  and  by  the  second 
week  in  April  they  have  made  a  number  of  splendidly  rooted  runners. 
The  old  plants  are  then  lifted,  the  runners  being  planted  on  an  east 
border,  which  had  previously  had  a  quantity  of  leaf  mould  and  road  grit 
dug  into  it.  I  plant  9  inches  apart  in  rows  1  foot  asunder,  as  I  find 
this  allows  ample  room  to  keep  the  soil  stirred  between  them  during 
the  summer.  All  the  runners  are  pinched  back  as  fast  as  they  appear, 
and  the  plants  are  syringed  in  the  evening  if  the  weather  is  hot  and  dry. 
Never  allow  the  plants  to  get  dry  at  their  roots,  or  red  spider  will  make 
its  appearance  on  the  leaves,  and  once  it  gets  a  firm  hold  it  is  very 
diflBcult  to  get  rid  of.  Besides  checking  the  growth  it  causes  the  leaves 
to  damp  off  very  badly  when  housed  in  the  winter,  the  blooms  being  very 
poor  in  consequence. 
During  tbe  first  week  in  September  the  plants  are  carefully  lifted 
and  planted  in  a  low  span-roofed  house,  50  feet  long,  12  feet  wide,  and 
8  feet  high,  having  a  path  down  the  centre  2  feet  wide,  with  a  4J-inch 
brick  wall  on  each  side  2  feet  6  inches  high,  leaving  two  beds  each  about 
4  feet  6  inches  wide.  The  Violets  are  planted  in  a  compost  of  equal 
parts  loam  and  leaf  mould,  receive  a  good  watering,  and  are  syringed  for 
a  week  or  ten  days,  by  which  time  they  will  be  growing  freely 
again.  All  the  air  possible  is  admitted  until  frost  sets  in.  The  house 
is  heated  with  flow  and  return  pipes,  which  run  round  the  house. 
Ventilation  is  afforded  at  the  top  and  sides,  and  there  is  a  good  water 
tank  at  one  end. 
By  giving  the  Violet  this  treatment,  and  keeping  the  temperature 
about  45°,  with  plenty  of  air,  abundance  of  blooms  of  fine  quality  will 
be  had,  and  sell  at  Is.  6d.  to  2s.  per  dozen  bunches  according  to  the 
season.  Never  pick  the  blooms  till  they  are  fully  expanded,  as  it  is 
surprising  what  a  size  they  attain  after  they  appear  to  be  fully  expanded. 
Along  the  centre  of  this  house  I  also  have  a  shelf  fixed  for  growing 
Strawberries.  The  plants  are  put  in  during  December,  and  as  they 
come  on  gradually  1  get  a  fine  cron  of  fruit  about  the  beginning  of 
April,  when  the  prices  will  be  from  4s.  to  6s,  per  pound. 
To  grow  Mushrooms  is,  I  think,  one  of  the  most  profitable  ways  of 
utilising  glass  houses  in  the  winter,  providing  manure  can  be  procured 
cheaply.  I  have  a  span-roof  house,  60  feet  long  by  20  wide,  and  10  feet 
high,  ventilated  at  the  top  and  bottom,  heated  with  four  rows  of  pipes, 
the  first  row  being  fitted  2  feet  from  the  outside  wall,  and  the  other  two 
rows  8  feet  apart,  and  having  a  water  tank  in  the  middle.  I  have  been 
in  the  habit  of  making  up  a  Mushroom  bed  in  the  soil  that  had  grown 
Tomatoes  in  during  tbe  summer.  It  is  taken  out,  and  the  bed  made  up 
8  inches  in  depth  at  the  beginning  of  October,  with  manure  previously 
prepared.  The  temperature  of  the  house  is  kept  about  55°,  and  by  the 
end  of  November  I  begin  to  cut  Mushrooms.  From  this  bed  I  have  cut 
over  450  lbs.  of  Mushrooms,  which  have  sold  at  from  Is.  3d,  to  Is.  6d. 
a  pound,  I  usually  cover  the.  bed  over  with  long  litter  shaken  from 
the  manure,  but  as  soon  as  the  Mushrooms  appear  all  the  litter  is  taken 
away,  as  it  is  a  saving  of  time  to  be  able  to  see  at  a  glance  which  are 
fit  to  cut.  The  Mushroom  bed  is  cleared  out  about  the  beginning  of 
February,  and  the  house  planted  with  Tomatoes  over  the  Mushroom 
bed. 
On  planks  resting  on  the  pipes  I  grow  Spirmas,  standing  the  pots  in 
saucers  to  avoid  wetting  the  Mushroom  bed  when  watering  the  plants. 
