252 



CASSELL'S POPULAE GARDENING. 



used, they should he half or nearly half filled with 

 pieces of pots — crocks, as they are termed — hroken 

 small, to give drainage ; over these should he placed 

 some rough soil, and then filled to the sui-face viith. 

 fine soil, pressed down until a level smooth surface 

 is secui-ed. Now the seed of the Calceolaria is very 

 small indeed, and so a mere piach sufiices for a sow- 

 ing ; this should be spread over the sui-face as thinly 

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

 very slight sprinkling of silver sand. The pots or 

 pans can then be placed on a shady shelf in a green- 

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

 piece of glass is placed over each, and the tiny seeds 

 shaded from the sim, the surface will be kept cool and 

 moist, and germination greatly assisted. As soon as 

 the tiay plants appear above the soil, which -will be 

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

 and the plants encom^aged to grow as strong as pos- 

 sible. But they should not be allowed to become 

 very wet nor very di'y. As soon as large enough to 

 handle it is best to prick them off thinly into other 

 well-di'ained pots of fine soil, as this not only 

 encoui-ages 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 fi'om the sim, kept moist 

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

 larger pots as requii^ed. No shifts should be given 

 between November and February, as dui'ing mid- 

 winter they do not make roots, and the plants T\-inter 

 best when the roots touch the sides of the pots in 

 which they are groTs-ing. The best place for the 

 plants dm-ing the winter is a frame heated with hot 

 water in case of severe frosts or very damp weather ; 

 but failing this, they 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 injm-y from damp. 

 Some of the most successful cultivators of the 

 Calceolaria keep their plants duiing mid- winter in a 

 temperatm-e not higher than 50", and not lower than 

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

 thi'ough damp, and every precaution is taken to keep 

 them free fi^om 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 less frequent smokings, and 

 even "u-ith 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 

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

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

 factory head of bloom will be certaia to follow. 



But from fiist to last this healthy development of 

 foliage will depend, to a large extent, on gi\'ing air 

 fi-eely, 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 affect the plants, they 

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

 close and dark ; the resiilt 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 he avoided. 



But Httle training is necessary in the case of well- 

 grown plants of Calceolarias. "VMicn the flower- 

 stems appear, a few slight stakes may be 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 

 be full of roots, and the plants must be 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 vrith. liquid manm-e, we can 

 confidently recommend the use instead of " Clay's 

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

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

 quired is that a little of the manure be sjDrinkled 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 

 sjTinged overhead with water "without doing much 

 hann to the flowers, and if they 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 ftdl of roots, 

 the soil soon di'ies, unless they are 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 he 

 done Calceolarias are not only much more effective, 

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

 roots, the plants remain in full beauty for a long 

 time, pro%-ided the decapng flowei's be picked off as 

 soon as they fade. 



The cultivator should be 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 July. But he should not save merely 



