212 ANNUAL REPORT 



be done through the seeds. Such is the tendency of pansies to 

 mix and vary, there is no need of cross fertilizing to get something 

 new. The greatest trouble is to get the breeding fixed or estab- 

 lished after saving seeds from something new. There is also a 

 tendency to reversion, and if our selection for something new is a 

 wide departure from common types we may feel sure that a large 

 proportion of plants from our first savings will not be of the var- 

 iety we desire. One can easily tell with one season's trial of a new 

 variety what strains it was selected from. 



In gathering seeds we must not pick them when too green, nor 

 delay until they are scattered from the pods. Just before ripening 

 the pod stems, which have been like a shepherd's crook, will 

 straighten out and the divisions of the pod where they will separate 

 in ripening will become hard like the rest of the pod. The seeds 

 must not dry in an open vessel or they will scatter. Paper bags 

 will answer for small quantities but care is needed in damp 

 weather to prevent moulding. 



Varieties. 



We are sometimes asked about the difference between English 

 French, German and American pansies. That question is not so 

 easily answered as a few years ago, because the growers of different 

 countries soon adopt whatever is new from abroad. But in a gen- 

 eral way we may answer as follows: English pansies are good 

 robust growers of the old fashioned "face pansy" style, of good 

 size, form and substance. French pansies are often not of as good 

 form as the English or German, but some varieties have flowers of 

 the largest size, and some have beautiful, curious, and even gro- 

 tesque markings. Trimardeau, Cassier and Odier include the best 

 of the French varieties. The German pansies when received from 

 careful growers include some of the best we have of solid colors, 

 the flowers are of good form, and colors and plants bear our cli- 

 mate better than other foreign kinds. Some of our poorest and 

 cheapest seeds also come from German houses. We can scarcely 

 be said yet to have a distinct American class of pansies established. 

 American customers indicate a preference for solid colors and 

 fancy- edged varieties, and while the French class is selected from 

 catalogue descriptions very few persons give them the preference 

 on sight. When we consider Winter hardiness or withstanding 

 summer heat established American strains are the best, while the 

 French varieties before mentioned bear our summer climate the 

 poorest of any. For this reason they do best if started in the 

 greenhouse for a short season of spring flowering. After a couple 

 of seasons of American growth the Trimardeau bears our climate 

 very well. 



We are often asked about Imperial German butterfly pansies 

 and other fancy names. These are names chosen by the dealers 

 and may indicate a particular selection and mixture of varieties, 

 or, as is often the case, there is little but the name to it. 



