AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
135 
THE PANSY. 
If I was asked which of the florists' flow¬ 
ers I considered the most popular, I would 
answer, the Pansy. It may be found in the 
parterre of the nobleman, or the small flower 
plot of the cottager—in all parts of the em¬ 
pire, in the North as well as in the South. 
There is, perhaps, no other flower which has 
so repaid the labor of the florist. A few 
years ago it was a mere weed ; now it is one 
of the most beautiful flowers we possess. If 
we compare the drawings of those which, four 
or five years ago, we considered gems, with 
some we now have, we immediately see the 
immense improvements that have been made ; 
so much so, that when flow r erssuch as these 
old gems appear now in our seedling beds, 
they are tossed aside as useless. For some 
time I have paid great attention to its culture, 
and have been pretty successful in competi¬ 
tion ; and if my method of cultivation should 
be of service to any of the readers of the 
Florist, and induce them to try it, I hope they 
will derive as much pleasure from so doing 
as I myself have done. 
The pansy, I consider, is at its best during 
the last two weeks of May and the first two 
weeks of June. It is for this reason that the 
principal pansy shows are held during that 
period. The great object of the cultivator is 
to have his flowers in the highest state of 
perfection possible that can be had most 
easily and best, at that period when the flow¬ 
er is naturally at its best. No doubt good 
blooms of pansies may be had at almost any 
period from April to October, but there are 
many fine sorts, particularly belted ones, 
which during the height of summer entirely 
lose their true character, which scarcely any 
amount of cultivation can avoid; instance 
that fine old variety the Duke of Norfolk. 
As my principal object is to have my pansies 
in condition during May and June, I will first 
detail my method of doing so as minutely 
and as plainly as I can. 
During July and August I take my cuttings, 
selecting young side shoots one and a half to 
two inches long. These I find always root 
soonest, and make the best plants. In many 
cases they can be got almost ready rooted, 
when they proceed from the parent stem at 
a little below the surface of the soil. It is a 
good plan, when many cuttings are ■wanted, 
to, earth the main plants well up, thereby 
causing many of the side shoots to become 
ready rooted, or if not so they will very soon 
root after being put out. 
My cuttings I put into a bed in the open 
border, attending to them well with water in 
the absence of rain. I shade until I see that 
they can bear sunshine without flagging; af¬ 
ter that all the attention they require until 
potting time is to keep them clear of weeds, 
and have the soil stirred up occasionally. 
I never use a hand glass in striking. The 
soil I find they luxuriate in is the top spit of 
a meadow, full of fiber, laid up in a heap for 
a considerable time, and well chopped over. 
To five parts of this I put one part leaf-mould, 
and one part well rotted cow-dung, adding a 
little sand to keep it open. 
About the end of September 1 pot into 1- 
mch pots, putting plenty of crocks at the bot¬ 
tom of each pot for drainage. I then place 
them in a cold frame facing south, well up to 
the glass. When properly established in 
their pots, I give all the air possible, taking 
off the lights entirely in fine weather. In this 
manner I keep them over the winter, the only 
attention they require being to water well 
when dry (of course choosing moderately 
fine days for so doing), to throw a mat over 
the frame in severe frosts, and to give all the 
air possible in fine weather. 
About the beginning of February I repot 
into 8-inch pots, without shaking the soil 
fromtheirpots, but taking care to remove the 
surface and what has been next the pot. I 
again put in plenitly of crocks for drainage, 
and use the same soil as previously, which 
has been well turned over and exposed to 
frost during winter. After repotting I place 
them again in the frame, close up to the 
glass, and keep turning them round at inter¬ 
vals, so that the plants grow dwarf and equal, 
always remembering to give air on all possi¬ 
ble occasions; in fine weather I remove the 
sashes entirely during the height of the day. 
Those plants I wish to grow as specimens 
I tie out the side shoots to the sides, to 
pieces of wire with loops made by twisting 
them about two inches apart. These I fix 
underneath the rims of the pots. From 
plants from which 1 wish to take blooms for 
exhibition I remove most of the side shoots ; 
some of them I grow to a single stem, some 
to two stems, but never more than three, ac¬ 
cording to the' strength and nature of the 
plant. By the middle of April they become 
good plants, and many of them begin’toshow 
flowers. These I pick off until about three 
weeks before exhibition day, thereby throw¬ 
ing all growth into the plant. 1 now supply 
them liberally with well diluted liquid ma¬ 
nure. I prefer sheep and cow-dung in the 
proportion of one peck of each to twenty-five 
gallons of water. This has the effect of in¬ 
creasing the size and brilliancy of the blooms. 
As the blooms intended for exhibition begin 
to open, I draw a thin calico blind over the 
sashes during sunshine, and remove it im¬ 
mediately the sun is off Pansy plants are 
very liable to become drawn if shaded for any 
length of time, therefore that must be avoided 
as far as possible. There is no occasion for 
any more shading than merely to keep sun¬ 
shine from the blooms intended for exhibi¬ 
tion. 
If any blooms arrive at full perfection 
within three days of exhibition day, I take 
them oft" and keep them in water, taking care 
to change it frequently, and to shelter from 
dust, &c. I find they can be preserved in 
that manner in better condition than by being 
allowed to remain on the plant. 
