OS 
■G LENNY ON THE CALCEOLARIA. 
work with seedlings themselves. It is well 
known in the floricultural world, that our 
standard of excellence is a perfectly round 
flower, on a completely shrubby plant ; and 
the novelties are now principally estimated by 
that standard, though there is much to do 
before it can be obtained, even should it ever 
be accomplished. Still, as herbaceous varie- 
ties, and the plants partaking of that habit, 
afford the largest blooms, it is difficult to make 
many judges pay sufficient attention to the 
superior merit of shrubby plants. The colours 
and the markings of the calceolaria are be- 
coming exceedingly numerous; and, within the 
last two years, they have been diverted from 
their general characteristic in an extraordi- 
nary manner, and from speckles and blotches 
of ail forms and sizes, they have produced 
blossoms with stripes like a carnation, rami- 
fying from the hollow which is at the top, like 
rays from a centre, to the outer edge. The 
chief blemishes of these have been a dulness 
and indefiniteness in their colours and stripes. 
Nevertheless, there is no doubt, like all other 
subjects taken up in earnest, they will be 
improved ; they have, too, the prevailing fault 
of deep notches in the outline. The herba- 
ceous kinds are what florists technically call 
'* miffy," a term denoting easily killed or 
damaged by mismanagement. The shrubby 
ones are more hardy and easily managed. 
"We succeeded well for some years by the fol- 
lowing treatment. 
SOIL. 
The compost we used was clean hazel loam, 
which, when ordinarily damp, but not wet, we 
could squeeze into a mass, and lay it down on 
the potting table without breaking, but which 
a pressure of the finger would crumble again 
readily. To two parts of this, we put one of 
leaf mould, one of mould formed by a rotten 
melon bed of stable dung, and one of Wim- 
bledon peat— this being merely lumps of half- 
decomposed wiry fibre and sandy earth, was 
rubbed through a coarse sieve, such as would 
lefc horse beans through. The loam, and dung, 
and leaf mould were sifted through the same 
sieve, and the whole well amalgamated, and 
often turned for some time. It should be 
mentioned, perhaps, that all these should bp 
measured after they have been passed through 
the sieve, for one of them may have, and the 
peat especially, a good deal left behind, which 
would, of course, considerably affect the pro- 
portions. This soil is not too retentive of 
moisture ; and then requires that all plants 
grown in it should be very carefully watched 
and watered. When the soil is required for 
repotting large plants, or to grow them with 
very large shifts from small to large pots, the 
sieve used may be coarser, large enough in 
the mesh to let a marble through. Some cul- 
tivators were using at the same time, and 
with equal success, three instead of two parts 
of loam ; but very much depends on the 
quality of the loam, which, if heavier or 
of a more tenacious natui-e than we have 
described, should be rather lessened in 
quantity. 
CHOICE OF PLANTS. 
As there is no method of choosing plants 
equal to that of selecting those in bloom, the 
following points should be attended to as much 
as possible. First, that the plant be of shrubby 
habit, the stems being woody and well clothed 
with foliage, branching well, and forming a 
bushy shrub on a small scale. Secondly, 
that the flower stems should not rise too high 
above the foliage, for it would be desirable 
that no bare stalks should be seen between 
the leafy shrub and the flowers. Thirdly, 
that the flowers should have footstalks of such 
length as to display the bloom to advantage, 
without being crowded or too far apart. 
Fourthly, that the flowers should be smooth 
and full, like a small distended bladder, not 
flattened, nor indented like a melon, perfectly 
round in the outline whichever way it is 
viewed. Fifthly, that the colours should be 
bright or dense, which gives richness; that 
any marks or blotches should be well defined, 
and the ground colour as good at the back as 
the front. Sixthly, that so far as is consistent 
with these points, the largest flowers should 
be chosen. But with regard to the roundness 
and the freedom from indenture, so large a 
majority of the present varieties are deficient 
in these respects, that all we can do is to pick 
those which are the most round and the least 
indented, and be satisfied with those that are 
the nearest to the standard we require. This 
selection should be made without regard to 
names or price, for, like the varieties of many 
other subjects, the dearest are not by any 
means always the best. If, however, we de- 
sire plants before they bloom, the only points 
we can choose are those which relate to the 
habit of the plant, which, if handsome when 
small, will rarely grow worse as it increases 
in size. We may consult the last published 
authority for the best names, or take the re- 
commendation of a respectable florist, (and 
we ought never to deal with any other,) for 
the number we require, first letting him per- 
fectly understand the points we wish to secure. 
Nor must we be disappointed if the collection 
contain some which approach our standard at 
a very humble distance. The Garden Alma- 
nac for 1847, gives us a list of the best 
new ones : — Masterpiece, Puissant, Julia, 
Emperor, Oscar, Lord Hardinge, Marmion, 
Marquetry, Matchless, Orlando, and Plant's 
