THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 175 



near the side of the pan, and peg the leaf flat down upon the surface. 

 Before doing this, it is as well to cut through the principal ribs or 

 veins with a sharp knife. Plenty of roots will soon be emitted fro in 

 the cuts, and finally young buds will start, and tiny plants be the 

 result. Plants will also be produced where the pegs are pushed 

 through the leaf. It is impossible to say how many leaves a pan 

 will hold, for this part of the question depends entirely upon its size 

 and that of the leaves. We cover the entire surface of our pans, 

 keeping the stalks by the sides of the pans. If we have plenty of 

 leaves to deal with, we adopt a slightly different method of procedure. 

 Instead of using the leaf in its entirety, we take the leaf with a 

 couple of inches of stalk as before, and then trim the blade of the 

 leaf away, leaving a small portion, about two or three inches in 

 diameter, adhering to the stalk. These we insert round the edges of 

 the cutting-pots in exactly the same way as an ordinary cutting. It 

 is not advisable to keep these cuttings too close or give them too 

 much water, for both conditions, either together or separately, are 

 sufficient to cause them to rot. When they are nicely rooted and the 

 youug plants are formed, pot off into 60's, and grow them liberally until 

 the end of September, when they must have less water and be kept 

 rather quiet. It is a very bad plan to keep this section of begonias 

 growing all the winter, for the constitution of the plant becomes so 

 thoroughly weakened that they are unable to make a free vigorous 

 growth in the spring, when it is required of them. E. W. P. 



CALCEOLAEIAS FOE BEDDING. 



[HIS intensely showy plant scarcely merits to be classed 

 at the very top of the list of first-rate bedders, because 

 of its capriciousness aud consequent frequent failure in 

 those hot seasons which bring most other bedding 

 plants to their highest perfection. The gardeners have 

 a good deal to answer for on account of its misuse, thereby 

 affording the critics, who embrace every opportunity to appear 

 wise by abusing the bedding system, a powerful argument in 

 support of their poor case. The chief fault of the calceolaria is its 

 inconstancy. It is not uncommon for all the calceolarias in the 

 country to perish about the middle of July, leaving the parterres 

 they should have adorned with masses of golden flowers abominably 

 ugly with their withered stumps, or, at the best, obnoxious blanks. 

 Iu the experimental garden at Stoke Newington, the cultivation of 

 this plant has received considerable attention, and it is believed 

 that every difficulty experienced by amateurs may be overcome by 

 the adoption of the system of cultivation which will now be re- 

 commended. The only varieties suitable for bedding are those of 

 decidedly shrubby habit, which produce comparatively small flowers. 

 Those that have somewhat soft stems, and large leaves and large 

 flowers, partake too much of the characters of the herbaceous 

 section to be fit for battling with the vicissitudes of outdoor life, 



