Pho 



leaves will do the same service if 

 held in place by a little brush. Be 

 careful not to cover too thick, or 

 you will smother the plants. When 

 hard freezing is over in spring, re- 

 move the leaves or straw and cul- 

 tivate the soil. Never let a weed 

 grow among them. 



But very few people know the 

 possibilities of the pansy. It has a 

 wonderful root! Had it not, it 

 could not accomplish what it does. 

 In photo 154 you have a specimen 

 of an average young plant. It has 

 just one flower and one bud, but 

 the clump of earth that you see is 

 all full of roots. You should make 

 the bed for the pansy not less than 

 eighteen inches deep. The first 

 six inches in the bottom may be 



sod ; the upper portion should be one-third thoroughly rotted manure, mixed with light 

 soil. If the soil is not naturally light, make it so by mixing muck or leaf-mould and 

 some sand. Photo 155 gives you a view of a pansy in a state of rest. You will observe 

 the long, half-dead branches lying on the ground. One of them has been staked up for 

 inspection. If you look closely, you will see quite a number of "joints." At each joint 

 there has been a flower. There are twenty-one of them on this branch, and there were 

 twenty-seven branches. It would average twenty flowers to the branch : 27 X 2O = 54 

 flowers on one plant, and this only one crop! At the crown of the plant you will notice 

 a new supply of young wood coming up. This photo (155) was one of a bed of one 

 hundred plants. At the same rate that this produced its first crop, the whole product 

 would be between fifty and sixty thousand flowers ! But they had done only about half 

 their work. The new growth of wood that your attention was called to commenced its 

 work in September, and is (at this writing) lying dormant under the snow. They will 



do greater work when spring opens, as 

 they are already established on very 

 strong roots. About half the weak 

 branches should be removed ; that will 

 strengthen the remaining ones and give 

 proportionately large flowers. These 

 plants will have finished their work by 

 the middle of July, when they should 

 be dug out and the bed renewed with 

 additional compost, and something else 

 planted therein. 



Photo 156 presents to you a platter 

 of November pansies, among which the 

 white ones are very conspicuous. 



Don't try to force your pansies in 

 July and August; this is their season 

 of rest. 



To secure large flowers, the pansies 

 should be cut every morning, leaving 

 on the vines the ones that developed 

 the previous day. It is well, occasion- 



78 



