Page:The Amateur's Greenhouse and Conservatory.djvu/138

130, and keep a sharp look-out for green-fly, which, if the plants are allowed to suffer from the want of water, or kept in a close stifling atmosphere, will soon become troublesome. Tobacco smoke is one of the very best remedies, but some degree of caution is necessary, because the tender foliage is very susceptible of injury.

.—The greenhouse culture of Violets is extremely simple, but it is just as easy to fail as to succeed. The best

mode of obtaining a supply of such hardy kinds as the Russian and Neapolitan is to lift the plants in October, and plant them in turf pits or in frames on a gentle hotbed of leaves. The lights should not be put on until there is apprehension of frost, and they must be kept regularly watered and have air at all favorable opportunities. A plantation for the purpose should be made every year, in April, by putting out young rooted runners in beds of rich sandy loam, with which plenty of charrings from the smother heap have been mixed. The greenhouse species, such as V. arborea (the Tree Violet), and V. hederacea (the Ivy-leaved Violet), should be grown in rich sandy soil, and, after flowering, should be put out of doors, in a shady place, until the end of September. The double varieties of the Russian, such as The Czar, The Queen, and others, make beautiful pot-plants for the conservatory if planted out in April and potted up in September, in the same way that bedding plants are treated.