3II 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
January 31, 1831. 
FROfildlJ'RTtJ'f^. 
i he New Fancy Pansy. 
I haa'E been reading with interest the correspondence 
n this subject, and I must say that I agree with most 
of the remarks of “Veritas.” It is a known fact that 
there are a number of worthless new sorts sent out 
every year. They are lauded up to the skies, and a 
good many amateurs are tempted to buy, being very 
keen and always on the look-out for something better 
than what is already in commerce, and who very often 
find that they are deceived. I have noticed for several 
years the introduction of sorts that have been held 
up as something grand, and sold at 5s. 6d. each, which 
the next year have found their way into the general 
collection at the ordinary price—conclusive proof that 
they have been found wanting in merit. 
Now I hold that no seedlirig should be offered to the 
public until it has been well tried and certificated at 
the great show. That would be a safeguard to the 
purchaser. It may be said that it would be almost 
impossible to do such a thing, and that the judges 
have not sufficient time ; then, I say, appoint special 
judges for this work, and every grower who intends to 
exhibit seedlings for certificates should advise the 
secretary a few days before the show is held, so that he 
may prepare for the work. 
I consider the list of fancy Pansies which Mr. M. 
Campbell, Blantyre, has been good enough to obtain 
from several amateurs in Scotland, a very fine one ; at 
the same time it should be pointed out that in making 
so small a selection, a large number equally as good as 
those selected had necessarily to be left out in the cold. 
Notwithstanding the number of worthless varieties sent 
out every year, there are at least a dozen good ones as 
a rule sent out, and consequently we soon get a very 
large list. Had Mr. Campbell or his son been asked to 
give twenty-four of the best fancy or show Pansies, 
several of those mentioned, I have no doubt, would 
have been left out and others inserted. For instance, we 
very seldom now-a-days see Evelyn Bruce. Tom 
Travis, though a large flower, is rather small in the 
lower petal. Endymion is a very bad grower and shy 
bloomer. I am also surprised at the small number of 
votes given to Alex. Smith. I saw this Pansy 
exhibited at Edinbuigh, in June last, by Mr. J. 
Smellie, Busby, and I consider it one of the very best 
Pansies in the field. 
At the same show an old Scotch Pansy florist, who 
is second to cone in the world, said to in 3 , when 
looking at a bloom of Alex. Smith, “What do you 
think of that Sower ? ” I replied, “ It is a real gem.” 
“Yes,” he said, “it is the best and most distinct 
flower in the show.” David Rennie, Agnes Mabel, 
and Smellie’s May Hynd are all three magnificent 
flowers. Mrs. W. G. Taylor is also a large and 
beautiful flower, and the same may be said of Lister’s 
Wm. Steel, a large handsome crimson self. These are 
a few of the best new kinds I noticed at the Edinburgh 
show. I am convinced that we in England will never 
be able to grow Pansies equal to the Scots during the 
latter part of June, July and August, our climate being 
too hot, and the Pansies run very thin, consequently 
we lose that substance and colour which is to be found 
in the Scotch-grown flowers. The thermometer may 
rise during the daytime in Scotland to the same height 
as in England, but the nights are much cooler, and 
that is when the Pansy refreshes itself, and is better 
able to resist the hot sun for a few hours. 
A word or two with Mr. Ranger Johnson. I make 
bold to say that I do not agree with his remarks as to 
the Scotch Pansies deteriorating when they go south of 
the Tweed ; I hold that they should do better. I have 
tried the Flejpish and French seed for years, and have 
never got a plant fit to stand against the Scotch fancy 
Pansy. Last year I sowed two packets of the above kinds, 
and had not to wait long before I consigned them to the 
rubbish heap. I am not one of those growers who 
take a fancy to a Pansy of the butterfly style, with 
an eye running half-way through the blotch ; I like 
size, shape, substance, colour, and a good clear eye, 
none of which points are to be found in the continental 
strains. 
I do hope that as our brethren in England are going 
to have a great show of Pansies at Birmingham, that 
the committee will above everything else secure the 
services of competent judges—men who know fancy 
Pansies from show varieties, so that the same thing 
may not happen as occurred at the York Gala two 
jears ago. At that show an exhibitor was awarded 
the first prize for twelve fancy Pansies in the open 
class, and in his stand were five show varieties. He 
was also awarded the first prize in the open class for 
twelve show Pansies, seven of which were fancy 
varieties ! Several exhibitors can bear me out in this, 
especially my friend Mr. M. Campbell. He called the 
late secretary’s attention to the matter, and at the 
moment of doing so, some one standing by said that Mr. 
