182 THE GARDENER. [April 



weatlier except that which is wet. When the leaves begin to decay 

 and become yellow they should be cut away, and the pots be stored 

 in the driest and airiest position at command. The forcing is a very 

 simple matter. As with all hardy plants — it may indeed be said all 

 plants — forcing should be used, persuading or coaxing into activity. 

 No creature, whether plant or animal, likes to be rudely shaken out of 

 rest ; they suflFer either in temper or constitution a ruffling or shock that 

 recoils in the shape of vexatious failures, if nothing worse, on the hand 

 that inconsiderately administers it. Those Primulas are no exception 

 to this rule ; they are natives of high alpine regions, and are con- 

 sequently easily excited into activity by a slight rise of temperature. 

 A greenhouse temperature of about 45° is as much as they will bear 

 up till March, when they will endure and come more quickly forward 

 in a few degrees higher. Bottom-heat is neither beneficial nor advis- 

 able, and the atmosphere should be as dry as possible, and the plants 

 placed near the glass in an airy position. Syringing and watering over- 

 head are to be avoided, else the umbels are apt to damp, and not un- 

 frequently the foliage also, if the atmosphere is close and moist, and 

 the moisture be allowed to remain long about the crowns. They will 

 continue to bloom for about three weeks after coming into flower, and 

 may be introduced into heat at corresponding intervals. When they 

 begin to unfold their leaves and flowers they will require abundant 

 supplies of moisture, and once or twice a-week they will be benefited 

 by receiving a supply of liquid manure of a mild nature and clear. 

 The flower-stalks develop much more quickly than the leaves, and the 

 flowers are faded and gone long before the latter attain their full de- 

 velopment. Early-forced plants are not divided till the leaves are full- 

 grown ; later-forced ones are divided not later than the second or third 

 week of May ; and the stock-plants are encouraged to make growth after 

 the crowns are removed, and usually produce a number of crowns, 

 small, but useful, for dividing early in autumn for the purpose of 

 increasing stock ; or for flowering, in small pots, in their natural season, 

 which is about April and May. Those species of Primula are never 

 likely to be very useful out of doors, in the north at least, but they 

 are well worth the trouble of cultivating in pots for indoor decoration 

 in the three first months of the year. W. S. 



KEEPING GRAPES THROUGH THE WINTER. 



We generally learn something monthly in the pages of the ' Gardener ' about the 

 cultivation of the Vine ; and from the reliable character of the source, the infor- 

 mation may be trusted. But although we get full details of the most advanced 

 principles of growing Grapes, we hear very little as to the best mode of keeping 



