140 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



describing this sort in an article written 

 by Mr. Roe. Tlie fruit is of the 

 meaty, luscious character of the Sharp- 

 less, but more sprightly, and for us 

 better, in sugar and cream ; and judging 

 from these late spring set plants, the 

 large size and uniformity of the berries, 

 the fine clusters show to us it is a 

 variety of a high order of excellence. 

 Right alongside of our plantation of 

 this sort we have a bed of Sharpless, 

 set two weeks earlier, the first spring, 

 and having a much better start. Yet 

 tlie show of fruit in the Bidwell is as 

 fine as those on the Sharpless. 



THE PANSY. 



We wish all the lovers of flowers 

 among our readers to understand that 

 no flower we cultivate in our gardens 

 is more worthy of attention than the 

 Pansy. The Pansy has long been a 

 favorite with the florists of England, 

 but the English varieties, though very 

 large and perfect flowers, are of a loose, 

 straggling habit of growth, and under 

 ordinary culture seem unsuited to our 

 warm and dry seasons. The Germans 

 have produced varieties much better 

 suited to our wants. The flowers give a 

 great variety of colors, mottled, striped, 

 crimson, and other colors, bordered with 

 white, looking so nearly like the fancy 

 geraniums that a single flower would be 

 taken for a pelargonium, sky-blue, and 

 almost black. The plants have a very 

 compact habit, and flower very freely, 

 from fifty to a hundred blossoms being 

 often seen on a single plant at one time. 

 The flowers are borne on a short, strong 

 stem, and stand erect, above the leaves, 

 producing a most charming effect. 



The German varieties are very hardy, 

 and if seed be sown in a hot-bed or 

 cold frame in April, or even in the open 

 ground in May, a good show of flowers 

 will be had during the latter part of 

 summer and until they are covered with 



snow. They are the first flowers seen 

 in the spring, and even a mild spell in 

 mid-winter is improved to produce a 

 few blossoms. From early spring until 

 the middle of June every plant is almost 

 a bouquet of flowers. If the weather is 

 dry and hot after this time, and the bed 

 exposed, the flowers after this will 

 be small until the cool nights, and dews, 

 and rains of autumn. From this, until 

 heavy frost and snow, the pansy bed 

 will not be surpassed by any in the 



Late in the spring an examination of 

 the bed will show many young plants 

 produced from the fallen seeds of the 

 past summer. These can be trans- 

 planted to a new bed, and if they pro- 

 duce superior flowers this course may be 

 continued ; but if the flowers exhibit 

 deterioration in size, form or coloring, 

 obtain fresh imported seed, and start a 

 new bed. We cultivate flowers for 

 the pleasure they afford us, and there 

 can be no pleasui*^ to any person of taste 

 or intelligence in half doing any work, 

 or in producing inferior flowers. All 

 will therefore like to learn how to grow 

 the pansy well. Select a place for the 

 bed, if possible, where the soil is cool 

 and shaded a little from the noon-day 

 sun, — the north side of a fence, or build- 

 ing, or where trees will afford a shade, 

 at noon, though not too much, or the 

 plants will become "drawn," that is 

 long, slender, and weak. Give a 

 heavy dressing of cow manure and dig 

 the soil very deep — eighteen inches at 

 least. 



Make it fine and mellow, and do this 

 work in a dry time, when the soil can be 

 well pulverized. When prepared, set 

 out the plants, and water until they are 

 established. In such a bed you will 

 have abundance of flowers during the 

 whole season, though in very dry 

 weather it is best to give a good water- 

 ing — a thorough soaking — occasionally. 