This  I  consider  a  most  profitable  plant  to  grow  for  market,  as  given  heat 
and  water  it  can  be  had  in  bloom  with  very  little  attention.  The 
clumps  are  potted  into  5  and  6-inch  pots  early  in  November,  stood  out¬ 
side,  and  about  3  inches  of  cocoa-nut  fibre  refuse  is  covered  over  them  to 
prevent  the  pots  breaking  in  case  of  frost.  The  earliest  plants  are 
drafted  into  heat  early  in  November,  so  as  to  be  in  flower  for  Christmas 
and  the  new  year.  Others  are  put  in  at  intervals,  so  as  to  keep  up  a 
succession  till  Easter.  At  Christmas  and  Easter  the  average  selling 
price  is  8s.  per  dozen,  and  between  that  time  63.  per  dozen.  Easter  is, 
however,  the  best  time  to  have  them  in  flower,  as  they  are  then  much 
sought  after  for  church  decoration.  Good  clumps  can  be  bought  whole¬ 
sale  at  £5  per  1000,  and  drafted  into  the  houses,  as  I  have  explained, 
they  give  a  good  return  to  the  grower. 
As  regards  bulbs,  I  do  not  find  there  is  much  profit  to  be  made  out 
of  them,  the  only  thing  being  they  help  to  keep  trade  together  during 
the  dullest  time  of  the  year.  I  grow  a  number  of  the  double  Daffodil 
(Telemonius  plenus),  as  I  find  it  gives  a  good  return  for  the  outlay, 
and  it  is  a  bulb  that  forces  very  easily.  There  is  a  good  demand  for 
the  blooms  in  the  early  part  of  the  year.  I  procure  the  bulbs  as  early 
in  September  as  possible,  and  plant  them  in  boxes,  these  being  stood  in 
the  open,  and  covered  with  3  or  4  inches  of  ashes  till  the  boxes  are  full 
of  roots.  When  they  begin  to  make  leaf  growth  they  are  uncovered  and 
taken  to  a  cold  house,  and  as  they  are  wanted  to  come  into  flower  they 
are  taken  to  houses  having  a  temperature  of  60°,  where  they  will  flower 
in  about  fourteen  dais.  By  this  means  it  is  easy  to  have  them  in 
flower  from  D -cember  till  they  come  into  flower  outside.  From  the  end 
of  December  till  the  end  of  January  is  when  they  pay  best,  as  they  will 
average  Is.  6  J.  per  doz-n  blooms,  and  as  good  flowering  bulbs  can  be 
bought  wholesale  at  £2  per  1000  it  gives  the  grower  a  good  return  for 
his  outlay.  Daffodils  jtquiie  abundance  of  water  when  growing,  and 
must  never  be  allowed  to  get  dry  at  their  roots. 
In  conclusion,  let  me  say  that  if  the  above  crops  are  grown  well  the 
cultivator  will  flud  that  his  houses  are  quite  as  remunerative  in  the 
winter  months  as  they  are'in  the  summer. 
The  “Quartekly”  on  Bose  Culture. 
I  DESIRE  to  call  attention  to  a  most  interesting  article  on  “  Ancient 
Rose  Growers”  in  the  July  “Quarterly.”  It  occurs  in  a  review  of 
Mr.  Foster-Melliar’s  great  work,  and  Mr.  W.  Paul’s  exhaustive  work, 
“  The  Rose  Garden,”  ninth  edition.  The  reviewer  is  at  once  master  of 
terse  English  and  of  his  subject.  His  own  theory,  well  developed,  is 
that  “  Rose  culture  may  claim  to  be  quite  the  oldest  and  the  most  highly 
developed  of  the  many  struggles  of  man  with  Nature,”  which  I  apprehend 
has  been — 
“  Often  thought  before,  but  ne’er  so  well  expressed.” 
He  considers  that  the  Rose  originated,  like  our  first  parents,  in 
Central  Asia  ;  that  it  was  probably  brought  to  Greece,  perhaps  with  the 
alphabet,  by  the  Phoenicians.  He  corrects  the  common  idea  with 
regard  to  Sappho’s  Rose  Ode,  and  shows  that  it  should  really  be 
attributed  to  one  Tatius,  A.D.  500, 
He  then,  which  is  peculiarly  interesting,  traces  down  the  old 
Cabbage  {^paee  Dean  Hole,  let  us  rather  say  R.  centifolia)  from  the  time 
of  Herodotus,  in  fact  far  further  back  ;  quoting  in  his  reference  to  the 
Gardens  of  Midas  a  description  of  a  Rose,  “  so  sweet  that  no  other  can 
vie  with  it,  and  the  blossoms  have  as  many  as  sixty  petals  apiece.” 
