28 2 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
April 27, 1907. 
Pansies — - 
-and Violas. 
Hints on their Culture. 
(By an Amateur.) 
Pansies and their very near relatives, the 
Violas, are, at the present time, among 
the most popular of flowers, and small 
wonder, for with a little care and atten¬ 
tion they may be had in bloom from 
earliest spring till winter’s frosts arrive. 
Moreover, they can he successfully grown 
by the veriest novice if the following 
simple instructions are carried out. The 
seed should be purchased early in the 
spring from a well-known firm, and a fair 
price paid, as the rubbish sold in penny 
packets is, as a rule, not worth cultiva¬ 
ting. This should be sown very thinly in 
boxes or pans, in a finely-sifted compost 
of loam, leaf-mould and silver sand (or 
well-decayed road grit is a good substitute 
for the latter) in equal proportions. 
After watering with a finely-rosed can, 
place the boxes in a cold frame, and cover 
with a sheet of glass. The seed will soon 
germinate, and if sown very thinly will 
not require pricking off until large enough 
to be removed to the nursery beds. This 
may be done as soon as they have made 
two or three leaves. 
Here they must be shaded from the sun 
during the heat of the day, and well 
watered if dry weather prevails, and in a 
short time they will be fit to transplant to 
their permanent flowering positions. 
The bed or border should have been 
previously prepared by well digging and 
manuring, and I may say that should the 
soil be light and sandy, cow dung, used 
somewhat sparingly, is preferable, as its 
benefits are much more lasting, whilst, 
if a clayey loam, then well-rotted stable 
dung is best, as, in addition to its stimu¬ 
lating qualities, it tends to open and 
lighten the soil. 
Should exhibition blooms be required, 
they should not be allowed to flower the 
first year, all buds and undue growths 
being carefully nipped off, as it is from 
second season plants that the finest blos¬ 
soms are obtained. 
For ordinary purposes, however, this is 
not necessary, but after flowering, all 
straggling growths should be removed, 
and, as winter approaches, the plants 
should be partially covered with stable 
litter, which will protect them from frost 
and may be forked in when spring arrives. 
Having thus obtained a stock of good class 
plants (either Pansies or Violas) they may, 
if necessary, be further propagated by 
cuttings, which should be taken in August, 
choosing young shoots growing from the 
base of the plants. Sometimes these can 
be obtained with roots attached, whilst 
others may be prepared by simply severing 
below a joint and trimming off the bot¬ 
tom-most pair of leaves. The thick 
flowering shoots and rank hollow stems 
are useless for this purpose. 
These cuttings may be struck either in 
the cold frame, in a similar compost to 
that used for seedlings, or, if not con¬ 
venient, a bed may be prepared in any 
shady and spare corner of the kitchen 
garden, or, indeed, any other unexposed 
position that may be available. 
These should be left where rooted until 
the spring, when they will come in very 
handy for filling up any gaps that may 
have occurred owing to the rigour of the 
winter months. . 
In cultivating these beautiful flowers, do 
not hesitate to cut away any unruly 
growths, thus keeping the plants well 
balanced and stocky, and by a judicious 
use of the hoe, keep the soil between them 
well aerated. Water liberally in dry 
weather, and let this always be done in the 
evening, or brown and unsightly leaves 
will be the result. 
G. A. Fisher. 
Enfield, N. 
-- 
How the Gardener Wrote it. 
A correspondent tells a contemporary 
that whilst going round with a large fruit 
and flower grower some time since, he 
noticed a label stuck into the ground, on 
which was this strange inscription : 
“foried fesent ihys.” 
Inquiring of his host the meaning of this 
mystic phrase, he was told that the gar¬ 
dener was responsible for it, and that 
being interpreted it signified : 
Forward Pheasant Eyes. 
- G. W. - 
Prize Competitions. 
GENERAL CONDITIONS. —Competitors must 
write on one side of the paper only. Regular 
paid contributors to THE GARDENING 
WORLD or other gardening journals are de¬ 
barred from entering, but occasional con¬ 
tributors may compete. The name and ad¬ 
dress of the competitor must appear on each 
article sent for competition The Editor’s 
decision is final, and he reserves the right 
to reproduce, in any way,4 any article or photo¬ 
graph sent for competition. The conditions 
applying to each competition should be care¬ 
fully read. 
