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CAN CREATE CALL 



s^ FOR CALCEOLARIA 



}^cxt (o novdbj, variety is most sought for by the public in plaAs and 

 flowers. It is the part of policy, as ivdl as the path to prosperity, to revive 

 old favorites rather than to kill off present ones by maiciny them too eoiii- 

 )non. People often yet "too much of a good thing," even in flowers. Here 

 is a good plant that is ih serving of greater popularity. 





LANTS, like pcoplo, liavo 

 tlioir upa and downs in pub- 

 lic estimation, their times 

 of popularity and their 

 times of obscurity. The 

 varieties of plants that are 

 now in great demand may 

 be friendless and for<'otten in the ncaV 



future, and waiting in vain for a 



piir- 



cnaser. The plants that now are the 

 "ins" may soon bo the "outs," and 

 florists who would always have salable 

 stock must be as watchful as politicians 

 in regard to the ever-changing opinions 

 of the public. 



.Sumetimes it is easy to explain wiiy 

 a plant — or a person— has luUen into 

 disrepute. The plant — like many per- 

 sons — has been guilty of some sort of 

 misbehavior, or some new favorite has 

 rudely pushed it to one side ami taken 

 its place in tlic limelight. In the case 

 oL' some other i)lants — tlic calceolaria, 

 for instance — the reason for their down- 

 fall is not so clearly apparent. 



Has Seen Better Days. 



For the calceolaria certainly is ndt so 

 popular as it once was, and prcjiialdy 

 not so popular as it (ieser\es tu be, 

 since it is both showy and attractive; 

 and seems to be well adapted for use 

 as a decorative plant 

 in the show house, the 

 conservatory or the 

 home. There may be 

 various reasons for its 

 dethronement; a com- 

 Idnation of circum- 

 stances may have 

 acted against it, but 

 one wcll-i n f o r m e d 

 grower says the chief 

 reason is that the cal- 

 ceolaria, though not 

 really difficult to grow, 

 is easily ruined by 

 neglect. That state- 

 ment may not mean 

 that the plant is espe- 

 cially sensitive a n d 

 [) e e v i s h about the 

 treatment it receives, 

 but may mean simjiiy 

 tiiat there are certain 

 reasonable attentions 

 which it absolutely de- 

 mands, as any self re- 

 specting plant would. 



But, though the llo 

 rist, in trying to select 

 the best sellers, must 

 lio largely controlled 

 hy the public whims. 

 he mav also do much 



to control those same whims, like the 

 wonian who skillfully manages her hus- 

 band, or thiidis slie does, though out- 

 wardly pretending to obey his slightest 

 wish, it is fre(iuently profitable for 

 the llorist thus to exert an intluence (Hi 

 tlu; market. ^Vily, then, siioubl he not 

 aid in creating a market for calceolarias, 

 it at the same time he \\()uM heli), 

 rather than liinder, the sale of his other 

 plants? ^\ hy should he not grow a 

 bat(di (it' calci'(darias from seed, or [lur- 

 (diase a few ol' the young j)lants for re- 

 tailing, since he would thus increase 

 the variety and attractiveness of his en- 

 tire; sto(d< and stimulate the maiket.' 



Great Variety, But Few Varieties. 



In this matter of introducing greater 

 variety and relieving monotony the cal- 

 ceolaria is peculiarly serviceable, be- 

 cause it is odd and unique in appear- 

 ance and because a package or two of 

 the seeds, if obtained from a reliable 

 firm, will produce many different types 

 of beautiful, pocket-like flowers, riclily 

 and variously colored, s[iotted and 

 blotched. I'erhaps it woubl have been 

 proper to say "slipper-like" flowers, in- 

 stead of "pocket-like," since the name 

 of the plant is formed from the Tiatin 

 word "calceolus, " meaning a "slij.per. " 



As an Attractive and Showy Pot Plant the Calceolaria is Not Easily Surpassed. 



In this ciiiinectiou it may bo inter- 

 esting to note that present-day cal- 

 ceolarias, though so diversified in ap- 

 pearance, are not easily divisible into 

 separate varieties or species, and mod- 

 ern growers make little or no attempt 

 at su(di division. Jn other words, cal- 

 ccdlaiias, as commonly grown, show 

 great variety but few distinct varieties. 

 'I'hey have been hybridized and hybrid- 

 ized, accidentally and intentionally, in 

 the greenhouse and in tlie garden, until 

 all clear trace of their ancestry has 

 been lost. Th(>y are an inextricably 

 mixed race. Perliaps you have known 

 of s(une dog whi( h, though an excellent 

 and lovable animal, ijelong('tl to no par- 

 ticular breed, but was " just dog. " Like- 

 wise, many of the best caheolarias are 

 just calceolarias. 



A Place in the Family, 



Bolanically speaking, however, there 

 are, or were, about 200 distinct sjjecies 

 of calceolarias, the progenitors of the 

 present commercial sort-. Ilcni-e the 

 botatust who tries to classify calceolaria 

 jdants correctly, both scicntifi'-ally and 

 practicallv, is sure to find hiniself in a 

 maze of (litlicultics. So. also, the person 

 who would unJerta'.ve to state just 

 what kind of calceolaria is shown in 

 the accompanying illus- 

 tration, and would at- 

 toii.pt to :.:ive it an 

 fxa'-t name and place 

 in the calceolaria fam- 

 ily, would only lie 

 c(Kirting troulde. Still, 

 if th(> plant in the 

 j.iclure bad a string of 

 liii;li - sounding n.ami'S 

 stretching four or five 

 iui-lios in leuijth. and 

 if its genealogy could 

 be traci-'d directly to a 

 [ilant that was brought 

 o\er in the Mayllower, 

 it could scarc(dy bear 

 a denser nia-s of 

 bluums. 



The calceolaria fam- 

 ily comprises a slirul)- 

 by section as well as a 

 h(M-liaceous one, b u t 

 oidy the herba^'eous 

 idant? are cultivated 

 to any extent in 

 .\merica. The shrubby 

 forms, thougli great 

 favorites i n m a n y 

 European gardens, do 

 not flourish outdoors in 

 the hot American sum- 

 mers and are less nrna- 



