Bed

This should have a southeast aspect, unshaded by trees, but very sheltered from wind, be three feet wide, with a path all round, and then, having dug out the soil, be made eight inches deep of the above compost. The edges supported with slate.

Propagation. By Seed

Sow, as soon as it is ripe, or any time in spring or summer will do, in pans of the same compost plunged in an open border. In six weeks the seedlings appear. Save seed from the best shaped flowers, impregnating these mother plants with pollen from bright-eyed flowers. Gather the seed pods as they ripen.

By Cuttings

The best season is mid August. Take short jointed cuttings from the approved plants, and insert their stems about two inches deep in some of the compost in a north border, covering with a hand-glass. They will have rooted in a month, then pot them, and keep in a dry situation until frost arrives, then put them in a cold frame plunged in coal ashes, covering the frame with a mat when frost is severe, and never letting the sunshine come upon them during frosty weather, but admit air freely.

Planting In Bed

Do this early in April, in dry weather, placing the plants in rows twelve inches apart each way. Shade for a few days; and if night frosts occur shade them from the sun during the day after. They require no afterculture but frequent hoeing; never give water even in the driest summers, but at such seasons cover the surface of the bed with fresh cow-dung, sprinkled over with earth, to keep it from being unsightly.

Winter Protection

Mr. Mearns, of the Manchester Zoological Gardens, recommends the Pansey grower, "instead of using frames and glasses, which are not always at hand, to trim and clean the ground, and loosen the surface carefully, and then to cover the whole of the plants about half an inch deep with a good rich compost. In the spring the plants will be found perfectly protected, and every extremity spring-27 ing up in all directions, and they will blossom beautifully, if the subsoil be congenial to them. If laid in the soil, cuttings of the choicest pansies may be taken off at any season, even in the depth of winter. If it is convenient for the amateur to procure them at that season, he may lay the whole cutting beneath the surface, either in coil or longitudinally, so that it is not buried above half an inch or a little more. It will spring up at most of the joints in due season vigorous and healthy." - Gard. Chron.

Box For Exhibiting Blooms

Dr. Lindley says, that - "the best constructed box for exhibiting twenty-four Heartsease is made of deal, of the following dimensions, viz., twenty inches long, one wide, and five inches deep; the lid was made to unhinge; a sheet of zinc was fitted inside, resting upon a rim; four rows of six holes each were cut in the zinc at three inches apart, under each hole was a zinc tube soldered to the plate, and intended to contain the water. The apertures to admit the flower should be made in the form of a keyhole, as it will admit part of the calyx and keep the flower in a flat position, the outside may be painted green, but the zinc plate should be painted of a dead white." - Gard. Chron.

Insects

The worst animal foes of the Pansey are the slug and the snail. To destroy and keep away these vermin, water the bed late of an evening in moist weather with lime water, and sprinkle the surface pretty thickly with fresh wood ashes. See Agromyza.

Disease

The Pansey is liable to root-rot, if the soil is not well drained. If grown in light, fresh earth, in an open border, it is never subject to the disease. If a plant, which shows by its yellow hue that infection has occurred, be taken up, the decayed roots removed, and it be transplanted into a soil and situation such as I have described, it will speedily send forth fresh radicles, and recover its vigour.