THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 337 



cheaper than in the spring, when the demand is general. By all 

 means select plants of first-rate character, if you indulge the in- 

 tention of producing new varieties ; without this precaution ynu 

 will only be toiling in the rear of others, and fortunate if you effect 

 what they have accomplished three or four years ago. We have 

 before stated that neither cold nor frost will injure pansy plants ; 

 even the strikings which have not rooted, when left in the pots, will 

 survive the hardest frost if kept dry and sheltered from the cutting 

 easterly winds. The pansy is injured by wind at any season, but in 

 spring or winter it would he fatal ; and when it occurs from a cold 

 quarter, some shelter should be afforded, either iu the form of 

 screens, litter, or pots. Those who desire to produce new varieties, 

 having procured a sufficient number of plants of approved shape, 

 diversity as to colours, and good character for shrubby growth, may 

 class them according to fancy, and if no inferior plant is admitted 

 into the bed, every seedling that appears (and the best seeds are 

 often shed) may be preserved and pricked out as soon as it attains 

 four leaves. Or if the old plants are left to ripen, they can be cut 

 down about Midsummer, a plentiful crop of seed harvested, leaving 

 still sufficient to cover the ground, and then, by removing the 

 original plants, you will have a bed of seedlings, after thinning out 

 in spots where they are too thick ; and this is the plan that many 

 growers pursued, being attended with little trouble, and producing 

 blooms the same year. We do not advise the use of manures in 

 the raw state. We have tried every sort, we believe, natural and 

 artificial, and experience proves that nothing surpasses leaf-mould, 

 well rotted, and mixed with a little garden loam and cow-dung, then 

 laid in a heap, turned over repeatedly, and screened and riddled 

 before being laid on. A thin covering of this occasionally, when 

 the earth is stirred, will freshen the plants amazingly ; but a good 

 airy situation is essential to surpassing excellence in the culture of 

 this or any other flower. 



Cuttings taken from a mildewed or otherwise diseased plant, 

 will seldom strike roots, therefore it is a waste of time to attempt 

 to propagate under such circumstances. We are not aware that 

 any writer has given instructions for eradicating mildew — a great 

 omission on the part of those who have published on the subject ; for 

 the pansy is particularly liable to that disease, and it is so contagious 

 aa to spread over a whole ground in a short time. We have an 

 impression that the use of ram dung induces the mildew, and also 

 the rot of the stem, and our application of bone-dust proved most 

 detrimental. Sulphur powdered liberally over the plant, is tho only 

 cure we know of. 



Cuttings may still be taken from vigorous plants that have a 

 superabundance of foliage. They are best from the side, and those 

 that have not borne blossoms should be preferred. At this late 

 season they should undoubtedly be placed in pots, taking care to 

 press the earth firmly about the bottom of the stem, leaving no 

 void, or it will rot. The pots may be placed in a sheltered spot, 

 and in very cold weather oither covered over or removed to a frame 

 or out-house, giving them plenty of air at all times ; they will root 



November. -- 



