90 



HEARTSEASE OR PANSY. 



good without sand. Having the ground in proper order, draw 

 drills about four inches deep and eighteen inches apart ; plant 

 the bulbs (after divesting them of their off-sets) nine inches 

 apart in the row, covering the crown of the bulb about an 

 inch and a half. When done, carefully rake and finish off 

 the beds. When they shoot up their flower stems, give them 

 neat rods for their support. Plant the off-sets in closer rows 

 to produce flowering roots for next year, because they seldom 

 flower the second time. 



ON THE CULTURE OF THE HEARTSEASE OR PANSY 

 (VIOLA TRICOLOR). 



The simplicity and striking beauty of this lovely little 

 flower have attracted notice from the earliest floral times, but 

 it is only within these few years that it has come into high 

 estimation as a florist's flower. Indeed, when the figures and 

 descriptive characters of these little gems^^ came first from 

 England to this country, we were almost induced to believe 

 they were exaggerated '^pictures of fancy,^^ till we actually 

 cultivated within these last two years in our own parterre 

 upwards of two inches in diameter. 



They delight in a situation partially shaded from the hot 

 rays of the sun, either fully exposed to the morning rays till 

 ten o'clock, or the afternoon sun from three o'clock; a soil 

 composed of four parts good loam and one part thoroughly 

 rotted manure, or three parts loam and one part decayed 

 leaves, not less than one foot deep : the soil must not be 

 more elevated than the surrounding surface, as they like a 

 good supply of moisture. If they are to be cultivated from 

 seeds, they should be thinly sown about the first of the month, 

 or about the end of August or first of September, and very 

 lightly covered with fine soil, giving them very frequent 

 waterings in dry weather. Those sown now will bloom in 

 July, and very profusely in the autumn; but those sown in 

 the latter period will not bloom till early the following spring. 

 When any very esteemed variety is raised, it should be pro- 

 pagated, which is very easily done, either by layers or cut- 

 tings, and sometimes by division of the root, but the two 

 former methods are preferable. The best time for laying is 

 about the first of September: an inch or two of the soil may 



