THE SECRETARY'S PORTFOLIO. 421 



SUMMER TREATMENT OF PANSIES. 



One of tlic great difliculties in raising pansies from seed, is, our liot, dry, 

 western summers. Tliis favorite liower requires to be kept as cool and moist, 

 as possible, and to this end, those who grow them, sliould use such means as 

 they possess to fill these conditions. Allowing that the seed lias been sown 

 from the first to the middle of May, in rich, warm, sheltered soil, they should 

 be transplanted after they had made suflicient growth for the purpose, about 

 three inches apart, where they may stand until they become jiretty stout plants. 

 Then they should be removed to where they are finally to bloom. To get the 

 best results, however, the soil should be kept cool with mulch, or shaded from 

 the hot sun, and water ought to be given in a dry time. 



If it is inconvenient to transplant twice, they may be set in their final bed at 

 the first transplanting ; but, tliey make finer plants if removed twice, as we 

 have directed. It is perlia])s unnecessary to say that they should be kept quite 

 free from weeds. If lice or other insects attack them, a thorough syringing 

 with strong soap suds, or a suds of chrysalic soap, would be better, followed in 

 a day or two by a syringing with pure water. 



Pansies are not considered hardy in the west, but if you cut them back in 

 September, and protect them through the winter with a good mulch of hay, 

 covered with stable manure, they will generally come out nicely in the spring. 

 A better way is to lay evergreen brush over the bed, and cover this with coarse 

 stable manure. This will keep them perfectly, and they will give you satisfac- 

 tion in the spring. If placed in a cold frame well banked up, giving air in soft 

 weather, and kept covered from frost in hard weather, they will give consider- 

 able bloom in winter. 



If the seedling plants liave been started in a cold frame early in the spring 

 they will give some bloom in the fall, when they may be wintered as before di- 

 rected. Thus a little attention to detail will enable you to have not only these, 

 but many other nice things, costing but a little time and labor, the most of 

 which the female portion of the household will gladly attend to. 



THE BALSAM. 



We can heartily endorse the following, from the American Cultivator, in fa- 

 vor of the Balsam. Properly pruned, it is one of the most showy flowers of the 

 parterre : 



Notwithstanding the great beauty and general attractiveness of bedding 

 plants, which have been introduced so extensively within a few years for the 

 decoration of the garden, the annual flowering plants are still held in high esti- 

 mation, and some of them are among the showiest objects of the garden. It 

 is, in fact, but a short time since the balsam, the coxcomb, and the aster were 

 prominent objects of culture, and, with a great variety of other annuals, ren- 

 dered our gardens attractive the whole season. Easily grown and compara- 

 tively inexpensive, they were the flowers for everybody. But, ui)on the intro- 

 duction of the bedding system, the old annuals began to be somewhat neglected, 

 especially the less showy kinds. The balsam has, however, from its great 

 beauty, retained its place, and in consequence of the improvement in the size, 

 form, and coloring of the blossoms, has become a most popular and splendid 



