THE AMATEURS FLOWER GARDEN. 
69 
firmly in the bed, about three inches apart, and keep them 
regularly sprinkled to maintain their freshness until they 
are rooted, after which they will require but little more atten¬ 
tion beyond watering, ventilating, and protecting from frost. 
They must be wintered rather dry, and have plenty of air, or 
many will perish. There is yet another extremely simple, but 
most effectual, method of procedure. Its first requisite is a 
greenhouse, or pit, which is sufficiently heated to keep out 
frost. In this structure the bed is to be made up near the 
glass, of some such light kindly soil as recommended for the 
frame. Leave the plants in the ground until the middle of 
October, or, if the weather permits, until the middle of No¬ 
vember ; then pull them to pieces so as to separate the best 
young shoots with a heel, and strip the bottom leaves from 
them, and dib them in, and press them firm, and the work 
may be considered finished. As for the roots, throw them 
away. They may be crowded together so as to make a solid 
field of leafage; but, as a rule may be useful, we will say plant 
them three inches apart. A slight sprinkle over the tops 
occasionally will be good for them, but they must be kept 
rather dry, and must have a little heat to help them through 
frosty weather. No matter which of these two methods be 
adopted, the whole of the plants must be lifted in the first 
week of March, and be planted out in beds of light rich earth 
in frames facing the south, where they will make rapid pro¬ 
gress if taken care of. The latter part of the month of April 
is the proper time to plant calceolarias ; if the planting is 
deferred the plants are endangered. The beds for calceolarias 
should be prepared by deep digging and liberal manuring with 
rotten hotbed manure and leaf-mould; and if there is no leaf- 
mould at command, use an additional dressing of the hotbed 
manure in place of it. If planted in poor ill-dressed soil, the 
plants are endangered; in fact, the principal reason of the 
failure of the calceolaria in a hot dry season is defective root- 
hold, the result of planting late in poor soil, the plants having 
been already nearly starved to death in pots as a preparation 
for their final extinction. In the operation of planting the 
plants should always be put into the ground as deep as pos¬ 
sible, but of course without burying the branching portion of 
the stem. Deep planting encourages the formation of a fresh 
set of roots, and places the roots already formed at the greatest 
possible distance from the surface, where they are compara- 
