130 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
[ June, 
strong, showing a determination to assert their supremacy in some shape or 
other, and relying on their superior knowledge of t)ie “noble art” of self- 
defence. Happily this highly demonstrative era has passed away, but 
there remains a mean use of the tongue, which is apparently dictated by 
a more ignoble spirit. Defeated candidates, learn to bear your reverses 
manfully! Cases of truckling or dishonesty in the judges at our exhibi¬ 
tions are, we are confident, scarcely existent—rarer even than black swans. 
During the past thirty years we have visited, judged, exhibited, at hundreds 
of flower shows, and while we must confess to have seen many awards con¬ 
trary to our fallible judgment, we never saw but one case of truckling and 
dishonesty. 
In these few remarks we have endeavoured to place our principal 
thoughts on this subject fairly before the reader. We have, for want of 
space, passed by many minor points, which we can readily conceive would 
have more or less weight with different minds, but these, should it appear 
necessary, can be brought up in the future. P. 
ON PANSIES, 
AM much gratified to find that my remarks on Pansies have stirred up 
the Pansy fanciers, and may lead to beneficial results. Our Scotch 
friend “ H. J.” lays down his ideas clearly, and in a clear gentlemanly 
i$ tone, but I regret that Mr. Dean’s remarks are less courteous. At the 
onset he complains that I am “ a little at sea,” but if any one who 
understands Pansies will read both articles, he will discover that my 
friend is a long way out of soundings. 
For the benefit of the public I will endeavour to point out the objections 
to Mr. Dean’s theory. While he complains that I am placing difficulties 
in the way of “ growing Pansies easily,” he himself is settingup still greater 
difficulties, such as would deter any one from ever attempting their culture. 
The routine laid down is quite unsuitable; for instance, he says, “ We 
water night and morning in hot weather.” Did the idea never suggest 
itself, that such a system would only induce the roots of the plants to come 
to the surface, and so prevent their working in a natural way ? The parching 
rays of a summer’s sun acting upon the roots, produce the most fatal con¬ 
sequences in the culture of the Pansy. I have cultivated this flower now 
for about thirty years, and surely know that fancies and the older varieties 
would never do to be shown together, nor did I hint such a thing. 
The complicated system of “ growing Pansies easily,” which has been 
recommended, will certainly take parties by surprise. Some of my friends 
wonder what altitude the beds will reach after twenty or thirty years’ 
accumulations of extra soil and manure ; others ask how the Pansy fanciers 
around Manchester and other places wiio have to be at their employment, 
