1SG9. ] THE BELGIAN PANSY. 125 



florists will greatly prefer the latter strain, and having little regard for straight- 

 laced rules or defined laws of judging, will honour them as among the choicest 

 pets of their garden. 



In embarking in the cultivation of the Belgian Pansy, let no one be induced to 

 purchase any of the cheap rubbish of seed sold under that name, because seed of 

 a good strain cannot be sold cheap fairly. When, however, you have got your seed, 

 sow it about the end of July, or the beginning of August, in pans or boxes, keeping 

 them moist and slightly shaded from the sun. When the seedlings are large 

 enough to handle, let them be pricked off into other boxes or into a frame, where 

 they may be kept still shaded for a few days until they have become well-rooted. 

 During the autumn, as beds or borders become vacant, they may be carefully 

 transplanted to their permanent situations, and will form during the winter strong 

 robust plants, that will bloom early, and continue to do so with very little care 

 and attention for many months. Soil, doubtless, enters materially into the 

 question of their successful cultivation, but, without doubt, they will succeed 

 well on any moderately good loam. They will pay to have a soil made purposely 

 for them, where there is either a stiff clay or much gravel. I find they do 

 admirably on a soil of yellow loam, moderately enriched with rotten dung, and 

 under such conditions they produce flowers of the richest hue ; however, for all 

 ordinary purposes, they will do well in any common garden soil. It is usual to recom- 

 mend pegging the side shoots of the Pansy to secure them from the effects of the 

 wind, and in the case of some of these Belgians that may be disposed to be leggy 

 it is still desirable ; but as a rule I have found the practice of top-dressing them 

 with sifted soil, either that of old pot-earth or else the trimmings from the road- 

 side, to be the most effectual preventive of damage from that cause, as the side 

 shoots root freely into the top-dressing, and thus the plants acquire additional 

 hold. This should be done, where possible, two or three times during the 

 summer, especially just after a fall of rain, when the dressing helps to retain 

 moisture in the ground, to the manifest benefit of the plants. It would, indeed, 

 be a difficult matter to describe the extraordinary variety of colours to be found 

 in a good strain of Belgian Pansies, varying from the purest white to nearly black, 

 with a thousand intermediate combinations of shades ; and it is in this feature 

 they are so especially to be prized, as nothing contributes so much to create 

 pleasure and interest in the flower-garden as continuous variety. 



As subjects for exhibition at spring shows, Pansies should at all times hold a 

 foremost place. Their cultivation in pots is not difficult, but for this purpose 

 young, well-rooted cuttings of the best kinds obtainable should be used. These 

 should be potted up in large 60s in the autumn, and kept growing on in cold 

 frames, being shifted as necessity requires, until they are got into 24s or lGs, as 

 the size of the plant may demand. By the end of April or the beginning of May, 

 they will, with ordinary care, be found to be very beautiful and creditable 

 subjects for exhibition. For general purposes, as decorative agents for the 



