iSyi.] THE HERBACEOUS CALCEOLARL\. 5G7 



belongs the M. pini, remarkable for being the largest species, and for grow- 

 ing not upon the leaves but upon the bark of the Pine-tree. They vary in 

 colour. The species that grow on the Gooseberry and Barberry leaves are red ; 

 that found on the Scotch Fir is yellow, and that on the Meadow Rue bright 

 orange. The ^Ecidia cause considei-able deformities in the plants on which they 

 grow, and some of them are decidedly injurious and poisonous. The Gooseberry 

 -^cidium is said frequently to destroy the young fruit of that plant, which 

 we are quite satisfied to believe; the species fouud on the Barberry has been 

 stated, though perhaps eri'oneously, to be hurtful to corn growing near it ; but 

 as some of our horticultural friends may be desirous to know how to subdue this 

 pest, and erase it from their Gooseberry plantations, I will give my experience on 

 this point, and how I have gained a perfect cure. In 1868 and 1869, about one- 

 third of the fruit here (Mouswald Gardens, Dumfries, seat of Sir James J. Reid) 

 became blotched very much by this fungus. I give the ground amongst the 

 bushes a liberal dressing with lime in the autumn, and syringe them over with 

 a compound of alum 1 drachm, tobacco essence 2 drachms, flower of sulphur half 

 an ounce, common salt three-quarters of an ounce, all mixed in 3 gallons of rain- 

 water ; this was done twice before the expanding of the leaf, and again as soon as 

 the fruit appeared fairly set. This first destroyed the mycelium in the soil, and 

 the syringing cleared the bark of its sporules ; and my Gooseberry-bushes are 

 now free from all trace of fungus. John Graham. 



Mouswald Gardens, Dumfries. 



THE HERBACEOUS CALCEOLARIA. 



This valuable greenhouse plant is one of those things which, though 

 of easy cultivation, is nevertheless often to be seen in anything but 

 first-rate condition. Its roots delight in a cool and moist compost, 

 whilst the leaves luxuriate in a medium of coolness and shade. With 

 these conditions secured as nearly as possible, the cultivator ambitious 

 of growing large, well-bloomed plants, has every reason to look for 

 specimens measuring, when in flower, from 2 to about 3 feet across. 

 Supposing some of your readers would like to ''try their hand" on grow- 

 ing large plants, the first thing to be done is to sow the seeds by the 

 beginning of April at latest. The compost used must be moist, and 

 composed of three parts loam to one of sand, if the loam is at all strong. 

 Sprinkle the seeds thinly, and just cover them with silver-sand, then 

 either plunge the seed-pot in a very gentle hotbed, or else place it in a 

 pot two sizes larger, filling the space between with sand, which must 

 be kept constantly wet. Place it in a house the mean temperature of 

 which ranges about 60°. Put a square of glass over the seed-pot, to 

 keep the moisture from evaporating, and a handful of Moss on the 

 glass, to keep the rays of the sun from intruding. In ten days or so 

 the seedlings will be showing themselves, when a little air ought to be 

 let in, increasing it every day till the glass is taken off altogether. 

 Be very careful at this stage of growth to keep the direct rays of the 



