February 27, 1873. ] 



JOURNAL OF HOETICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENEK. 



177 



HERBACEOUS CALCEOLAEIA CULTURE. 



ffi' HE herbaceous Calceolari.i presents luxu- 

 i^ riance of growth, symmetry, and wealth of 

 colour in a remarkable degree ; the bold 

 deep-green fohage, the large clustering heads 

 of flowers, rich yet soft, and extremely va- 

 ried in colour, render it worthy of the high 

 rank assigned to it among our floral gems. 

 It is generally treated as an annual, and the 

 certainty and convenience of this method of 

 culture cannot be disputed, old plants being 

 only worth keeping when huge specimens are reqiured for 

 special purposes. 



May and June are the best months for sowing the seed, 

 but when it is desirable to prolong the display of flowers, 

 other sowings may follow in July and August, in which 

 case it should not be forgotten that considerable space 

 ■will be required during winter, especially if it is intended 

 to grow large plants such as may be produced in 8 or 

 10-inch pots ; for then, as the plants gain size, no check 

 must be given to the growth. The plant's few but most 

 important demands for more space for its roots, and for 

 the play of light and ah- around and among its leaves, 

 must be promptly attended to. When this condition is 

 well looked to the plants make an ample return for every 

 care, by rapidity of gi'owth and the rude ^-igour with 

 ■which they flourish. The shifting into larger pots may 

 continue till the flower-stems begin to grow, and even 

 after that period, if pinching is practised, as is frequently 

 the case when the aim is to produce plants of an extra 

 size. 



The one cultural point of vital importance is to pro- 

 mote the <piick yet vigorous growth in the very earliest 

 stages, which is natural to this plant. For this reason 

 I prefer for the seed-pan a compost of old, rich, rotten 

 manure, finely sifted and mixed with an equal quantity 

 of sand, keeping it quite an inch below the top of the 

 pan, sowing the seed on it, and then pressing down gently 

 with a cu-cular piece of wood. A careful damping with 

 water out of a fine rose is then given, and a sheet of 

 glass placed on the pan, which is taken to a cool house 

 or pit where it can have abundance of light without being 

 fully exposed the full rays of the sun. So treated the 

 see<l vegetates quickly, and the seedlings springing up 

 full of sturdy vigour, are first potted singly in similar soil, 

 and afterwards into a rough rick mixture of manure, 

 tiu-fy loam, sand, and charcoal. No sifting and very little 

 chopping are required in preparing this compost, in which 

 the roots spread with such surprising rapichty that the 

 plantsman has to be on the alert in the shiftiag into larger 

 pots ; for the roots must not be sutTered to fasten on the 

 sides of any pot but that in wliich the plant is to mature 

 its growth and produce its flowers. To the practised 

 hand the reason for this is obvious enough, but it may 

 be well to point out to the beginner that when a plant 

 becomes potbound its gi-owth receives a check, often a 

 very necessary one to induce fi-ee-flowering, but which is 

 fatal for the time to additional size if such be required. 



No. 6:a.— Vol. XXIV., Niw Sebies. 



Avoid the use of peat in the culture of this plant. I do 

 not, of course, mean to infer that it wfll not grow in peat, 

 but a rich coarse soil, such as I have described, is so 

 admirably adapted to its wants as to be altogether pre- 

 ferable. The use of peat in the seed-pan is what I most 

 object to, from its propensity to become dry, and the indif- 

 ferent nourishment it gives to the rootlets of the seedlings. 

 A glance at a healthy Calceolaria in any stage of gi'owth 

 is suflicient to convince one that it is a gross feeder. Let 

 this but be fully recognised, and be acted upon by afford- 

 ing it abimdance of rich soil and stimulants, keeping the 

 plants clean— free from aphides and thrips — and with 

 plenty of ah- and hght on all sides, a full measure of 

 success will be the result. The assistance of stimulants, 

 by which I mean liquid manure, is not requu'ed till the 

 flower-stems appear, when then' frequent use is of tho 

 greatest value and importance, imparting continued health 

 to the growth, and to the flowers such size, form, and 

 colour as would be quite wanting were liquid manure 

 withheld ; it being evident that as the soil of any gross- 

 feeding pot-plant is permeated with roots, so surely does 

 it gradually become exhausted. Proof of this is afforded 

 by the decaying or unliealthy foliage, and the short dura- 

 tion of the puny growth of flowers. — Edward Luckhukst. 



EUPHOEBL\ JACQUINI^FOLIA CULTURE. 



This Jlexican evergreen shrub was introduced about 

 the year 183G. It is one of those plants which should bo 

 grown by everyone who has a stove, being of easy cultui'e, 

 and the flowers, though small, are very beautiful. 



With a little care it can be made to produce two succes- 

 sions of flowers from November to March. Good-sized 

 plants can be grown in moderately-small pots with from 

 ten to twenty flowering shoots on each, and it' kept near tho 

 glass they will not requu-e any stakes. Cuttings of the small 

 young shoots taken off in March will root freely in a 

 Melon or Cucumber frame ; when rooted they should be 

 pcftted-off singly into small pots, and kept near the glass 

 till they become well established. If all go well, by May 

 they will foi-m nice healthy young plants, and by that 

 time they may be hardened-off, and then grown on all 

 summer in a cold frame, taking care to shut-up early, so 

 as to secure a little sun heat, which they delight in. To 

 form neat bushy plants they requu-e to be well pinched-back 

 all summer, but they must not be pinched after August 

 if early flowering is desired. By September they should 

 be removed to a shelf in the stove, and kept close to the 

 glass, so as to thoroughly ripen the wood, as on this 

 depends the proper succession of flowers thi'oughout the 

 ■winter. 



The plant is all tho better of being rather stinted as to 

 pot-room, and should bo only moderately suppUed with 

 water ; at the same time care must be taken not to allow 

 the soil to become dust dry, neither must it get sodden 

 with moisture. 



Tho first crop of flowers ■will generally appear in No- 

 vember, and if the plants be removed to a conservatory 

 or intermediate house they wiU continue in perfection for 



No. 1S71.— Vol. XLIX,, Old Sbribb 



