CULTURE OF THE PANSY. 



26^ 



the greatest care, as if they were for show- 

 ing, and let the best of the flowers only be 

 left for seed. This must be watched daily 

 that the pods may not split, and the seed 

 be lost, j'et it must be ripe. Half a dozen 

 of the pods, from the best flowers of each 

 plant will be enough ; for as the flowers get 

 smaller, the seed will be worse. Let the 

 pods when gathered, be placed in the shade 

 to dry, taking care that they are in a deep 

 dish or box, to prevent their flying away 

 when the pods burst. The best time to 

 sow seed is May, because they will bloom 

 before the summer passes. It should be 

 sown thinly, in pans of compost, similar to 

 that in which the plants grew, and but just 

 covered with mould ; they must be watered 

 occasionally, and will be best under glass ; 

 if there be no frame, it may be placed un- 

 der a hand glass. As soon as they are 

 large enough to plant conveniently, let 

 them be planted in beds similarly made to 

 those for matured plants ; but if it be in an 

 open space, they must be shaded altogether 

 until they have established themselves, after 

 which they need only be shaded during the 

 few hours of the hottest part of the day. 

 They must be kept exceedingly clear from 

 weeds, and regularly watered, if the wea- 

 ther be dry long together. As they bloom, 

 throw away every one that has not some 

 strong recommendation, looking more, how- 

 ever, to form than color ; and mark those 

 which you intend to keep, but discard at 

 once all those with their flimsy petals, ill- 

 shaped flowers, notched or rough edges, 

 cloudy stained indistinct colors. If there 

 be any really good flowers, treat them as 

 you are directed with purchased plants — that 

 is, increase it by cuttings ; and besides the 

 ordinary way of doing it, cut the plant back 

 early, that it may throw up side branches 

 in more abundance, and even part the plant 

 itself, if necessary ; as fast as the cuttings 

 get rooted, treat them all as you did the 

 old plant, until you have as many plants as 

 you think proper; but generally, if it be 

 really good, it ought to be propagated very 

 largely, so that a good stock may be pro- 

 vided before the variety, is let out. 



CAUSES OF FAILURE. 



" Among the causes of failure with young 



beginners there are two, which ought above 

 all things to be avoided. The first is re- 

 moving plants from light soil to that which 

 is stiff'; the other is removing them from 

 stiff" soil to that which is light. The only 

 way to avoid the evil is to wash from the 

 roots all the old soil, and plant it in the new 

 very carefully, that the earth may be well 

 closed about the fibres. If a plant be brought 

 from light soil, and is planted with a ball 

 of earth about it, the light soil is confined 

 by the heavy, which forms a complete hard 

 wall round about it, and the plant is infi- 

 nitely worse off" than if it were in a pot ; 

 the water which is given to it cannot run 

 off" freely, and the roots will often rot, and 

 the plant gradually dwindles ; on the other 

 hand, if there be not a proper supply of 

 moisture, the stiff" soil becomes baked, the 

 root cannot penetrate it, and therefore dies 

 or starves into a bad habit. If, on the con- 

 trary, the ball of earth about the roots is 

 stiff^, and it is planted in light soil, the wa- 

 ter given to it does not penetrate the ball, 

 but runs away directly through the light 

 soil, and in a few days, the moisture being 

 completely absorbed by the surrounding 

 earth, the stiff" ball will become baked hard, 

 and the plants very shortly feel the eff"ect. 

 We have seen the effects on both very fre- 

 quently, and particularly when the misma- 

 nagement has occurred to seedlings. Most 

 raisers of seedlings are too careless about 

 where they plant them out ; they fancy that 

 they may put them any where till they see 

 the quality ; and they think that where they 

 find a good one, it is very easy to remove it 

 into a better situation ; so indeed they might ; 

 but on changing the soil, the entire root 

 should be cleared of the old stuff", and the 

 plant should grow entirely in the new. 

 Perhaps the very best seedling that ever 

 was raised, was lost entirely by a change 

 from a heavy but rich loam, where it was , 

 growing well, to a light rich soil, made up 

 on purpose for it. The very object of the 

 grower in removing a large ball of earth 

 with it, SD as not to disturb the roots, was 

 the cause of its dwindling, even till the 

 constitution of the plant was destroyed ; 

 when, lest it should be lost, two very cele- 

 brated growers were supplied with cuttings, 

 but it never recovered ; and when the old 



