110 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
[ May, 
can scarcely now be said to be deficient, and tliey are advancing towards 
perfection in all tlie points of a good Pansy at a rate far beyond what the 
other varieties ever did—a fact no doubt attributable to hybridising, and 
thereby combining the fine colours of the Belgian varieties, with the already- 
attained fine form of the older class. In the meantime the former are 
decidedly gaining favour with Pansy-growers in Scotland. They are of a 
much more robust habit, and I consider them more hardy -and altogether 
easier to grow than the latter. The colours are new, rich, and most beau¬ 
tiful, and so various that there seems to be no end to variety in this respect 
alone. I have at various times had “ a crack ” with Mr. John Downie, 
of Edinburgh, than whom I need hardly say no man in the kingdom is 
a better authority on the subject, nor has done more to raise Pansies 
to their present state of favour and perfection; and I am glad to be able 
to quote him as entirely coinciding with my opinion, that the fancy Pansies 
will yet, and that soon, be the favourites. I am sure that many English 
florists, and especially our Manchester friends, only require to see the 
fancies as they have been exhibited by Messrs. Downie, Laird, & Laing so 
successfully throughout England and Scotland, and last year, if I mistake 
not, in Paris, to obtain for them (the fancies), a more favourable opinion. 
Violetville, Scotland. H. J. 
AffljAR. WALKER has given you a few remarks on Pansies, but he seems 
to be a little at sea on the subject. There will always be two 
separate classes of Pansies—the Show or Florists’ varieties and 
the Fancies. The two families are so distinct that they should not 
be shown in the same stand; and although the florist will, as a 
matter of course, stick to the show Pansy and ignore fancy kinds, the 
latter, with their fantastic markings and beautiful colours, find most favour 
with the ladies and non-professing florists. 
I find the Pansy a very easy plant to grow, and I could just now 
(April 3), supply some thousand plants in vigorous health, which really 
have given us no trouble during the winter. Contrary to what Mr. Walker 
states, we grow in the same beds year after year, with the addition of a 
little extra soil, and a dressing of manure. Watering “ with rain water 
and without a rose,” as Mr. Walker states, is simply placing difficulties in 
the way of growing Pansies easily. A customer, a clergyman in Derby¬ 
shire, has just written to acknowledge the receipt of some Pansies I 
sent him, and he says, “ Will you give me a minute’s time to tell me 
whether you keep your Pansies during the winter under cover of any kind ? 
My stock, which my gardener keeps in a frame, looks pale and sickly; yours 
is healthy and vigorous.” 
In these northern districts we are obliged to winter them under glass, 
and this can be done with very little trouble. We take any dry garden 
