52 PANSY, VIOLA AND VIOLET 



with a solution of soft soap, all blooms and buds having 

 first been removed and the soil hoed over. Pansies are 

 much more liable to this as well as many other pests 

 than the more hardy Violas and Violettas. At exhibition 

 time, when the plants may happen to be infested with 

 green fly or red spider the only remedy is to use tobacco 

 powder or snuff. This should be dusted on the affected 

 plants. The use of the soft soap solution would mar 

 the blooms irretrievably, and all chance of success would 

 be gone. 



Besides aphides, there are some few other unwelcome 

 visitors which cause our pansies to sicken and "go off." 



For instance, there is the wireworm, one of the greatest 

 offenders. About an inch long and -Jg- inch thick this 

 pest has an exceedingly tough skin of an orange-yellow 

 colour. It is more common in new soil, and not in- 

 frequently abounds in virgin loam. For this reason 

 a strict watch should be kept for it when dealing with 

 new soil and loam, and an end put to its existence. 

 The wiveworm attacks the plant at any point below 

 the ground, gnawing away or puncturing the stem, 

 thus causing it to wither, and eventually die off. There 

 seems to be no other remedy for getting rid of this 

 nuisance, other than being scrupulously careful when 

 digging and sifting, and generally preparing the soil. 

 Dressing the flowering quarters with gas lime in the 

 autumn or digging in a green crop of mustard has 

 materially assisted to rid the soil of this pest. A trap 

 may be made for its capture by inserting a piece of raw 

 potato or carrot in the soil, and this should be inspected 

 from time to time and the delinquents, if any are found 

 within, prevented from doing further mischief by de- 

 stroying them. Frequently, in the morning a plant may 

 be doing well and look fine and healthy ; in the evening 

 it may be a piece of limp green-stuff. Especially is this the 

 case with tap-rooted plants like most Fancy Pansies. As 



