1852.] THE PHILADELPHIA FLORIST. 101 



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\©^corporated with it, and a portion of sand, if the loam is tenaceous 

 g° will be found suitable. Air and water must have free and ready pass 

 / age to and from the roots ; when they are in flower, shading must be \ 

 resorted to, the blooms soon decay under bright sun. Aridity in the 

 atmosphere is equally injurious; therefore keep the house damp by 

 using water freely on the paths, under the stage, and, indeed, all va- 

 cant places. 



Their management in a general way is most simplified when treat- 

 ed as annuals : save a fresh supply of seeds yearly, and pay no atten- 

 tion to the old plants. They may be kept, and offsets are obtained 

 with facility, but unless with particularly fine varieties, they are not 

 worth the trouble ; and even under the best care I am satisfied that a 

 large per centage of them will perish after they cease blooming. It 

 must be remembered, however, that I allude to this localily, as I know 

 from experience that it is not applicable to more northern latitudes. 

 So much for difference of climate. Your contemporary of the "Am- 

 erican Gardeners' Chronicle," in a recent number of that paper, in- 

 forms us in a somewhat officious manner, that if we understand first 

 principles aright, successful practice will follow as amatter of course, 

 without reference to the physical peculiarities of climate we may la- 

 bor under ; and we are led to infer from his remarks, that European 

 gardeners, if properly educated, can practice immediately on their ar- 

 rival in this country as successfully as they did in the one they left. 

 The reverse of this is a notorious fact. These are sentiments that no 

 unprejudiced foreign gardener, of any experience in this country, will 

 endorse ; and I do not hesitate to say that the best informed Horticul- 

 turist in Europe, whatever his first impressions of American cultiva- 

 tion might be, would find that he had much to learn, and something 

 to unlearn, before he could attain equal excellence. He would find 

 that one year's direct experience would be of more practical benefit 

 than the accumulated theoretical knowledge of half a century. But 

 I am digressing from the subject. 



To propogate Calceolarias by offshoots. After they are past flower- 

 ing, select a shaded situation out of doors, plunge the pots well down 

 in the soil, and fill up among the shoots with leaf mould ; if a frame is 

 convenient put it over them, and shade the glass ; endeavor to keep 

 the atmosphere humid by frequently sprinkling the plants and soil with 

 water. In due time roots will emit from the shoots ; these may then 

 be potted separately and taken into the greenhouse ; if shifted as they 

 progress they will make fine specimens by the time they bloom. 



Still larger specimens may be obtained by the following treatment: 



When the plants have ceased flowering, cut down the flower stems, 



Hu clean out all decayed leaves, select a situation on the north side of a 



(•j fence, and plunge the pots to their rims. Do not give too much wa- 



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