Cannell had judged them. During the conversation, 
however, that gentleman came up, and Mr. Campbell 
asked him if he had done so, and he distinctly said No ! 
So ve did not get to know who had judged them. It 
was, however, an injustice to other exhibitors; and 
several good growers, who used to compete, have not 
shown there since, and perhaps never will again. If 
there are no competent Pansy judges near, they can 
be got from a distance, though it may be a little more 
expensive. By so doing, however, they will give 
satisfaction and confidence in the show.— An Amateur 
Grower. 
Scotch Pansies. 
It has given me great pleasure to read the remarks of 
some, of your correspondents in their endeavour to 
revive an interest in the Pansy. Regarding Mr. 
Ranger Johnson’s statement as to the Scottish Pansies 
deteriorating when they go south, I am afraid he is 
led astray by the easy culture of the Flemish and 
French strains, which have neither form, substance nor 
markings in them. I feel confident growers will agree 
with me that the Scotch Pansy requires very special 
care and culture to attain that point of perfection 
which is necessary for competition. I know an 
English amateur who grows nothing but Scotch 
Pansies, and cirries everything before him in his 
neighbourhood ; therefore I would advise Mr. Johnson 
to try a collection from a good nurseryman, and were 
he to ask him to include varieties that are constant (as in 
some varieties I find a difficulty in getting a bloom fit 
for exhibition), I feel sure he would change his opinion 
of Scottish varieties. I rejoice along with many 
enthusiasts here that we are to have a Pansy show in 
Dundee this year under the title of the Eastern 
Scottish Pansy, Pink and Pyrethrum Society. It is 
promoted by a local nuisery firm (Messrs. Storrie &. 
Storrie), whose endeavour is to make the society 
permanent. 
As the wider the interests of a society the more 
certain is its success, the promoters have thought it 
advisable to add the Pink and Pyrethrum. I regard 
this as a very suitable suggestion to anyone about to 
form a Pansy society. 
If a few more of these societies were formed we might 
then be able to come to a conclusion whether the 
Scottish or English Pansies are the best.— Dundonian. 
New Fancy Pansies. 
“ Veritas,” in your issue of the 10th January, said 
he would like to have my opinion whether such a 
society as he proposes would be possible or advantageous. 
. I do not tbink there should be much difficulty in 
forming such a society, and I think it is very 
much wanted. I know well from experience that 
certificates are got for Pansies at some of our local 
shows in a way that is neither creditable to the giver 
nor receiver. 
“Veritas ” gives his experience at a local show where 
the seedling Pansies were pissed over by the judges 
appointed to award the certificates, and then found 
later on that several had received certificates. . I can 
assure “ Veritas” I have had the same experience, not 
once or twice, but several times ; iu fact for several 
years I have given up much faith in the number of 
certificates a seedling Pansy may receive. I trust 
almost entirely to my notes of observation taken at the 
shows where the seedlings of the season may have been 
exhibited. 
I am sorry to see that Lord Hamilton has not been 
quite satisfactory in the south. I have now grown it 
two seasons, and a more reliable Pansy I have never 
seen. I grew ten p’ants of it last summer, and do not 
remember seeing a bad flower on them ; I never missed 
getting them in the best condition for my exhibition 
stands, from early in June till late in September. I see 
in The Gardening World of January 17th that 
Mr. Ringer Johnson tries to throw cold water on the 
Scotch Pansies, and prefers the Flemish and French 
sources for a good strain. If Mr. Johnson really 
thinks so, I should be only too pleased to meet him or 
any other English grower with a stand of say ferty-eight 
blooms of Scotch Pansies, against the same number of 
ihe strain he speaks of.—J/. Campbell, Blantyre. 
THE HOLLYHOCK. 
