s 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 ar