210 ANNUAL REPORT 



is put on and covered with mortar. This makes a very good heat- 

 ing apparatus for a very small sum of money. 



This green house was built as cheaply as possible so that in case 

 it did not pay we could easily tear it down without much loss, and 

 the sashes could be used for hot beds. 



The cost of the above structure was not over $400. All the 

 boards used were taken from the fences that were on the farm, so 

 there was not a very heavy out-lay for lumber. Unless a person 

 had the same material as we had probably the house would cost 

 him more. 



The following paper was then read: 



PANSY CULTUEE. 



By William Toole, of Baraboo, Wm. 



When sowing pansies, we must give them as much care as we 

 should other small seeds, to guard against burying or drying 

 them. The seed-bed should be rich and fine, without any coarse 

 manure. 



After the surface has been pressed smooth with a piece of board, 

 shallow furrows about one-sixteenth of an inch deep and two inches 

 apart, may be made, with the sharpened edge of a piece of lath, or 

 other thin piece of wood. The covering soil may be sifted on, or 

 spread over with the fingers. We have found nothing better than 

 common sheeting for shading small seeds until they come up, or 

 small plants, of any kind, which have just been transplanted. There 

 are so many kinds of plants which do better if they are started in a 

 nursery bed and then transplanted, that it is worth while to have a 

 number of cloth frames on hand, ready for use, they may be made as 

 follows. Take two laths, full length, and lay one on top of the other, 

 with the ends of each projecting the width of a lath beyond the other, 

 and fasten them together with wire lath nails. Two of such as 

 these are needed for the sides, and two other such, from three- foot 

 pieces of lath, are needed for the ends of each frame. Fasten at 

 the corners, and tack the sheeting taut. With several of these 

 frames over a bed running east and west, having a six inch board 

 on edge along the front, and a ten or twelve inch board at the back, 

 to support the covers, you are better provided for success with 

 most flower seeds than if you had a hot- bed or cold frame. 



The young plants should not be kept too close after they come 

 up, and if the weather is not too dry the shading may soon be kept 

 off entirely. Water the seed bed by sprinkling after they are 

 sown, and as often as necessary to prevent drying. The seeds are 

 from ten to twenty days in coming up, and once drying, through 

 neglect, in that time, may kill them. Florists make a mistake in 

 sowing under glass in July and August, when the weather is too 

 hot for such covering. The plants should be transplanted, from 

 the seed bed, before they crowd each other, causing slender growth, 

 and it is often worth while to plant in a nursery bed, transplanting 

 again as soon as a good stock of white feeding roots has formed. 



