DKCE.Mr,];ii 
COUNTUV GEKTJ-KMAN’S COMPANION. 
225 
FANCY PANSIES. 
OXALIC ACID A mOMOTER OF OEIliMIXATION. 
These deserve a word or t,Avo in tlieir favnnr, and as yet 
no clianipion has boon hcdd enongli to come forward and 
lend,a helping hand to introduce those strangers a little 
more into notice, as theio seems to he a sort of pretty 
general dislike to them. But beware ye that !ittent])t to call 
them down, and just bring to yonr recollection what was 
said about fancy Dahlias never coming to anything worth 
having, and see what favourites tliey have become. ,\nd, at 
a later day, about the spotted (Teraninms being usidess, 
ugly things ! but see how gradually tliey are creeping into j 
cultivation; and again, I say, beware, lest your pet show 
Geraniums get their noses put out of joint by these coarse , 
and ugly-spotted sorts, ns they are unjustly called. 
But ere the reader’s patience gets exhausted, let us return 
to our Pansies. Tliey were lirst brought into notice two or 
three years since by Mr. John Salter, of Versailles Nursery, 
London, and were then, as may be easily imagined, little, i 
badly-shaped flowers, although curiously enough marked ; 
since then, they have gradually gone on improving in form, 
size, and colour. Following these, appeared several in 
Scotland, but although of the same class (Fancies), they 
were of an entirely different strain, being larger and brighter- 
coloured. The main ditterence of the two strains consisting I 
in the marking—those of Mr. Salter being spotted, clouded, 
and striped, giving them sometimes a dirty and indistinct 
look, while those of the Scotch were blotched with bright 
colours upon a cream, yellow, white, gold, or straw grounds, 
and were also of a more vigorous habit. They will thrive 
well in any good, common garden soil not too rich, as that 
would cause the flowers to run and blend their colours. 
Neither should the stems be thinned off, as in the case with 
show varieties, as the more flowers they bear, the better in 
character they appear, which latter qualification admii’ably 
adapts them for bedding; and as they flower all the season, 
I think they' are fairly entitled to a place in the front ranks 
of our best bedding i)lants. Subjoined is a list of the best 
twelve varieties; and, as I have seen them in flower, I can 
vouch for their characters. 
Ariosto (Salter) ; rose and lil.ac, striped and ticked maroon. 
Jiilly Barlow (Downie and liaird j ; pale suli)hur, blotched 
with blue. 
Bobo (Douglas) ; blue, shaded off to white at the edge. 
Dandij JJiiiviont (Downie and Laird) ; Itronze and gold, 
edged and blotched. 
Faiidniigo (Salter); white, clouded with reddish purple. 
Gloire do Bellevue (Ghauviere); white and blue, flaked 
and spotted. 
Jtidi/ ( Downie and Laird); white and bright ultramarine , 
blue, blotched. ' 
Leopard (——•); yellow and chocolate blotched. 
Miss C. ifaafcrtc (Douglas); pure snow white, blotched, 
splashed, and flaked with briglit colbalt blue. 
Pantaloon (Salter); curiously marked, reddish pmqde, 
spotted and flaked. 
Pirate Queen (Douglas); violet-imrple, edged and blotched 
with bright chrome. I 
Bcine de Pomachee (Ghauviere); violet, red, and white. 
•—Paxsyana. 
QUElirE.S AND ANSAYERS. 
GARDENING. 
REMOVING BEES. ! 
“ I Aish to femove an old stock of Bees to another situa- i 
fion in my garden. Will you, or one of your correspondents, 
inform me of the best time for such removal?—H enuy 
C orLAKD.’’ 
[Were you going to remove your Bees two or tliree miles, 
we would say. Do it now; but the removal of a stock of Bees 
from one part of a garden to another is always attended 
with immense loss of life. The Bees, on coming out after 
their removal, will return to their old place, and perisli by 
hundreds, nay', thousands. Now, at what time the stock can 
best spare such a diminution of number is the point to be 
ascertained: not now, certainly; peril,aps the instant the 
lirst swarm has left the hive.] 
“ Can you tell me the names of the enclosed Ferns? 
