118 FAMILIAR GABDEN FLOWERS. 



herbaceous calceolarias has passed away^ and therefore 

 the}' are no longer named, and no longer grown from cut- 

 tings, and there is no care whatever taken to keep any 

 plant beyond the season of its flowering. When groups of 

 well-grown calceolarias are now staged at exhibitions, tlie 

 spectators are delighted with their variety and richness of 

 colouring, their massive heads of bloom, and the fresh and 

 abundant healthy green foliage. If the plants are lovely 

 to look at, they are surely none the less accef)table because 

 they are grown from seeds as annuals or biennials. 



Some special care is requisite in growing these splendid 

 calceolarias in a creditable manner. The easiest, and, 

 generally speaking, the best method, is to raise them from 

 seed, wliich should be sown in July, in pans containing a 

 mixture of equal parts of sifted loam, leaf-mould, peat, and 

 sharp sand. The soil should be moderately moist, and the 

 seed should be thinly scattered, and covered with the merest 

 du.stingof tine peat. A cold frame is the projjer place for 

 the seed-pans until the plants appear, l^^ntil they appear, 

 shade the pans by laying sheets of paper over them, or by 

 la}'ing a mat over the light that covers the frame. The 

 young plants must have light and air and regular supplies 

 of moisture, but no excess of any of these aids to growth, 

 for strong sun, strong wind, and a wet soil are equally 

 inimical to their welfare. As they grow, jn-ick them into 

 other pans to give them more room. Nurse them in the 

 j)aus until large enough to be put into small pots singly, 

 using the same soil as before. You will thus have secured 

 a nice stock of sturdy plants during the best growing 

 weather of the first season. 



To raise them from euttiugs, we must wait until young 

 slioots arise from the roots of plants that have flowered. 