Little now remains to be done except to 
arrange the blooms on their stands. A little 
care here also is required. A fair proportion 
of each class ought to be put in; for instance, 
in a stand of twelve blooms there should be 
three white grounds, three yellow do., and 
three seifs ; the white and yellow grounds 
ought to be broad and narrow belted, the 
seifs may be one yellow, one white, and one 
dark. The proportion of classes is very of¬ 
ten, and ought always to be, taken into ac¬ 
count by the judges; they ought also to be 
contrasted in the stands as much as possi¬ 
ble, so that the dark flowers may give better 
effect to the light ones, and vice versa. To 
have a continuance of bloom during summer, 
plants should be put in the beginning of May 
and also in June. The side shoots taken off 
in April may be used for this purpose. 
The pansy requires a good fresh loamy, 
soil and if the border is not naturally so, it 
ought to be improved by the introduction of 
good loam and well decayed dung. The 
best method, where it can be adopted, is to 
remove entirely eighteen inches from the 
border and make it up again with compost 
similar to that recommended for potting, or, 
what I have tried this season with excellent 
effect, thoroughly decayed rack, to which 
may be added a good quantity of decayed 
dung. If a situation shaded from the mid¬ 
day sun can be had, so much the better. 
Attention similar to what is recommended 
above for pot plants must also be paid to j 
these, so far as circumstances allow. For 
shading and protecting from dashing rains, 
small hand-glasses are useful. The plants 
must not be allowed to grow too bushy; 
three main stems are quite sufficient, if good 
sized blooms are wanted. Frequent appli¬ 
cations of liquid manure will be found to 
benefit these also. • 
Without doubt the system of cultivating 
pansies in pots for spring blooming has im¬ 
mense advantages over that in the open bor¬ 
der, and T would earnestly recommend all 
who have any wish to succeed at the spring 
exhibitions to adopt it. The grower in pots 
is entirely independent of his garden soil, if 
unsuitable, in a great degree of situation, and 
of weather. It is very disheartening after 
the attention of months in preparing for an 
exhibition to find that by a deluge of rain all 
hopes of successful competition are blasted. 
In frame culture the plants are safe from 
rain, wind, and weather. In conclusion 1 
subjoin a list of thirty varieties, which 1 
know are really good, having grown most of 
them, and had opportunities of seeing the re¬ 
mainder in bloom. Intending purchasers 
may select from it with confidence : 
DARK SELFS. 
Mesmerist.Veitch. 
Medora.Downie and Laird. 
St. Andrews.Downie and Laird. 
Flower of the Day.Downie and Laird. 
Aunt Chloe.Douglas. 
YELLOW SELFS. 
Sovereign.Dickson and Co. 
Yellow Climax.Downie and Laird. 
WHITE SELFS. 
Royal White. Mr. H. B. Douglas. 
Royal White .. ... Downie and Laird. 
WHITE GROUNDS (BELTED). 
Beauty. .Downie and Laird. 
Royal Standard.Dickson and Co. 
Royal Visit. “ 
Miriam. « “ 
Miss Talbot. “ •< 
Minerva. “ « 
Earl of Mansfield. “ “ 
Ellen.Douglas. 
National. ..Turner. 
YELLOW GROUNDS (BELTED). 
Gliff.Dickson ami Co. 
Emperor..Hale. 
Monarch. “ 
Charles Turner. .... “ 
Victory. “ 
Father Gavazzi.Holland. 
Fearless.Schofield. 
Diadem. Hunt. 
‘Pandora. « 
Duke of Norfolk.Bell. 
Sir J. Cathcart.Turner. 
Lady Emily.Shearer. 
Delta. 
POPULAR SIMILES. 
Some ingenious rhymer has placed the follow¬ 
ing sayings in poetic order—the opposites in jux¬ 
taposition : 
As wet as a fish — as dry as a bone; 
As live as a bird—as dead as a stone ; 
As plump as a partridge—as poor as a rat , 
As strong as a horse—as weak as a cat ; 
As hard as a flint—as soft as a mole ; 
As white as a lily—as black as a coal; 
As plain as a pikestaff—as rough as a bear; 
As tight as a drum—as free as the air ; 
As heavy as lead—as light as a feather ; 
As steady as time—as uncertain as weather ; 
As hot as an oven—as cold as a frog ; 
As gay as a lark—as sick as a dog; 
As slow as a tortoise—as swift as the wind , 
As true as the gospel—as false as mankind , 
As thin as a herring—as fat as a pig ; 
As proud as a peacock—as blue as a grig , 
As savage as tigers—as mild as a dove ; 
As stiff as a poker—as limp as a grove ; 
As blind as a bat—as dead as a post: 
As cold as a cucumber—as warm as toast ; 
As red as a cherry—as pale as a ghost. 
Wisdom does not show itself so much in 
precept as in life—in a firmness of mind and 
a mastery of appetite. It teaches us to do, 
as well as to talk ; and to make our words 
and actions all of a color. 
One of the greatest evils of the world is, 
men praise rather than practice virtue. The 
praise of honest industry is on every tongue, 
but it is very rare that the worker is respect¬ 
ed more than the drone. 
