FLORICULTURAL SMALL TALK. 



273 



Combinations of colors and tints. Their credulity 

 would be severely tested by being told that the colossal 

 pansies of our time have been evolved from the tiny 

 heartsease that they so fondly cherished. 



The pansy offers the most striking evidence of the 

 advance of modern floricultural art, and has reached the 

 acme of superiority in the Bugnot strain. Monsieur 

 Bugnot, of St. Brienc, France, is an enthusiastic ama- 

 teur who has made this flower a special study for twenty- 

 five years, and in that long period has devoted all his 

 leisure time to this labor of love. The minute details 

 and the exacting precision of his profession as an optician 

 must have eminently fitted him for exercising the patient 

 care and the delicate observation so necessary in his self- 

 imposed task of bringing the race of pansies that bears his 

 name to its present state of high perfection ; a condition 

 that demonstrates the value of high culture, scrupulous 

 selection and rare floricultural skill. 



It would be quite impossible, no matter how florid the 

 imagination, to exaggerate the wonderful beauties of the 

 genuine Bugnot pansy. A little stress is advisedly laid 

 on the term "genuine," for in the first year we tried 

 them a comparison between the results of seeds from 

 three different sources displayed a marked variation, 

 which left no doubt that in one instance the seed had 

 been adulterated. The following year two packets of 

 seed were procured, one direct from the originator and 

 the other from a trustworthy Boston firm. The latter 

 proved quite true, for the flowers were equal in quality to 

 those produced by the original Bugnot seed. No descrip- 

 tion could do justice to such gorgeous flowers. Colors 

 and shades which a few years ago would have been con- 

 sidered impossible in a pansy are displayed in endless 

 variety. ^Esthetic blendings of terra-cotta, Pompeian 

 reds, claret, brick, garnet, and countless nameless un- 

 classified shades, never conceived nor dreamed of, have 

 been conjured up by this pansy-wizard, Bugnot. The 

 astonishing variety, the exceeding richness and novelty 

 of coloring, the velvety splendor of the thick-textured 

 petals, all combine to render this unique strain inordi- 

 nately beautiful. But alas ! mundane happiness in all 

 its forms is more or less diluted ; there are spots on the 

 sun, flaws in diamonds, and — dolls are stuffed with saw- 

 dust. These reflections are the prelude to a humiliating 

 confession that the comparatively peerless Bugnot pansies 

 are affected with a serious defect. They are not " robus- 

 tious," and you mustn't expect them to grow with that 

 sturdy vigor so characteristic of the German, Trimardeau 

 and other less beautiful strains. They are a high-bred 

 race, and it is perhaps to exclusive interbreeding that 

 their constitutional delicacy may be attributed, while the 

 latter defect may possibly account for the originality and 

 abnormal beauty of the coloring. 



The average amateur with an inclination for experi- 

 ment out of the beaten track occasionally opens up fresh 

 vistas in practical floriculture which surprise and delight 

 him. After having gone on for years growing sweet-peas 

 to a height never exceeding four feet, the conviction had 

 become quite settled that they had no ambition to mount 



higher. One of the most agreeable revelations of last 

 season's work was the perfect realization that under 

 certain conditions they can be induced to grow to eight 

 or nine feet. The division fence on the north side of 

 the garden is six feet high, and to obstruct the incursions 

 of a venerable neighbor's hens the fence proper is sur- 

 mounted by a lattice addition three feet in height. The 

 spot chosen for the sweet-peas was along this fence, 

 where the soil was carefully prepared and thoroughly 

 enriched, and a furrow six inches (an important detail) 

 in depth was made quite close to the fence, that there 

 might be no chance for a growth of weeds behind the 

 plants. The seeds were sown quite early, in fact before 

 the frost had fully gone from the garden, and at first 

 were covered to a depth of two inches, the remaining soil 

 being gradually added as the plants made growth, until 

 the furrow was finally completely filled. 



From a pile of evergreens, which had been used as a 

 winter covering for hybrid remontant roses, large flat 

 spreading branches were selected and tacked to the sur- 

 face of the fence, covering it from the bottom to the top, 

 thus forming a capital support for the numerous tendrils 

 of the clinging vines. The row of peas was fifteen feet 

 in length, comprising three feet of Blanche Ferry, three 

 of Invincible Scarlet, three of Painted Lady and six feet 

 of Eckford Mixed. A detail which I came near forget- 

 ting, and which may have had an important bearing on 

 the luxuriant growth, was in the fact that a drain from 

 my neighbor's kitchen ran along the fence on the opposite 

 side, from which no doubt my sweet-peas derived ma- 

 terial benefit. The plants grew quite to the top of the 

 fence, Blanche Ferry with the others, though that variety 

 is often set down as a dwarf. The fence was a wall of 

 bloom throughout the season and was well decked with 

 flowers when cut down by frost in mid-October. By 

 watchfully training the side branches and bending down 

 a portion of the plants, the bloom was kept evenly dis- 

 tributed over the surface. I never before had so adequate 

 an idea of the refined and glorious beauty of the sweet- 

 peas as that afforded by last season's experiment. The 

 leading factors in the successful result may be recapitu- 

 lated as generous soil, deep planting, unobstructed 

 exposure to the south, and ample support for the tendrils 

 prepared in advance. The latter point is well worth 

 consideration, for the healthy and rapid growth of the 

 vines depends greatly upon it. The starting may be con- 

 siderably hastened by soaking the peas until they sprout, 

 which they usually do in two or three days, being careful 

 not to allow them to become dry in the process. 



On the whole the Marguerite carnation has proved to 

 be one of the most satisfactory novelties of recent intro- 

 duction. Of course the quality of the flowers is not 

 exceptionally high, but the extraordinary profusion of 

 bloom atones in a great measure for the rather meager 

 proportions of the new-comer, while the unfailing large 

 percentage of double flowers is a most gratifying feature, 

 which advantage, combined with its certainty to bloom 

 the first season, are qualities which render it a decided 

 acquisition for the flower border. F. Lance. 