“ Can you, also, tell me if there is any truth in the follow¬ 
ing recipe, wliich I copied from a newspaper many years 
ago? I did not succeed on the seeds 1 tried; but they were 
foreign ones:—f’lace the seeds in a bottle of oxalic acid till 
tliey germinate, which will lie within twenty to forty-eight 
liours; then jplant them. Seeds (proceeded the recipe) 
have been known to grow by this process though forty years 
old. 
“ I have lieard that Melon-seeds, and tliose of the Cucum¬ 
ber, will produce barren flowers if not four or live years old. 
Is it the case with A^egetable-Marrow seeds ? I had two very 
line ones this year, 17 and Ibl lbs. respectively; and I want 
to know if the seed will do to sow'next year. I have also 
read that kiln-drying the seeds will take the same effect as 
if they w'ere old : if so, liow hot should the kiln be ? — J. B. 
AViij.ix.” 
[Of the two Ferns, the s.maller kind is tlie Asphnium adi- 
antum-niyrinn; and the larger kind, the 
or Lustmeu filix-mas of some botanists. 
In Lindley’s “Theory of Horticulture” it is stated, that a 
M. Otto, of Berlin, employs Oxalic Acid to make old seeds 
germinate. The seeds are put into a bottle filled with 
Oxalic Acid, and remain there till the germination is ob¬ 
servable, which generally takes place in from twenty-four to 
forty-eight hours, w'hen the see<ls are taken out, and sown 
in the usual manner; of course, placed in a suitable tem¬ 
perature as the seeds may retpiire. 
Another way is to take a woollen cloth, and w’et it with 
Oxalic Acid, on wdiich the seeds are placed, and folded up, 
and put into a suitably heated structure. By this method 
seeds have been found to vegetate equally as w’ell as in the 
bottle. 
Essential care must be taken to remove the seeds out of 
tlie acid as soon as vegetation is observable. M. Otto found, 
that by this means seeds that were from twenty to forty 
years old grew'; while the same kinds sown in the usual 
manner did not grow at all. 
Melon and Cucumber-seeds will produce barren flowers if 
not four or five years old, and fertile flow ers too. Some old 
gardeners have an idea that old Cucumber and Melon-seeds 
produce plants more fruitful than those produced from new 
seeds. The most luxuriant plant is produced from the good, 
sound, and plump new seed, which we prefer. 
Kiln-drying seeds intended for sowing is a dangerous pro¬ 
cess. It is better to store it in bags, in a dry, warm situa¬ 
tion, such as the w'all over the kitchen-fire. Some gardeners 
carry Melon and Cucumlter-seeds in their waistcoat pocket 
for weeks before they sow it.] 
STRAWBERRIES IN APRIL-GROAVING BEET 
AND RADISHES. 
“-\s I have a "nice lot of Keens’ seedling Strawberries, 
from the earliest runners, in pots, for forcing, and plenty of 
leaves, with a two-light deep pit to spare, when should I 
plunge these pots in the leaves to have ripe fruit through 
April? as practised at Sion House, A'ol. IV., page 125, of j 
The Co'i'TAUE GaudeneIi. | 
“ In Air. Beaton’s Reiiort on the Horticultural Society's 
Show, A'ol. XIIL, page T70, he says, he would be very parti* 
' cular about Badishes; and there should not be a single fibre | 
on them, except on the very point, w'hich ought to be a small ' 
fibre. And likewise, on Beet Boot, Air. B. says, there is | 
more art in grow'ing a first-rate Beet than in forcing a prize i 
Cucumber. I should be very glad if Air. Beaton w'ould give 
me his way of cultivating the Radish without a fibre, and ■ 
the Beet Root from the seed to the table.—F. S., IJ'ilts." 
[To have ripe Straw'berries in April, the plants should ho ; 
introduced into a Peach-house temperature about the second 
week in January; but, unless you are a good gardener, you 
will not have three dishes out of your two-light pit if you 
begin sooner than the end of February. 
Air. Beaton has no particular way of growing Beet and ' 
Badishes to propose or tell about, else you would have had 
it long ago; but, seeing that fibrous is the natural or wild 
state of these “roots,” and to be fibreless is their highest j 
