132 REMARKS ON THE CULTURE OF CALCEOLARIAS. 



it ? the bunches of pale red flowers hanging the one upon the other 

 out of a dense thicket, as it may be termed. 



ARTICLE VI. 



REMARKS ON THE CULTURE OF CALCEOLARIAS. 



BY A LONDON AM AT KB R GROWER, 



I have been a cultivator of the very lovely tribe of flowers, the 

 Calceolarias, but have encountered a good deal of difficulty in my 

 attempts to grow them well. Determined, if possible, to succeed, I 

 visited from time to time the establishments of the most successful 

 growers who exhibit such fine specimens as is shown at the London 

 shows, in order to ascertain the method pursued. The result of my 

 inquiries and observations is, that the plants require to have a very 

 free drainage of broken pot and rough pieces of turf. A compost as 

 follows, — equal portions of well enriched turfy loam, with a moderate 

 sprinkling of white sand in it, and the other half well rotted leaf 

 mould, these materials not to be sifted, but be in what is termed a 

 chopped or rough state. The plants are placed in an airy situation, 

 and where they can be near to the glass, and have a free circulation 

 of air. Generally they are kept in the greenhouse, and special atten- 

 tion is given to watering, taking care the plants do not lack moisture, 

 but never be given so as to be saturated, and that they are not allowed 

 to be droughted. The pots they require is in proportion to the size 

 of the plants, care being paid that they are not over-potted, as when 

 they are they generally get over watered, turn yellow, and soon die. 



The period immediately succeeding the blooming of the plants I 

 have found precarious with them, but the best method is as soon as 

 possible after blooming cut off the flower stems of the plants intended 

 to produce stock for future supply, and carefully re-pot by shifting 

 them into a size larger ; keeping the ball entire, and placing the 

 plants in the light and near glass, also having a free air, but where 

 they can be shaded from powerful sun. Thus treated they soon push, 

 and a supply of shoots or offsets is afforded, so that cuttings, &c, 

 will readily be struck early in the summer, and furnish young plants 

 in a state of vigour to survive the effects of a winter's trial. 



