26 
REMARKS ON THE CALCEOLARIA. 
No. 60 into No. 32, but if the plants are intended for exhibition, 
I am guided by the size they are to be shown in. The compost 
I use is two parts light loam, one peat, and one old rotten cow 
dung; to this I add a quantity of sand, according to the texture 
of the loam. 
At this season, after repotting, they are set on a stage in a pit, 
and kept close till they have got root into the fresh soil. I 
do not shade them after this shifting, but take the advantage of 
a bright day to water them over head with a fine rose pot. It is 
astonishing, even at this dull season, how fast they grow under 
such treatment: care must be taken to protect them from frost at 
this stage of their growth. As they get established in the pots I 
remove them to the warmest part of the greenhouse, where they 
require to be occasionally watered, avoiding wetting the foliage 
now, keeping them moist, but not wet, never allowing them to 
get too dry ; fine plants are more impatient of either extreme. 
I have no stated time for repotting them. If they have filled the 
pots, they are shifted into larger, up to the middle of March, for if 
they get very much pot-bound, they seldom do well afterwards. 
I am very particular in having the pots clean and well-drained, 
placing some of the roughest parts of the soil over the potsherds, 
and have frequently allowed what part of the drainage may adhere 
to the ball of the plant to remain undisturbed, particularly when 
shifting into pots two sizes larger. I add a little more loam to 
the compost for all the strong-growing sorts, and for any that 
are weakly, a little sand and peat. They will now require 
strict attention to watering, increasing the quantity as they fill 
the pots with roots, with occasional waterings of liquid manure. 
I close the lights early in the afternoon, and syringe the plants 
with pure rain-water that has stood in the house all the day: 
regulating the temperature of the house by the appearance of the 
plants, never allowing them to get drawn up weakly. I shade 
them with thin canvass for a few hours in the middle of the dav. 
As the flower stems require it, they are neatly staked, giving them 
plenty of room to form fine heads. I very seldom have recourse 
to stopping, as I find the flowers are larger and finer on the first 
stems, and there are more foliage on the first than on lateral 
shoots; and when the plants are in full bloom they are more of a 
conical natural form, and in my opinion look much better than 
