MISCELLANEOUS OBSEKVATIONS. 



739 



the plants thus originated, if potted, stopped, 

 and finally re-potted in August, will form nice 

 compact little plants, and will flower throughout 

 the winter if kept in a temperature of from 45° 

 to 50°. The weakest of such cuttings, if potted, 

 stopped, and prevented from flowering, and 

 finally re-potted towards the end of September, 

 will make fine plants for flowering during the 

 following spring and summer. The section 

 struck by cuttings in autumn, if treated as the 

 above, and finally repotted in March or April, 

 will flower profusely during the following sum- 

 mer and autumn, thus continuing a succession 

 of bloom throughout the year. The various 

 pottings, it will be understood, are to take place 

 whenever the roots have filled the pots they are 

 in, so that no check may be given to a slow and 

 progressive growth. 



Pelargoniums are propagated at times by 

 buds, much in the manner already described for 

 vines. A shoot of moderate growth is selected, 

 from which all the leaves are cut off, but not too 

 close to the stem ; the two lowermost buds are 

 cut off, leaving about a quarter of an inch below 

 and above each; the shoot is then split down 

 the centre. When a sufficient number of buds 

 are thus prepared, a well-drained pan or pot 

 being ready filled with soil, and surfaced with 

 sand to the depth of an inch, the buds are in- 

 serted in it, so as to leave the point of the bud 

 rather above the surface sand. Place them 

 round the edge of the pot, and give a gentle 

 watering. Set them in a close, warm, shaded 

 frame or pit, keeping them pretty close to the 

 glass, and shade and treat as for ordinary cut- 

 tings. The buds will soon begin to spring, and 

 will shortly be followed by shoots and leaves; 

 and when rooted and transferred to small pots, 

 and placed in a mild heat, they will soon make 

 nice little plants. 



Soil. — The best compost for pelargoniums is 

 a rich, light, turfy loam, used three or four 

 months after being brought to the compost-yard, 

 and well exposed to the sun and air. It should 

 be chopped up by the spade, retaining its grassy 

 surface and such vegetable fibre as it may natu- 

 rally contain. If too strong, attenuate it by the 

 addition of pure river-sand ; if poor, add a little 

 well-rotted cow-dung. In such a soil they may 

 be grown to great perfection. Cuttings and young 

 seedlings, at their first two shiftings, should have 

 a lighter and more decomposed soil, such as light 

 loam which has been on hand for twelve months, 

 with a little leaf-mould and silvery sand. 



General culture. — We have already remarked, 

 that, to grow this charming tribe of plants well, 

 they should be grown in a house or pit by 

 themselves. A pit is the best of all accommo- 

 dation for growing them in until about to 

 flower, when, both for seeing them to advantage 

 and affording them sufficient air and light, they 

 should be placed in an airy well-exposed green- 

 house : that with a span roof is the best, as the 

 plants will enjoy light on all sides, which they 

 cannot do in one of the lean-to form. They 

 should also be placed near the glass, and abun- 

 dantly supplied vfith fresh air. When in flower 

 the roof should be shaded during bright sunshine, 

 but at all other times fully exposed to the light. 

 The shading is with a view to preserve the 



colours, and also to prolong the season of bloom. 

 During summer no artificial heat is required, 

 and if the temperature be kept about 45° during 

 winter, it will be quite sufficient, raising it 

 slowly as spring advances and the energies of 

 the plants become awakened. Attention must 

 be paid during their growing season that no 

 check be given them ; and as the shoots advance 

 after the necessary topping, they should be 

 neatly staked, but the fewer supports the better. 

 The shoots should be trained in an outward 

 direction, so that air and light may reach the 

 centre of the plant; and during their whole 

 growth they must be allowed plenty of room — 

 so, indeed, that no part of one plant touch an- 

 other. After the early section has flowered, 

 they should be cut down in July to within two 

 or three eyes of the old wood ; they should then 

 be placed in a cold pit, and kept rather dry at 

 top by the protection of the glass sashes, yet 

 abundantly supplied with air to prevent too 

 rapid excitement. When the buds have sprung 

 to the length of 2 inches, take the plants out of 

 the pots, and after shaking all the soil from 

 them, shorten the roots a little, and cut out all 

 that are dead or diseased ; then re-pot them in 

 two sizes smaller pots, replacing them again in 

 the cold pit, which now must be kept close 

 untU the young roots have found their way into 

 the soil, after which more air must be given, and 

 increased so as to accustom the plants to stand 

 the open atmosphere. The second section of 

 flowering plants will be fit for cutting down 

 when their bloom is past ; they should be treated 

 in the same manner. The first section now in 

 small pots will be fit for setting in their flower- 

 ing pots towards the end of October, and those 

 of the second section will require the same at- 

 tention about the first of January. For List of 

 Select Sorts, vide p. 729. 



The Calceolaria, as a greenhouse plant, is pro- 

 pagated by seed and by cuttings. Seed should 

 be sown as soon as it is ripe, to secure plants to 

 stand over winter and bloom early in spring, 

 particularly in the case of the herbaceous varie- 

 ties, which should be treated as biennials. To 

 obtain good varieties, artificial impregnation is 

 necessary (vide p. 313), selecting the male parent 

 for imparting colour and the female for shape. 

 Another sowing should take place in March, to 

 secure a late summer display, as well as to pro- 

 vide against accidents befalling the former sow- 

 ing. Flat pans or boxes, thoroughly drained, 

 and filled with light loamy soil, and rendered 

 quite even and smooth on the surface, being 

 prepared, the seed should be sown thinly, and 

 as it is exceedingly small, it should be covered 

 very slightly. The seed vegetates freely during 

 June, July, and beginning of August, if the 

 boxes or pans are placed behind a north wall, 

 shaded from the sun and covered with hand- 

 glasses, or a shady pit is equally suitable. The 

 seed sown in spring should be placed in a veiy 

 moderately warm pit, or the front of a vinery or 

 peach-house, for throughout its whole existence 

 the calceolaria is very impatient of heat. When 

 the plants are up, and just of a size to handle 

 (the smaller the better), they should be carefully 

 taken up and planted, first in store-pots or pans, 

 and when their leaves are as large as a sixpence 



