84 A GUIDE TO FLORICULTURE. 



common, for the care and delicacy required in their culture 

 will be a preventive. I would not recommend them to 

 amateurs on that account. I am induced to do this from a 

 conviction that the disappointment so often met with in their 

 culture will serve to mar the hope or pleasure, than create 

 a taste for other flowers ; perseverance is a great thing, and 

 and ought to be cherished, but difficulty and disappointment 

 will ever be a drawback to this species of plants. 



The Calceolaria is propagated by seeds, cuttings, and di- 

 vision of the roots. The seeds are very small, and should 

 never be covered nor watered with the water pot, the syr- 

 inge being preferable, which can be played on the pan of 

 seeds like a gentle shower ; the pan should be kept in a 

 bark bed, the heat being so gentle and steady that every 

 seed will germinate. When the seedlings are of sufficient 

 size transplant them into small pots. The soil most suita- 

 ble is a maiden soil, with one sixth part sharp sand. By 

 division of the roots, July is the best time ; in the division 

 let each crown be furnished with root fibres sufficient to 

 imbibe a proper nourishment. To increase by cuttings, July 

 is also the best time for the shrubby kinds, and will root 

 freely in a bark bed well shaded, and moderately watered ; 

 or may be struck under a bell glass. The Calceolaria, 

 generally speaking, is very delicate and ought to be shaded 

 from the intense heat of the sun in the summer, but in the 

 winter season will require it in the morning. There is a 

 discriminating judgment necessary in iis culture, and par- 

 ticularly in watering, for too much is equally as detrimen- 

 tal as the want of that fluid. When this plant is infested 

 with the green fly it must be fumigated with tobacco, and 

 the next day syringed well all over, or your plant will die. 



