FLOEISTS FLOTTEES : PALSIES, PELAEGO^irMS. 81 



sand, place them in a cool frame, or under hand glasses, 



keep them moderately moist, and shade off the hot sun! 



Thev may also be propagated by division of the root, 

 \ and by layers, merely pegged down, not slit, on account 

 I of their tendency to damp off. New sorts may be 

 I raised from seed, which must be sown as soon as it is 

 ji ripe, in a bed, where the young plants may remain until 



they give themselves a characier, good or bad, by 



flowering. 



Pansies are rather apt to die off suddenly, without 



I apparent reason, perhaps sometimes from too stimulating 

 j manures. If any especially good or rare plant begin 

 (| to wither in the leaves, take cuttings at once, for it will 

 '! most likely die. As a preventive, lightly fork and rake 



the beds between the plants. 



A fine pansy should be large and round, the petals 



I I fitting exactly to each other to give this circular form, 

 colour fine and distinct, and eye distinctly marked. ' 



The boxes in which to exhibit the flowers have zinc 

 , plates, on which the petals lie flat, with tubes for water 

 : fixed below for the stalks. Each hole for the stalk is 

 : long in shape, so that it takes in the calyx, and so fixes 

 the flower down flat. 



Pelargoniums, our dear old friends, formerly called 

 Geraniums, are favourites with all on account of the gay 

 beauty of their flowers, and the facility with which they 

 can be kept, propagated, and grown, with no appliances 

 1 whatever except some place in which they may be pre- 

 served from frost. Wherever they are kept they should 

 I have a free circulation of air around them ; if they can 

 i{ have light on all sides they will grow all the better for 

 |i it, and the plants should be so placed that they can grow 

 Ij quite free of each other. To make excellent soil for 

 I potting geraniums get turf cut thick from an old pas- 

 j ture, where the grass is fine ; chop it up and lay it in a 

 !| ridge, facing east and west, so that it may get the sun 

 on both sides in the course of the day. Let it be 

 turned over every three months for a year, and then it 

 I will be fit for use. If it then be found to be too heaey 

 ii and close in quality, add sand. 



Or 