WEEKLY 
PRIZES. 
A PRIZE OFTEN SHILLINGS will be given 
for the best paragraph or short article on any 
gardening subject, such as hints of practical 
interest to gardeners, notes on the propaga¬ 
tion or cultivation of flowers, fruits or vege¬ 
tables, eradication of pests, etc. The para¬ 
graph or article must not exceed a column, but 
value rather than length will be considered in 
making + Le award. Mark envelopes “ Com¬ 
petition,” and post not later than the Monday 
folk wing date of issue. Entries received later 
thin Tuesday (first post) will be left over until 
tl je following week. 
Two prizes of 2s. 6d. will be awarded each 
week for the two best letters, not exceeding 
150 words, on any interesting gardening sub¬ 
ject. 
RESULTS OF 
LAST WEEK’S 
COMPETITIONS. 
Some of the best papers in this competition 
are too long, and we desire readers to keep 
within a column. • 
The prize in the Readers’ Competition was 
awarded to “ Albert E. Yates ” for his article on 
“Double Primulas,” page 266. 
In the Prize Letter Competition a prize was 
awarded to “ J. Fowler ” for his article on “ A 
Method .of Planting Roses,” page 268 ; and 
another to “A. Y. Parratt” for his article on 
“Sowing Small Seeds,” page 269. 
Tropaeolum- 
— S peciosum 
Or Flame Flower. 
This most lovely hardy creeper is no- 
known and not grown nearly as much a- 
it should be, and this short account of it 
is written with the desire of bringing it 
under the notice of some of those to whom 
a garden is a delight and who love all 
things pertaining to one, so that they mav 
be tempted to introduce it into their 
shrubberies and hedges, or on north walls 
to be a joy to all beholders in the near 
future. I wish I could describe in graphic 
terms the beauty of this climbing plant as 
I saw it in the garden and grounds of a 
country house in the north of Ireland last 
summer. 
It was a heavenly day, a cloudless skv, 
balmy air, and bright sunshine, and we 
spent most of it out of doors. Going 
down to the garden from the house there 
is a high wall to the right, covered with 
Cotoneaster, Pyrus japonica, and other 
shrubs with dark foliage ; then comes a 
rustic summer-house, roofed with heather; 
a wide arch covered with Honeysuckle 
spans the walk, shrubberies branching to 
right and left. The walk continues on to 
the door of the garden, which is walled in 
and about two acres in extent. When the 
door is opened one sees a broad straign: 
walk extending the entire length of the 
garden. This walk is broken in the centre 
by four large Yew trees. A quaint old 
sundial stand's in the middle. Similar 
walks extend at right angles across the 
garden. The small photo sent with this 
sketch is a snap-shot taken from the sun¬ 
dial looking up the walk to the garden 
entrance. [Unsuitable for reproduction. 
-—Ed.] The walk is bordered on each 
side by a wide herbaceous bed, a Yen- 
hedge at the back separating it from the 
rest of the garden. On some future oc¬ 
casion I may write a description of those 
herbaceous borders, which were charm¬ 
ing on this day, and full of bloom, but I 
want to devote all attention just now to 
the Tropaeolum. 
All the way down to the garden the dark 
shrubs on the wail were garlanded with 
graceful festoons of delicate greenery 
covered with brilliant scarlet . blossoms 
with golden eyes, small and somewhat 
like the shape of a tiny Nasturtium; the 
shrubs were wreathed with it, and in some 
places, where it had first bloomed, blue 
and purple berries added another note of 
colour to the gorgeous display. It peeped 
through the Yew hedge at the back of the 
herbaceous borders, it climbed to the top 
of the tall Yew trees, falling over in bright 
cascades; it clothed in green and scarlet 
a dead apple tree with its trailing fes¬ 
toons of vivid colouring, and became 
rampant in the Laurels, and other shrubs 
outside the garden. One can have no 
conception of the beauty of the Tro¬ 
paeolum speciosum unless one has seen it. 
It is worth taking some trouble to culti¬ 
vate this gem, and it is not at all difficult 
to establish it where it finds congenial 
quarters. It delights in a cool, damp, 
shady situation, where the roots seldom oi 
never feel the rays of the sun ; it likes a 
peaty, gravelly and sandy soil, chalk and 
