1204 PANSY 



petals standing apart from each other. The "Upright 

 Heartsease," or Viola assurgens tricolor, is represented 

 as a stouter and more erect plant, with rounder but 

 scarcely larger flowers. These are described as follows: 

 "The Hearts-ease or Pansie hath many round leaves at 

 the first comraing up; afterward they grow somewhat 

 longer, sleightly cut about the edges, trailing or creeping 

 upon the ground : the stalks are weake and tender, 

 whereupon grow ttoures in form & figure like the Vio- 

 let, and for the most part of the same bignesse, of three 

 sundry colours, whereof it tooke the syrname Tricolor, 

 that is to say, purple, yellow and white or blew; by rea- 

 son of the beauty and braverie of which colours they 

 flre very pleasing to the eye, for smel they have little 

 or none at all. The seed is contained in little knaps of 

 the begnesse of a Tare, which come forth after the 

 floures be fallen, and do open of themselves when the 

 seed is ripe. The root is nothing else but as it were a 

 bundle of threddy strings. 



"The upright Pansie bringeth forth long leaves 

 deeply cut in the edges, sharp-pointed, of a bleake or 

 pale green colour, set upon slender, upright stalks, 

 cornered, jointed, or kneed a foot high or higher ; 

 whereupon grow very fairs floures of three colours, 

 viz., of purple, blew and yellow in shape like the com- 

 mon Hearts-ease, but greater and fairer; which colours 

 are so excellently and orderly placed, that they bring 

 great delight to the beholders, though they have little 

 or no smell at all: for oftentimes it hapneth that the 

 uppermost floures are differing from those that grow 

 upon the middle of the plant, and those vary from the 

 lowermost, as Nature list to dally with things of such 

 beautv. The seed is like that of the precedent." 



L. H. B. 



The Pansy is truly a "plant for the million." Its ease 

 of cultivation, hardiness and cheapness have mide it one 

 of the most popular plants m this countr\ 1 ht undtr 



/^=- 



Nearly K natural '. 



signed is inclined to believe that as many plants of 

 Pansies are sold as of all other plants. 



Pansies were first improved from the original type in 

 Great Britain, where the cool and moist climate is well 

 adapted to their cultivation, and new varieties were 

 gradually brought out with larger flowers of varied 

 colors. For many years England and Scotland bore the 



PANSY 



reputation of growing the best Pansies. About twenty- 

 five years ago, however, three French specialists. Bug- 

 not, of St. Brieuc, and Gassier and Trimardeau, of 

 Paris, made immense strides in developing the Pansy, 

 and their productions were a revelation to the horti- 

 cultural world. Such sizes and colors were previously 

 thought impossible. Trimardeau created a new race with 

 immense flowers and very hardy constitution. His strain 

 crossed with those of Cassier and Bugnot has given a 

 Pansy which is superseding the older English varieties. 

 It must be admitted, however, that the best results can 

 be obtained only at the expense of much care and culti- 

 vation and selection, and specialists only can be ex- 

 pected to reach the greatest degree of perfection. The 

 strains degenerate very soon unless constant attention 

 and care are bestowed on the plants. Contrast the flow- 

 ers grown by Cassier and Bugnot themselves with the 

 strains sold nowadays generally under their names ! The 

 choicest flowers are rf-mnrfd so far from the type that 

 they produce but litth- sh.-.I aii.l that ..f sln.rt \ itidity. 

 The seed has to be t;:iilirr.,l l.y iLan.l.ainl ii i-i m-ci-s- 

 sary to go over the sr^.l-L.-cN ,v.iy .lay. With tin- .■h.'ap 

 and common strains hs-; i-urcfiil iiiith"ils .if s.a.l frathi-r- 

 ing are used. At the time of harvesting tlie phmts 

 are all pulled out and laid in the shade for the seed to 

 slowly ripen, when the seeds are all cleaned at once. 



In this country, with more extremes in temperature, 

 more care must be exercised than in Europe in the se- 

 lection of localities and exposure, and with the best of 

 care Pansies will not last very long in bloom. A posi- 

 tion sheltered from high winds and exposed to the 

 morning sun will be found the most favorable, and soil 

 of a clayish nature well enriched will grow the best 

 Pansies. Frequent sprinklings also, to keep the ground 

 and foliage moist, will be of great benefit. The general 

 sowing for the production of early spring bloom is made 

 out of doors in August, while seeds sown indoors from 

 tebruirN to June will produce plants to flower inter- 

 mittenth during late summer and the fall months. 



Whin sowing Pansy seed on a considerable scale in 



August sow the seed broadcast in a seed-bed out of 



doors, cover very lightly with fine soil or well-rotted 



manure, and press the seed in with a small board ; then 



mule h the seed bed with long, strawy horse manure, 



fnim nhith the small particles have Oeen shaken off, to 



tlic thi kncss of one inch, so as to have the soil well 



111 1 I \ I nl\ covered. At the end of two weeks the plants 



\mII I up Then remove the straw gradually, a little 



It I tun selecting a dull day if possible. Keep the bed 



i I his process for germinating Pansy seed is 



11 kd by Cassier, and the undersigned from his 



1 nence recommends it above all others. In 



I 1 iiid Scotland the choicest varieties are perpet- 



II I 1 \ means of cuttings, but it seems to be impos- 

 il I t in iintain the size for any length of time by this 



11 I 111 North America. 



11 1 ni^its aie desired for winter bloom, plant them 

 IS Ml Ml IS thev are large enough on beds or benches 

 near thi glass in the greenhouse. The temperature for 

 violets suits them very well. They are grown to a slight 

 extent for cut flowers. 



If wanted for exhibition purposes, keep them in a 

 lower temperature till January; some freezing, even, 

 will benefit them. Start them slowly into growth at a 

 temperature of between 30-40° at night, as a higher 

 temperature will diminish the size of the flowers. A 

 weak solution of guano or hen manure once every two 

 weeks will help them wonderfully. Flowers 4 in. across 

 cm be grown for exhibition. During growrth and bloom 

 maintiin a rather low, even temperature, without actual 

 fri ( /uij: larefullv avoiding extremes in temperature. 



In t i\ orcd localities Pansies designed for early spring 

 li!o ini rtitive no glass protection during winter, the 

 plants from the August sowing being transplanted in 

 the fall from the seed-bed directly into their permanent 

 quarters. Good Pansies can be grown out-of-doors with- 

 out glass protection as far north as Nova Scotia. Gen- 

 erally, however, it is much better to winter Pansies in 

 a coldframe, especiallv the finer strains. Pansies in 

 bloom should be partially shaded from the hot midday 

 sun. particularly the fancy-colored strains, the petals of 

 which are more delicate in texture. 



Dents Zikkqiebel. 



