Gleanings by an Old Florist.
THE PANSY.
Gray, in his Manual, says: "Viola tricolor (pansy or heart's-ease) is common in dry or sandy soil. From New York to Kentucky and southward, doubtless only a small portion of the garden pansy runs wild. Naturalized from Europe."
Seen in this condition the flowers are very small, not more than one-half an inch across and oblong in shape. Cultivated at its best it has a flower two inches in diameter, almost an exact circle in outline.
All this has been brought about by lovers of flowers during a long period of years, by saving the seed of only the best, a sort of survival of the fittest, and only to be kept up by rich soil and constant cultivation, for if left to itself the pansy dwindles back into its original nature.
It has another peculiarity also: the young plants always bring the largest flowers, so that if the extra large flowers are wanted they can be obtained only by seed annually, or a division of the old roots by cuttings. The latter is too much trouble for most cultivators in the country, and named kinds are never thought of, while in the old they used to be; perhaps it is still common for the pansy grower to name his pets, and reproduce them each year by cuttings or division of the roots.
The seed that brings the largest and best flowers generally come from Germany, although some of our own florists save them themselves for several consecutive years. I was a long time before any fixed character was maintained in color in this flower, but now seed from certain kinds will mainly reproduce its like, hence are often so used for massing kinds of a color. The plant being a native of the cooler and moister parts of Europe is better adapted to their climate than ours, and hence as our spring weather is more nearly like their original climate than our other seasons, they luxuriate in it; it is the only season in which the florist finds much of a market for his goods, and even then he receives some round abuse for selling very large noble flowers that quickly deteriorate after leaving his hands. This, however, is not his fault, the hot weather being one cause, the other that the plant refuses to produce large flowers except in its young state.
There are two methods adopted by a florist in the preparation of his stock; one, by sowing the seed in the fall and wintering the young plants in cold frames, or even by means of a slight protection of brush. The other by sowing the seed on a bench in the green-house in January. If sown in the fall early enough to get well into rough leaf, if they do not flower in the fall, which they usually will do, they are ready to do so at the first peep of spring, as they flower at a comparatively low temperature. If sown in January, they are transplanted once on other benches, from which they are lifted and transferred either to the outside borders or to other cold frames as the case may be. It is not best to keep them in a green-house longer than necessary, say the first of March, as the conditions of a green-house will bring about the small flowers similar to the hot weather of the summer.