GLENN Y ON THE CALCEOLARIA. 
09 
Carnation stripes, and there is no doubt they 
are the best exhibited ; but some of them are 
mentioned for their colour, some for their 
habits, some for their form, and some for 
their novelty. There are older ones which equal 
them, such as the Mr. Kinghorn's best half 
dozen, and Mr. Standish's best three or four, 
which may be had, as well by that distinction, 
as by their names. These plants, obtained 
early in spring, will be best retained in their 
pots until their fibres reach the side ; or if, on 
examining them, their balls are at all full of 
roots, they should be at once shifted. 
REPOTTING OR SHIFTING. 
Procure pots one or two sizes larger than 
those the plants are in ; for instance, if they are 
in the pots called large sixties, they may be 
shifted either to the size called forty-eights, or 
the next size, called thirty-twos. We, for the 
sake of their taking less room, prefer only 
one size larger, and should use forty-eights. 
Give the new pot some broken potsherds or 
crocks at the bottom, say an inch or an inch 
and a half deep ; then put enough compost in 
the pot to bring the ball even with the top of 
the pot without pressing. If the roots have 
grown about the crocks in the original pot, do 
not disturb them to hurt the roots ; but when 
the ball is turned out, rub off the soil from 
the top surface a little, but not enough to dis- 
turb the fibres ; then set it in the centre of 
the pot into which it is to be placed, press it 
down a little into the soil already there, so 
that the collar of the plant is just below the 
level of the top edge of the pot ; with the 
hand fill up the vacancy all round, shaking it 
gently down, by knocking the bottom of the 
pot down on the potting table or bench, and, 
if necessary, gently pressing it down at the 
sides, by a piece of stick of a proper thick- 
ness, not to touch the fibres which are round 
the outside of the ball ; then, placing a little 
of the compost on the top, wiiich should be 
about as high as the edge of the pot, finishes 
the operation. 
The plant should be placed in a cold pit, or 
even a common garden frame, on a dry bot- 
tom, impervious to wet, so that the water that 
runs through the pots will not soak into the 
ground, but run off altogether ; and they 
should be covered with the lights close for 
two or three days, being first watered gently, 
but thoroughly, to settle the earth to the 
roots. If the frame be like those for the cul- 
ture of ordinary melons and cucumbers, only 
one board thick, it will be as well to heap up 
earth all round, like a bank, providing, how- 
ever, by some means, for the running off of 
the superabundant water ; and the greatest 
care must be taken to cover them from frost 
and cold winds, with matting or transparent 
cloth ; for the plant, though half-hardy, will 
be easily damaged with frost, if in a growing 
state, and cannot be too carefully guarded 
against it, although it requires no heat. 
Many who have a greenhouse, place them on 
some of the shelves, in preference to growing 
them in pits ; but, where there is so much 
space, there is more danger of frost, unless 
artificial heat be given in hard weather ; and 
the Calceolaria does not thrive so well, nor 
grow so handsome in heat ; they are apt to 
draw, and it is the very last plant that should 
be at all drawn, on account of its spoiling the 
habit and appearance, and weakening the 
flower stems. It is necessary to keep them 
near the glass, and it is almost impossible to 
have them too near. Besides, plants in frames 
or pits are so well under the eye, and we can 
so much better see when they require water. 
WATERING AND GIVING AIR. 
Although the Calceolaria is, with care, 
among the easiest-managed subjects, that care 
must not be withheld, for it is the most liable 
to damage by the least neglect. Too much 
water will damp them off quickly ; too little 
will destroy them, or hand them over to the red 
spider, which almost instantaneously attacks 
an unhealthy plant. The compost should 
never become dry, and, except when the plants 
are growing rapidly, not too often watered ; 
there is never, or at any rate, there is rarely, 
sufficient attention paid to this important 
operation. It is almost destructive to omit 
watering one hour longer than the time they 
ought to have it. In mild weather the lights 
should be taken off; and this is the time 
when, if the weather be dry, the moisture 
rapidly passes off, and requires renewal. On 
the other hand, in cloudy or dull, though mild 
weather, the moisture may be retained for a 
long time. It should never be thought too 
much trouble to turn out a plant, to examine 
the state of the soil and the roots. The great- 
est danger of suffering from wet is in the 
winter and early spring months. The greatest 
danger of suffering from want of water is 
after the spring growth commences in earnest, 
and the flower stems begin their work ; for 
the plant takes up a good deal of moisture, 
and the roots get near the side of the pot. 
If the weather be very foggy or damp, the 
framec are better covered up with the glasses 
quite close, but not darkened with mats or 
cloths, unless there is frost, or danger of it. 
The frames should not be opened in windy 
weather, unless the air be mild. In the spring 
months, if there be a genial shower, the lights 
may be removed, that the plants may have the 
benefit of it. One precaution is very neces- 
sary in the application of water 5 it always 
ought to be of fully equal temperature with 
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