i879-] DECORATIVE GREENHOUSE PLANTS. 507 



NOTES ON DECORATIVE GREENHOUSE PLANTS. 



The Calceolaria. 



No one can but admire a stage or shelf filled with the herbaceous 

 Calceolaria when in bloom, and to see a whole house filled with them 

 is a sight not easily forgotten. Even when a few are mixed among 

 other greenhouse plants, visitors are almost sure to take notice of them ; 

 the beauty and brilliancy of their colours, and almost innumerable 

 variety in the markings, render them very choice and desirable objects 

 for greenhouse decoration. They are very easy of cultivation, and are 

 quite within the reach of any one possessing a greenhouse, however 

 small, or even a garden frame. Though young plants can be raised 

 from cuttings, this method is seldom resorted to, unless to perpetuate 

 some particular variety. They are best and easiest raised annually 

 from seed. 



The proper time to sow the seed is from the middle to the end of 

 July. The pot or pan should be well drained, and filled up nearly to 

 the rim with a mixture consisting chiefly of leaf- mould and sand, 

 with a little loam added to give consistency. Use the rougher portion 

 of the soil for the bottom of the pot, and finish with some finely sifted 

 soil on the top, after which sprinkle the seed thinly on the surface, and 

 press in gently with a piece of board. No covering of soil is required, 

 the seed being so small. Water through a very fiue rose, cover with 

 a piece of glass, and place the pot in a cool place, where it may have a 

 little shade and be out of draught. A little moss may be sprinkled over 

 the glass to afford shade until the young plants begin to show them- 

 selves, when the shading should be removed, and a little air admitted 

 by tilting up the glass on one side, and gradually increasing the quan- 

 tity until the glass be dispensed with altogether. 



When the young plants are large enough to handle, they must be 

 pricked out singly into small pots, using the same kind of soil, only 

 having a little more loam added to it. They may be set in a cold pit 

 or frame, and shaded slightly until they get hold of the soil, when the 

 shading may be discontinued, and air given in moderate quantities. See 

 that they do not suffer from want of water, and keep green-fly in check 

 by fumigating. They will require to be shifted into larger pots about 

 the middle of October : 4-inch pots will be large enough to winter them 

 in. A little old cow-dung may be mixed with the soil for this potting. 

 They should be kept near the glass, and fully exposed to the light, and 

 watered when they require it during winter. The temperature of the 

 pit should never range higher than 45° during the winter months. 

 Towards the end of February they will have started into vigorous 

 growth, and will then require to be shifted into larger pots. Generally 

 speaking, 6-inch pots are large enough in which to flower them ; but if 

 large plants are wanted, a few of the strongest may be put into 8-inch 

 pots. Let the compost consist largely of good fibry loam, broken to 



