No one can but admire a stage or shelf filled with the herbaceous Calceolaria when in bloom, and to see a whole house filled with them is a sight not easily forgotten. Even when a few are mixed among other greenhouse plants, visitors are almost sure to take notice of them; the beauty and brilliancy of their colours, and almost innumerable variety in the markings, render them very choice and desirable objects for greenhouse decoration. They are very easy of cultivation, and are quite within the reach of any one possessing a greenhouse, however small, or even a garden frame. Though young plants can be raised from cuttings, this method is seldom resorted to, unless to perpetuate some particular variety. They are best and easiest raised annually from seed.

The proper time to sow the seed is from the middle to the end of July. The pot or pan should be well drained, and filled up nearly to the rim with a mixture consisting chiefly of leaf-mould and sand, with a little loam added to give consistency. Use the rougher portion of the soil for the bottom of the pot, and finish with some finely sifted soil on the top, after which sprinkle the seed thinly on the surface, and press in gently with a piece of board. No covering of soil is required, the seed being so small. Water through a very fine rose, cover with a piece of glass, and place the pot in a cool place, where it may have a little shade and be out of draught. A little moss may be sprinkled over the glass to afford shade until the young plants begin to show themselves, when the shading should be removed, and a little air admitted by tilting up the glass on one side, and gradually increasing the quantity until the glass be dispensed with altogether.

When the young plants are large enough to handle, they must be pricked out singly into small pots, using the same kind of soil, only having a little more loam added to it. They may be set in a cold pit or frame, and shaded slightly until they get hold of the soil, when the shading may be discontinued, and air given in moderate quantities. See that they do not suffer from want of water, and keep green-fly in check by fumigating. They will require to be shifted into larger pots about the middle of October: 4-inch pots will be large enough to winter them in. A little old cow-dung may be mixed with the soil for this potting. They should be kept near the glass, and fully exposed to the light, and watered when they require it during winter. The temperature of the pit should never range higher than 45° during the winter months. Towards the end of February they will have started into vigorous growth, and will then require to be shifted into larger pots. Generally speaking, 6-inch pots are large enough in which to flower them; but if large plants are wanted, a few of the strongest may be put into 8-inch pots. Let the compost consist largely of good fibry loam, broken to pieces, not sifted, and a liberal admixture of leaf-mould and sand, with a sprinkling of old manure mixed with it.

The pots should be cleanly washed and carefully crocked, with an inch of old manure over the crocks. They must be still kept near the glass, and liberally aired on every suitable occasion. When the flower stems begin to appear they may get an occasional watering with weak liquid-manure, which will impart vigour to the plants, and improve the size and colour of the flowers. The centres should never be pinched out (the practice of many growers), as invariably the finest flowers are on the centre stem.

When the accommodation for wintering them in quantity is limited, they will do fairly well pricked out into pans or boxes, and potted up early in spring. Of course they will not be quite so good as those grown on in pots; still for ordinary purposes they will do very well.

Now a word as regards the saving of seed. A very common practice is to set the plants outside in some out-of-the-way place to ripen the seed, where they are often neglected, and become a prey to green-fly. If good seed is wanted, they should be as carefully looked after as when they are in a young growing state: at this stage they are even more subject to the attacks of aphides, from being so long under glass while in flower, so that they should be kept in a place where they can be fumigated, and properly attended to with water. The pots being crammed with roots, the demand for water is greater than ever.

J. G., W.