174 General Management of the Calceolaria. 



buds. The following year they bore the most beautiful crop 

 of fruit I ever saw, and continued to do so for the three suc- 

 ceeding years, when they again became luxuriant and barren 

 as before. To enumerate facts in favor of root-pruning would 

 swell this paper into a volume, for these have been so numer- 

 ous as to effect almost a revolution in the culture of fruit-trees, 

 and to place its propriety and success beyond a doubt. 

 (Tb he continued.^ 



Art. VII. General Management of tlie Calceolaria. By 

 William Saunders, New Haven, Conn. 



There are few plants possessed of more real beauty and 

 interest than the Calceolaria. It is one of those plants that 

 have been drawn from their natural and simple state, by 

 careful cultivation, to form objects of great beauty and deli- 

 cacy. Perhaps no flower has yielded so readily to the hy- 

 bridizer as this ; for, in a comparatively short period, they 

 have been brought to great perfection. From a pinch of seed, 

 flowers of every shade and color may be obtained, and, when 

 grouped in masses in the greenhouse, never fail to attract par- 

 ticular attention. 



I generally sow the seed about the beginning of August, to 

 allow time for the plants gaining sufficient strength to keep 

 comfortably over winter. I have found them succeed very 

 well, when sown early in spring, but they are considerably 

 later in flowering, and do not stand so long in bloom. Let a 

 few six inch pots be filled two-thirds full of drainage and 

 turfy pieces of loam, and mix a compost of loam, leaf-mould, 

 and sand in equal quantities ; make it fine, and fill up the 

 pots with it, pressing it to a firm, even surface ; sow the seeds, 

 and cover them very slightly with a little fine, sifted soil ; 

 moisten the soil carefully, so as not to disturb the seeds, and 

 place the pots in a frame, or in any sheltered situation, out of 

 doors, covered with a hand glass ; the soil must be kept in a 

 healthy, moist condition, but not saturated, or they will dis- 

 appear as quickly as they vegetate. After they have made 

 four leaves, prick them oif into pots or boxes, prepared as 



