THE FLORIST. 
55 
old cow-dung be used in the compost. In this month the flower- 
stalks begin to appear, and will require the support of a slender 
stick. The plants should be fumigated once a week to destroy the 
green-fly, until the flowers begin to open, when it must not be 
repeated, or the tobacco-smoke will cause the blooms to drop off. 
Let them have all the morning and evening sun, but shade at mid¬ 
day, or the colours of the flowers will be discharged. 
JUNE AND JULY. 
Treat the jDlants that have not bloomed as directed in the pre¬ 
vious month. The most critical time is after the plants have flow¬ 
ered. If allowed to produce seed, they generally die off, nature 
having completed her task; therefore when the blooms begin to 
fade, cut them all off on the stalks, but well up, and above a joint; 
and re-pot into a larger size. Place them in a cold frame facing the 
east. Keep the lights on during the day, and shade; admit air by 
raising the lights at the back. Keep the lights off altogether at 
night, unless in heavy rainy weather; the night-dews are highly 
beneficial. Treated thus, the plants will soon throw new shoots, 
which must be taken off, and pricked out into small pots, in a very 
open soil, and placed in gentle bottom-heat, to strike. When they 
are rooted, shift them into a size larger. About the latter end of 
October, re-pot them into a 4-inch size, with plenty of drainage; 
and keep them through the winter in a cool house varying from 40° 
to 45°. My foreman is a very successful cultivator of Calceolarias ; 
and the above is an accurate detail of his practice. 
Nursery, Sudbury, Derbyshire . 
SEEDLING CALCEOLARIAS. 
However pleasing the culture of the Calceolaria, or any other tribe 
of “ Flora’s creation” may be to the florist (and it is so in no small 
degree), that pleasure falls far short of the interesting delights of 
raising seedlings. With what care does he nurse his pets in the 
first stage of their existence ; with what care does he watch their 
development into the more mature habit of the parent plant; and 
with what intense interest does he look to the expansion of every 
flower, hoping with the most sanguine expectation for the realisa¬ 
tion of something bordering on perfection : and hence it is not to 
be wondered at, that every one should look at his own production 
with partial favour, fancying (to use a homely expression) “ his own 
sheep the whitest.” Nurturing this “ favour and affection” for our 
own productions, it is natural to suppose that we should feel a little 
disappointed when the impartial journalist sometimes pronounces 
them “ Prettv; but not in advance of others in the same class.” 
Perseverance, however, will, as the proverb says, “ work wonders” (in 
corroboration of which, none have more abundant proofs than the 
florist) ; and in due time we may expect our reward. Few plants 
