262 



CASSELL'S POPULAR GARDENING. 



Tised, they should he half or nearly half filled -with 

 ■pieces of pots — crocks, as they are termed — ^broken 

 ■small, to give drainage ; over these should he placed 

 some rough soU, and then filled to the surface with 

 'fine soU, pressed down until a level smooth surface 

 is secured. Now the seed of the Calceolaria is very 

 small indeed, and so a mere pinch suffices for a sow- 

 ing ; this should he spread over the surface as thinly 

 as possible, and when this is done, covered with a 

 very slight sprinkling of silver sand. The pots or 

 jpans can then he placed on a shady shelf in a green- 

 house, or for the matter of that in a cold pit, and if a 

 j)iece of glass is placed over each, and the tiny seeds 

 shaded from the sun, the surface will he kept cool and 

 onoist, and germination greatly assisted. As soon as 

 the tiny plants appear above the soil, which will he 

 in a short space of time, a little air should be given, 

 and the plants encouraged to grow as strong as pos- 

 sible. But they should not he allowed to become 

 very wet nor very dry. As soon as large enough to 

 iandle it is best to prick them off thinly into other 

 weli-drained pots of fine soil, as this not only 

 encourages the transplanted plants to grow on into 

 size, but it gives more room for the remainder to 

 develop. As soon as any of them are large enough, 

 they should be potted singly into small pots, placed 

 in a cold frame, shaded from the sun, kept moist 

 .and growing, have plenty of air, and be shifted into 

 larger pots as required. No shifts should be given 

 between November and February, as during mid- 

 winter they do not make roots, and the plants winter 

 hest when the roots touch the sides of the pots in 

 which they are growing. The best place for the 

 jlants during the winter is a frame heated with hot 

 water in case of severe frosts or very damp weather ; 

 Tjut failing this, the}' will winter in an ordi- 

 nary green-house if not kept too close in mild 

 weather ; and should it be unusually mild, the plants 

 might be safely wintered in a cold frame ; but the 

 great thing is to guard against injury from damp. 

 iSome of the most successful cultivators of the 

 Calceolaria keep their plants during mid- winter in a 

 temperature not higher than 60°, and not lower than 

 35", they are kept as much as possible from harm 

 through damp, and every precaution is taken to keep 

 them free from the ravages of green-fly. In order to 

 do this, they fumigate the plants with tobacco-smoke 

 once a fortnight ; but others manage to keep the fly 

 at a distance by means of letss frequent smokings, and 

 ^ven with none at all. It is on the under sides of 

 the thick downy leaves that the insects gather, and 

 if there are no fumigations the under sides of the 

 leaves "hould be examined at times, and any insects 

 lirushed away by using an artist's brush. If. only 

 •a good, free, healthy growth can be secm-ed, a satis- 

 -factory head of bloom wiU be certain to follow. 



But from flrst to last this healthy development of 

 foliage wUl depend, to a large extent, on giving air 

 freely, but not when cold frosty winds are blowing, 

 and especially so when there is a danger of their 

 blowing directly on the plants. Should frosts come 

 on suddenly in the night and afiect the plants, they 

 should he covered up for a day or two, and kept quite 

 close and dark ; the result will he that when un- 

 covered and exposed to the light they will be found 

 to have taken very little harm indeed. But it is 

 best not to subject them to frost if it can be avoided. 



But little training is necessary in the case of well- 

 grown plants of Calceolarias. When the flower- 

 stems appear, a few slight stakes maj' he necessary 

 to keep them erect and neatly displayed ; and no 

 further shifts should be given after the flower- 

 stems have begun to develop. But the pots will 

 he full of roots, and the plants must he kept well 

 watered, and a little weak manure-water may be 

 given once or twice a week with great advantage. 

 But as it is quite out of the power of some, amateurs 

 to provide themselves with liquid manm-e, we can 

 confldently recommend the use instead of " Clay's 

 Eertilizer,", a patent manure of great value, which is 

 sold in small quantities in canisters. All that is re- 

 qmred is that a little of the manure be sprinkled over 

 the surface of the soil, and washed into it when water 

 is applied. 



It is when the amateur gardener places his Calceo- 

 larias in his house of mixed plants that they fi-e- 

 quently show decided and rapid signs of deteriora- 

 tion. They will not stand exposure to hot sunshine 

 as well as Pelargoniums, Fuchsias, and other things 

 of similar character. These can he occasionally 

 syringed overhead with water without doing much 

 harm to the flowers, and if thej' become a little 

 disfigured, others are soon produced to take their 

 place. It is not so with the Calceolaria; for its 

 blossoms are produced at one effort and not succes- 

 sionally, and if water is allowed to rest upon the 

 flowers they soon rot. The pots being full of roots, 

 the soU soon dries, unless the}' axe very closely 

 looked after, and no other plant displays the 

 deteriorating effect of drought at the roots as does 

 the Calceolaria. It is much the best to grow the 

 plants in a house by themselves, the roof of which 

 can be shaded in some way, and when this can be 

 done Calceolarias are not only much more effective, 

 but more lasting also. If kept cool, and moist at the 

 roots, the plants remain in fuU beauty for a long 

 time, provided the decaying flowers be picked off as 

 soon as they fade. 



The cultivator should he careful to save a little 

 seed from the very best varieties, and sow it as di- 

 rected as soon as ripe, if he can obtain it, by the 

 month of Jul}'. But he should not save merely 



