266 THE FLORIST. 



institution calculated to confer the greatest benefits upon tlie 

 floricultural world, if supported in the way it deserves to be. 



We must also remember that an old and tried friend of flori- 

 culture, Mr. Wood, the Editor of the Midland Florist, whose 

 work has always been conducted in a manner deserving the 

 utmost praise, has had his services acknowledged by the pre- 

 sentation to him of a handsome silver tea and coffee service, 

 the result of a public subscription originating with our friends 

 at Derby. May he still continue his endeavours to promote 

 the advancement of the pursuit he has so long followed and 

 so ably supported ! 



Our obituary must contain the departure of the Gardener's 

 Magazine of Botany ; a work carried on with much spirit, 

 and numbering amongst its contributors some of the first gar- 

 deners of the day. It is painful to observe that success has 

 not crowned the efforts to produce and maintain a work of such 

 excellence. As to ourselves, now finishing our fourth year, 

 here we are, and shall be as long as our readers support us, 

 the leading monthly •publication of the day, calculated to please 

 and instruct, but dependent in part upon the contributions of 

 our readers, both amateur and professional. From it we wish 

 all to derive much gratification ; and therefore we trust our 

 subscribers will render us their cordial and efficient assistance. 

 A happy new year to them, one and all, as we say farewell 

 for 1851. 



PRIMULA SINENSIS. 



The culture of this general favourite having already appeared twice 

 in the Florist, I ought perhaps to state my reasons for offering it a 

 third time, and this I shall do in a few words. I think that if a plant 

 is worth growing at all, it is worth the trouble necessary to have it 

 in the greatest possible perfection ; and as the authors of the two 

 previous articles appear to have taken it for granted that the readers 

 of the Florist would prefer very small examples of this popular plant 

 to well-grown specimens, I judge that the following hints will be 

 useful to those who may be anxious to have the plant in something 

 like perfection. 



I sow the seed in July, at least I did so when I propagated by 

 seed ; but having obtained some first-rate sorts, I increase them by 

 cuttings in preference to depending upon seedlings; and I recommend 

 all amateurs to do the same as soon as it is convenient. I fill the 

 seed-pots with light sandy soil, and nicely level the surface with a 

 circular piece of board. The seeds are then sprinkled regularly over 

 the soil, and pressed gently into it by a piece of board. I then let a 

 little mould fall upon them from a fine sieve, cover the whole with 



