CULTURE OF THE PANSY. 



265 



rishment, are now at the sides of the pot, 

 and water rather washes that away than 

 draws it, and it is better for the plant that 

 it should have it in the water, the greater 

 part of which will pass down the sides of 

 the pot among the roots. With regard to 

 the time of year for this culture, it rather 

 depends on the period of exhibition than on 

 the season, for the Pansy can be got in 

 perfection at almost any time, and especially 

 in pots ; because as these can be kept in 

 frames blooming all the winter, there is no 

 difficulty about it. But succession is as 

 important with this as with open air culture, 

 and therefore they ought to be potted in 

 March, April and May, to succeed each 

 other, and when they have done their office 

 they may be consigned to the border or bed, 

 either as they are, or cut back, but general- 

 ly they will be gay out of doors, when they 

 are turned out from the pots, and bloom 

 fresh without being cut back. We have 

 said nothino- about propagating by layers, 

 chiefly because we set our faces against it 

 altogether, for reasons pretty well explained 

 at the beginning. They do not make such 

 good plants as the side shoots. Pot culture 

 may be conducted in frames or out of doors, 

 but all plants in pots, when out of doors, 

 get dried by the wind, and heated by the 

 sun, unless plunged up to the rim, and they 

 are apt to push roots through the bottom of 

 the pots into the earth, and they then re- 

 ceive a check upon removal. 



" The properties of the Pansy have been 

 already officially announced and acknow- 

 ledged" by most, if not all floral societies. 

 We know of no exception ; but a few re- 

 marks on the advantages of each separate 

 point will not be out of place. It seems con- 

 ceded on all hands that form is the first consi- 

 deration in all flowers, and in the Pansy the 

 circular was insisted upon as the most desira- 

 ble, even when the attainment of it seemed 

 impossible. However this may have been 

 objected to in the first instance, on the ground 

 of its being unattainable, it was evidently 

 founded on a sound judgment of what would 

 appear the most rich and beautiful; and it 

 was obvious that the nearer a flower could 

 be brought to a rich and beautiful form, the 

 better it must be, whether it could or could 

 not be produced quite in perfection. Novv 



34 



it is impossible to conceive any thing more 

 silly than to set up any distinct form short 

 of perfection, for then indeed would it be 

 setting a limit to improvement — when this 

 form had been produced, no pains would 

 have been taken to surpass it, and if by any 

 chance it had been surpassed, there would 

 have been at once a difference of opinion. 

 All who had been led to believe that a par- 

 ticular form was a criterion of a good Pan- 

 sy, would have maintained that those which 

 were of that form were best ; while all per- 

 sons of taste, who saw the increased beauty 

 of the one which surpassed it, would have 

 condemned the established rules, and the 

 result would have been two sets of laws to 

 govern the choice of a flower, and endless 

 bickerings among the growers and judges. 

 For this reason, it was necessary that the 

 person Avho laid down the test of a good 

 flower, should know what would be the 

 most perfect form, and at once to fix upon 

 it, without reference to whether it could or 

 could not be attained. There is the great- 

 est proof of the correctness of this view, in 

 the actual fact, that the circular form has 

 been so nearly attained, that the horticultu- 

 ral world has been convinced long smce of 

 its superiority over any other that imagina- 

 tion could suggest. Another point required 

 by the (we must say) dictator in these mat- 

 ters, was the thickness of the petal, a pro- 

 perty which speaks for itself — the firmness 

 of the flower — the richness of the surface — 

 the strength of the color — and the perma- 

 nence of a bloom, whenever the petals are 

 thick, are so conspicuous by comparison with 

 a thin one, that there needs no argument 

 upon the subject ; for a thin petal is flimsy, 

 and curls up soon — there is no firmness to 

 keep its form ; the colors are poor, and the 

 surface is invariably like paper instead of 

 velvet. Smoothness on the edge is a qua- 

 lity which is constantly recognized by every 

 person of taste. There is nothing which so 

 completely spoils a flower in the eyes of every 

 body, as notched, or sawed, or rough uneven 

 edges — the bloom looks mean and untidy, 

 as if it were gnawed by vermin — compared 

 with one which is the reverse, it is, even to 

 an indifferent person, worthless, let its colors 

 be what they may; and the principles on 

 which all real good properties should be 



