116 VILLA GARDENING pakt i 



short stable or cowshed manure, and which has become mellow, 

 may be used to dress the beds with advantage ; but if any fresh 

 manure is used, bury it a foot deep at least, so that it may have 

 parted with its chief strength before the roots reach it. To pre- 

 pare a bed for Pansies, trench it up two spits deep not later than 

 September, if it is intended to plant in autumn. Of course there 

 must be no bad subsoil brought to the surface ; but to do Pansies 

 well there should be 2 feet of good soil above anything that may 

 be inferior in the bottom. If the soil is not of a first-rate charac- 

 ter (a sound, free-working loam is the best), after the bed has been 

 trenched, place on the top 6 inches of loam, in which a little old 

 manure has been blended, and fork it over, mixing a little of the top 

 soil with it. In this condition the bed may remain till the plants 

 are ready. For obtaining fine blooms the best time to plant is 

 not later than the third week in October. The plants, when planted 

 thus early, get well established before frost comes to lift them out. 

 Plant in rows across the beds, which should be 4 feet wide. The 

 rows should bo 1 foot apart, and the plants about 9 inches apart 

 in the rows. When fresh loam is brought in, care must be exercised 

 to prevent wireworms gaining a footing in the bed ; and in making 

 a new bed for choice varieties it is always safest to place a few traps 

 for wireworms if there is the least suspicion of their presence. 

 Wireworms are very fond of Potatoes, Carrots, and other vegetable 

 roots ; pieces may be inserted in various parts of the beds, leaving 

 a peg or skewer to mark the spot, so that the traps can be easily 

 examined and the wireworms destroyed. To give a successional 

 character to Pansies, another bed may be planted towards the end 

 of March, the ground to be trenched up roughly and exposed to 

 the weather in winter. A cool, rather moist, and partially shaded 

 situation is best for Pansies, though when the land has been deeply 

 worked and toji-dressed in the way suggested, the position of the 

 bed is a matter of less importance. A dressing of clay where the 

 soil is of a hot nature will be beneficial. Midching and watering 

 too with pond water are important matters. Though pains must 

 be taken with the choice kinds to obtain really fine blooms, yet in 

 good soil the Pansy in its hardiest form is an excellent border plant, 

 and in a moist shady border takes complete possession of the 

 gi'ound ; and if top-dressed occasionally will make a handsome 

 show without much trouble, and last for several years, renewing 

 itself by seeds, the seedlings flowering in succession. In fact, such 

 a border is seldom without blossoms. Tliis is using the Pansy in 

 a rough kind of way for its decorative value merely. 



Culture in Pots. — Fine well-marked flowers, free from weather 

 stains, are usually obtained from the plants grown in pots. The 



