244 
THE PANSY. 
keep off the frost than if they had been 
planted out in autumn ; for they would easier 
take harm. Go carefully over all the out- 
beds, and see whether the alternations of frost 
and thaw have disturbed the plants and roots 
at all ; and where they have got the earth 
spongy, or hollow, or broken, press it gently 
down, so that the roots may be closed in 
solid, but not too hard : also hoe between the 
rows and clear them of weeds if there be any. 
Those in large blooming-pots should have the 
earth gently stirred about on the surface, and 
laid smooth and level afterwards. Examine 
all the pots that look damp, to see that the 
draining is good, and if not, turn out the ball 
of earth ; remove the bottom crocks, put in 
fresh ones, and a little dry mould, and ad- 
just the ball to the same height as before. If 
any of the plants, from being well struck when 
potted out, should be stronger or longer, or 
have any long side shoots that are not wanted, 
take them off, and strike them under a bell- 
glass in a pot. If you have any slight bottom 
heat they would root more freely, and when 
once struck they may be first hardened off in 
the pot for a time, and then be potted off 
and placed among the other potted plants ; 
they being of course far behind others to 
succeed them either in large pots or beds. 
By going over the whole of the plants, many 
shoots can be taken off with advantage to the 
plants; and, perhaps, some one or more of 
every sort that we are anxious to propagate, and 
these when struck will form an excellent suc- 
cession to those now established. The frames 
or pits must be covered against frost, for 
this is more fatal to plants in pots than plants 
out of door. 
February. — The changeable nature of our 
winter months, renders the treatment that can 
be laid down for several, very liable to be 
applicable to a past or a future one more 
than to the present month. So often indeed 
is January or February a month of complete 
frost, that either will defeat any system 
that can be laid down. If January has 
been a month of this kind, the last month's 
directions would all through apply to this. 
If, on the contrary, it has been genial, and 
the treatment has been carried through, the 
cuttings taken off last month will be struck 
during this, and may be hardened off if 
they have been in a little heat ; and by the 
end of the month potted off, one each in 
a sixty pot, with a little moss for drainage, 
as crocks take too much room, and the moss 
will last quite as long as the plants ought to 
remain in the small pots. If the weather 
be favourable for planting, struck cuttings 
may be bedded out ; but if unsettled, or very 
wet, or there should be drying winds, it is 
better deferred ; because they will take no 
harm by delay, whereas hardly any thing is 
more fatal to young plants exposed than 
drying winds. And if the ground is very 
wet, it is unfavourable for planting, as it 
cramps and confines the roots in a manner 
that they are a long time getting over ; and 
if a frost comes in the meantime, the wetter 
the ground the more fatal it proves : indeed, 
it will frequently cut the tender stem of the 
heartsease as if it were severed with a bruise. 
If you have plenty of good seed you may sow 
a pan or large pot thinly, and place it in the 
frame. If the weather be mild it may come 
up and form an early season ; and if it be 
cold and frosty, it will only be a little longer 
coming up ; but those who wish to shine 
in this flower should not depend on a single 
season, but rather keep a succession of seed- 
lings as well as cuttings ; and they should 
also save the seed in the different seasons of 
gathering, and make their observations of the 
flowers saved from the season of saving, and 
their memoranda of when they bloomed, how 
they turned out, and any other particulars 
worthy of remark. None but those who have 
so done can form an idea of the value of 
these memoranda, nor of how much has been 
learned by the observance of apparent trifles. 
Plants may be shifted from small pots to 
blooming pots if required. 
March. — Whatever blooms come on the 
open beds that you design to cut from, may be 
removed as fast as they come, and the more 
backward they are cut off the better, for blooms 
and seed-pods greatly distress plants, and should 
not be allowed to complete themselves until 
wanted, either for appearance in the garden 
or for exhibition. It may be recollected by 
many young Pansy growers, that when they 
allow a plant to bloom as it will, the flowers 
soon get smaller, and they surprise their 
owners by degenerating. When they are 
wanted for the ornament of the garden, they 
may be kept in flower a long time by cutting 
off the decaying flowers, so as to prevent any 
seed -pods from swelling, for they distress the 
plant, of the two, more than an abundance of 
flowers. Litter must not be neglected in this 
month, to keep off frost. Young plants may 
be bedded out where they are to flower, and 
the beds, that were autumn planted, may be 
top-dressed with rotted cowdung, or dung from 
an old melon bed ; but it should be examined 
for insects and grubs, which are frequently 
found in rotten dung, and would perhaps de- 
stroy the plants ; for it must be kept in mind, 
that mischief lurks in all exposed composts 
naturally rich, and that plants would be far 
better without dressing, than dressed with any- 
thing containing it. The best mode of top- 
dressing is to fork the surface of the ground, so 
as to open it a little, but very carefully, that you 