It must not be thought that the Hollyhock is in the 
same danger of dying out as it was years ago when the 
disease ravaged plantations so fearfully. Fifteen to 
twenty years ago Hollyhock growers experienced con¬ 
siderable difficulty in saving their plants, and I 
remember calling on the late William Chater, at 
Saffron V alden, about 1S77, and seeing there the mere 
wreck of the once fine collection which was to be seen 
there. It was with a sorrow he could not at all express, 
yet could not all conceal, that the old man detailed the 
many expedients he resorted to to save some plants of 
his fine and striking varieties. I think he issued his 
last catalogue in 1875-76, and it possesses now a certain 
historical value. Since then the disease, though not 
altogether obliterated, has ceased to he so virulent as 
formerly, though at times it is severely felt. As an 
illustration of the fact that the Hollyhock is to the 
fore, I have just received from Scotland a catalogue 
published by Messrs. Alex. Kerr & Sons, of Roxburgh, 
N.B., containing over 100 varieties, apparently mainly 
of noithern raised flowers. This firm appears to make 
a speciality of this autumn flower, and other Scotch 
dealers do the same. The cool moist districts of 
Scotland evidently suit it better than the warmer and 
drier districts of the South of England. 
The Hollyhock is Althea rosea, an aristocratic 
Mallow, a native of China, and said to be first known 
to England in 1573. About 1721 it was described m 
Miller’s Gardeners Dictionary as a plant of considerable 
variety, bearing red, white, purple, black, and other 
coloured flowers, and there were double varieties iu 
those days. Earlier in point of time Gerarde stated 
that at the end of the sixteenth century it was sown in 
gardens almost everywhere. I can remember the 
Hollyhock of fifty years ago, with its small semi- 
double flowers; but that was before the florist took it 
in hand with a view to its improvement. That, however, 
was not done without a sorrowful protest from repre¬ 
sentatives of the old school of florists, and one of them 
—about 1819—gave utterance to these words :—“Some 
younger spirits, straining after new worlds of flowers to 
subjugate, or in which to ‘ mend Nature,’ have 
obtruded Hollyhocks, Phloxes, Verbenas, Snapdragons, 
&c., to the much discomfort and surprise of the old 
school.” Happily for us these aggressive young spirits, 
as in many other matters of social and political concern, 
made considerable headway in their several tracks, 
despite this and oiher sorrowful protests ; as witness 
the work of Charles BaroD, Chater, Paul, Buchane, 
Roake, Parsons, Lord Hawke, Laing, and others, into 
the enjoyment of whose labours we have entered. 
But how did this plant acquire the common name of 
Hollyhock ? It appears to be derived from Holy-Hoke, 
a perplexing word. The old English writers spelt it 
Holliliocke, Holyoak, and Holyock, whence it is 
supposed to have been derived from the Saxon ITolihoc, 
Hock or Hock Herb, the Mallow, from the Latin Alcea, 
by the change of l to u, and the usual prefix of h, to 
Latin words beginning with a vowel, upon their 
becoming English. The Ilolii cr Holly is very 
difficult to explain, as Dr. Prior admits. Perhaps 
it is one of those matters that are practically 
unexplainable. 
He that would have good Hollyhocks must grow 
them well. I am far from saying that an indifferent 
variety can be developed into a good one by cultivation. 
"What I mean is that no grower who cares about 
Hollyhocks would attempt to grow anything but what 
is really worthy his attention, and he should give them 
good soil. Anyone contemplating to grow a plantation 
of Hollyhock^, should trench the ground in autumn to 
the depth of 2 ft., adding a good dressing of well 
decomposed manure, and any spare vegetable mould. 
Scrapings from a gravelled or lime-stone road, are 
useful as additions to the soil. 
Plant out in April, and let the plants be 4 ft. apart. 
A fine bloom can be looked for only from good plants, 
and they should be grown on in pots all the winter if 
possible. Plants propagated from eyes in July and 
August, or autumn-struck cuttings, make strong plants 
if well attended to. In planting out, place some fine 
light rich soil from the potting-bench round the ball of 
roots, as this serves to give the plants a good start. If 
cold piercing winds should follow, place an inverted 
flower pot over each plant until their fury has abated. 
They should also be well secured from the wind by the 
timely t) T ing of the steins to stakes, examining the ties 
occasionally to see that they do not in any way retard 
the development of the plants. Perhaps no other 
flower, the Dahlia excepted, requires so much moisture 
at all stages as the Hollyhock, and water must therefore 