Another  popular  error  is  grappled  with,  which  attributes  this  Rose 
bringing  into  England  to  Edmund  Crouchbeck,  Earl  of  Lancaster, 
in  right  of  his  wife  Lord  of  Provins,  in  1277.  It  is  shown  it  was  the 
Provins,  not  the  Provence,  a  crimson  single  flower,  brought  from 
Palestine  by  the  Crusaders,  not  the  good  old  pure  rose  coloured— dare 
I  say  again — Cabbage. 
The  difficult  question  of  the  perpetual,  or,  at  least,  twice-bearing 
Pmsturn  Roses,  is  also  gone  into  ;  and  it  is  explained  that  probably  in 
Virgil’s  time,  when  Roses  were  budded  and  grafted  and  pruned  hardly 
less  than  nowadays,  this  Lucanian  Rose  garden  was  probably  the 
Cheshunt  or  Colchester  of  the  day.  “  What  a  place  !  ”  (says  Addington 
Simonds),  “  Deep  loam  reclaimed  from  swamps,  and  irrigated  by  per¬ 
petual  streams.”  An  old  woman  once  remarked,  “Her  husband  was 
enough  to  irrigate  an  angel.” 
My  recollection  of  P^stum  certainly  is  that  its  Roses  would  certainly 
not  lack  the  incentive.  The  little  known  distinction  is  then  drawn  very 
clearly  between  tbe  true  Vork  and  Lancaster  and  the  Rosa  Mundi,  a 
striped  Gallica,  which  is  sometimes  confused  with  it.  If  I  might  make 
one  possible  addition  to  this  excellent  article  it  would  be  to  point  out 
that,  according  to  Miss  Strickland,  this  Rose  did  originate  about  the 
time  of  the  happy  close  of  the  Wars  of  the  Roses,  just  when  people  were 
beginning  to  hope  that  Henry  of  Lancaster  would  marry  (as  he  did  after 
Bosworth)  Elizabeth  of  York.  “In  1493  great  crowds,”  she  writes, 
“  went  to  behold  a  natural  prodigy  of  a  Rose  bush  which  produced 
blossoms  where  the  rival  colours  of  York  and  Lancaster  were  for  the  first 
time  seen  blended.  This  the  English  considered  an  auspicious  omen.” 
This  statement  is  strengthened  by  a  happy  quotation  from  the  poet 
Gray  : — 
“  Above,  below,  the  Rose  of  Snow, 
Twined  with  her  blushing  foe,  we  spied 
The  bristled  Boar,  in  infant  gore. 
Wallows  beneath  the  thorny  glade  1” 
The  allusion,  of  course,  is  to  Richard’s  supposed  murders  of  his 
nephews,  of  his  badge  the  boar,  and  to  his  crown  after  Bosworth  being 
found  in  a  Thorn  bush. — A.  C. 
Observations  at  the  N.R.S.  Derby  Show. 
This  northern  exhibition  was  intended  more  especially  for  the 
convenience  of  northern  growers,  both  as  to  place  and  date,  and  we  are 
therefore  not  surprised  to  find  that  they  come  out  in  full  force  ;  although, 
like  as  the  northern  men  have  sometimes  stirred  the  equanimity  of  our 
southern  growers,  so  some  of  the  southern  men  have  taken  their  share  of 
the  spoil  from  the  north.  As  far  as  the  general  character  of  the  Roses 
is  concerned  it  was  (notwithstanding  some  remarkable  exceptions)  like 
that  of  its  two  predecessors,  the  flowers  were  smaller  than  usual,  and 
lacked  substance.  The  Teas  were  not  so  good  as  at  the  Crystal  Palace 
or  at  Gloucester,  which  still  may  claim  the  pre-eminence  in  that  class 
of  flowers. 
Notable  Roses. 
As  might  have  been  expected  Messrs.  Harkness  &  Sons  carried  off  the 
premier  prizes  amongst  nurserymen,  and  many  of  their  flowers  showed 
that  deep  and  intense  colour  which  we  are  accustomed  to  associate  with 
northern  climes.  Gustave  Piganeau,  although  I  do  not  much  care 
for  the  flower,  was  very  fine.  Horace  Vernet  was  grand  in  colour. 
S.  M.  Rodocanachi,  Victor  Hugo,  Marchioness  of  Londonderry,  Mrs. 
Sharman  Crawford  (both  of  these  last-named  Irish  flowers)  were 
exceptionally  good.  Sir  Rowland  Hill,  which  we  have  not  often  seen 
well  shown  of  late,  but  which  when  in  good  form  is  a  valuable  addition 
to  any  stand,  was  excellent,  as  was  also  Her  Majesty,  which  has  retained 
throughout  the  season  the  high  position  with  which  it  commenced,  a 
grand  box  of  it,  exhibited  by  Messrs,  Alex.  Dickson  &  Sons  of  New- 
townards,  fully  bearing  out  what  has  already  been  said  concerning  it. 
