CALCEOLARIAS. 



CALCEOLARIAS. 



cold pit to break in, lay in the young shoots 

 when 2 inches long, and when rooted pro- 

 ceed as with seedlings ; or the whole of the 

 old plant may be kept as a single specimen, 

 and if it does not fog off, it will make a 

 grand display next season. 



Management of Soil, Watering, &c. 

 Herbaceous calceolarias require great atten- 

 tion as to watering. Remove all decaying 

 leaves as they appear, peg down the shoots 

 to the soil, that they may root up the 

 stems and thus strengthen the plant. As 

 seedlings advance, shift them into larger 

 pots, and prick off those sown for late 

 blooming. In potting use a compost of 

 light turfy loam, well-decomposed manure 

 and leaf-mould, and a liberal portion of 

 silver sand, with an ample drainage of pot- 

 sherds and charcoal, and keep them free 

 from insects. 



Calceolarias, Propagation of 

 Shrubby, by Cuttings. 



Take the cuttings early in October, and, 

 having prepared a piece of ground in a 

 north border, the soil of which must be 

 well drained, and made light with a large 

 admixture of sand, place the cuttings in and 

 press the earth well round them, water 

 them well, and cover with a hand-glass ; 

 or place the cuttings in pots, and having 

 sunk them in a north border, under a wall, 

 place a hand-glass or small frame over 

 them. In this way they may be kept with- 

 out further attention till the following 

 spring, unless the weather should be very 

 frosty, in which case it may be well to 

 throw some covering over the hand-glass. 

 In the spring the cuttings should be repotted, 

 and will soon become fine plants. It is to 

 be observed that the state of atmospheric 

 influence most favourable to all cuttings is 

 when a change to moist growing weather 

 succeeds, within two or three days, the dry 

 weather during which the cuttings have 

 been taken. 



Management, Protection, &c. It is a 

 good practice to put calceolaria cuttings 

 into cold pits at once, thus : Place 6 inches 

 of broken brickbats, stones," and charcoal 

 for drainage ; another 4 inches of rough 

 leaf-mould, or well-decayed light manure ; 

 on the top of this, 3 inches of soil, com- 

 posed of equal parts loam, leaf- mould, or 

 peat and sand. Spread over the surface 

 i inch of clean sharp silver or other sand, 

 press it down firm with a spade or other 

 contrivance, and water well to consolidate 

 and settle the whole. Next day commence 

 inserting the cuttings 2 inches apart, taking 

 care to plant them firmly ; water the sur- 

 face, which should have an inclination, of 

 3 inches from back to front, in a pit 7 feet- 

 wide, until it is even, and the process is 

 complete. Keep the glass on ; shade in 

 bright weather, and give scarcely any air 

 for a fortnight. By this time the cuttings 

 will be partially callosed, and may be gradu- 

 ally exposed to more air and full sunlight. 

 In a month or six weeks they will be well 

 rooted, after which the glass should be 

 entirely removed, unless during rain, fog, 

 or frost. During winter they must be pro- 

 tected from the frost by a covering of mats 

 or straw. They will require very little 

 water from November to the middle of 

 February. About this period they will 

 begin to grow rapidly, and may either be 

 potted or kept as cool as possible in the 

 pit, and finally transferred to the flower 

 garden in the middle of May. This is the 

 most successful mode of propagating and 

 storing calceolarias. The maintenance of 

 their roots in an equable, cool, and moist 

 condition is the grand secret of success. 

 To have good beds of calceolarias it is also 

 indispensable to strike a sufficient stock 

 in the autumn. They will strike readily 

 enough in the sharp heat in the spring ; 

 but spring-struck cuttings seldom flower so 

 well, can scarcely be got forward enough 

 to flower early, and, it sul-ituted to a high 



