176 General Management of the Calceolaria. 



plants to strengthen ; when the roots are cramped, it has a 

 tendency to throw the plant prematnrely into flower, to its 

 great injury at the proper blooming season. Instead of plung- 

 ing the pots in the soil, place them in a frame and keep them 

 close and moist; water them occasionally with manure water, 

 to get them into a strong growth ; and when they have made 

 shoots of two or three inches in length, take them off, and 

 make them into cuttings. Plant them in a well prepared cut- 

 ting-pot, and place them in a temperature of about sixty-five 

 degrees. If the pots are plunged into any material heated to 

 this degree, so much the better ; keep them close and shaded, 

 and pot singly when they are rooted. By keeping the old 

 plant growing, two or three courses of cuttings may be ob- 

 tained ; but, with any rare or scarce sort, the following method 

 may be adopted to secure a stock : — After the shoots grow a 

 short time, cut them through in the centre between each joint, 

 and then cut each joint down the middle, thus making two 

 cuttings of each of these joints, with a leaf to each ; this 

 leaf must not be damaged in the least, for the success of the 

 process depends entirely on it. Plant these in pots well pre- 

 pared, as for sowing the seeds, with the addition of half an inch 

 pure sand at top. Let the cut surface be placed perpendicularly 

 against the side of the pot, and the back points of the leaves 

 looking towards the centre. Put them in a close, warm frame, 

 and in a short time they will be all finely rooted from the cut 

 surface. Thus, hundreds may be propagated in a short time, 

 from one plant. 



To grow large specimens, when the plants are done bloom- 

 ing and cut down, stand them in any sheltered situation out 

 of doors, and water sparingly. About the end of August, 

 turn them out of the pots and shake away all the old soil 

 from their roots. Prune and regulate these a little, and repot 

 them in as small pots as can conveniently be done, in a light 

 rich soil. Place them in a close, warm situation afterwards, 

 admitting air by degrees, as they begin to grow. When taken 

 into the greenhouse, let them have a situation near the glass; 

 they will keep growing less or more, all winter, and if the 

 pots fill with roots, give them a shift to keep them on, and, 

 about the middle of February, give them a final shift 

 into the flowering pots, in a compost of two parts good, turfy 



