172 



GABDENLKTG FOB YOUNG AND OLD? 



were flowering out of doors. Our season last year was 

 from two to three weeks later than usual. I mention 

 this to show that the children can, and do very readily, 

 raise good Pansies without much weary waiting. And 

 the beauty of it is, that these Pansies will continue to 

 produce more and more flowers during the whole summer. 

 The plants I speak of were transplanted two or three 

 times, before the soil in the garden was warm enough to 



set them out. Early 

 sowing, and frequent 

 transplanting, so as to 

 produce strong, stocky 

 plants, is a great advan- 

 tage. The Pansies are 

 supposed to require a 

 great deal of water. 

 Perhaps so, perhaps 

 not. At any rate, one of 

 the most common mis- 

 takes, when raising 



Fig. 41. THE PANSY. 



plants in the hot-bed, or in the boxes in the house, is to 

 give them too much water. What the plants really need is, 

 the richest of rich soils. If you want to make good 

 coffee, you must put a good deal of coffee in the pot, 

 and very little water. You would not get much coffee, 

 but what you do get will be good. For my part, I would 

 rather have half a cup of good coffee than two cups of 

 poor. And I fancy that Pansies, to produce the largest 



