ON THE CULTURE OF PELARGONIUMS. 239 



April following they are again re-potted, and treated as above named 

 during the former year. It is my practice to take off a quantity of off- 

 sets each autumn, so that I have a stock of large two-year-old plants 

 to bloom every season. 



By this mode of treatment I succeed in having plants from two to 

 four feet high, stocked with blooming shoots in every part, so as to 

 form a head of flowers about a yard in diameter. 



Having a considerable number of plants, I usually turn out some 

 into the open border, choosing a situation where I can have shade 

 from eleven till four o'clock in the afternoon, the intense heat of mid- 

 day sun being injurious to this tribe of Calceolarias, they requiring 

 more shade and moisture than shrubby kinds do. 



Having an opportunity of collecting seed, I raise many seedling 

 plants. As soon as the seed is ripe, which from earliest blooms will 

 be the case by the middle or end of July, I sow it in pots placed in 

 a shady part of a hot-bed frame or forcing house. The plants soon 

 come up. I take care to keep the soil moist but not wet, as the 

 tender roots are soon rotted off. When sufficiently strong to pot off, 

 which they usually are by the middle of September, I pot them into 

 sixty-sized pots, well drained, in a compost of equal parts of well 

 rotted vegetable mould and loam. After potting, they are placed in 

 a cool frame, kept close and shaded from mid-day sun for a week or 

 two, gradually exposing them to the air. When strong enough to 

 bear a removal without injury, I have them taken to the greenhouse 

 and placed in a shady situation. By the end of autumn the plants 

 are quite strong, and will withstand a winter's treatment without 

 injury ; and by thus getting them forward, they bloom during the 

 following season. This mode of immediate sowing of the seed after 

 gathering will not do for late collected seed, as very young plants are 

 liable to damp off during winter. 



ARTICLE V. 



ON THK CULTURE OF PELARGONIUMS. 



BV TUB FOREMAN OV A LONDON NUHSEKY. 



Pelargoniums are usually denominated Geraniums, although they 

 constitute a very different family. The following mode of culture 



