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JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



I December 4, 1878. 



Primrose to make us pause ere we pronounce either for or 

 against its germinating power. Seedlings of this have evi- 

 dently come up well at one place and not at all in another ; 

 and, I may remark, I have been one of the unsuccessful. 



Passing on, however, to better-known kinds, a somewhat 

 similar result is sometimes observed. In 1871 1 sowed a packet 

 of Polyanthus seed at the base of a north wall in April, and 

 the seedlings came up in great abundance : these were pricked 

 out a small distauoe apart in September, au 1 aU flowered in the 

 following spring, many of them becoming strong plants ; and, as 

 " Philanthos " observes, 

 comprising among them 

 a number of Cowslips 

 and of hybrids between 

 the Cowslip and Poly- 

 anthus, with now and 

 then a Primrose. Most 

 of the Cowslips were 

 coloured, differing only 

 from the Polyanthus by 

 the flowers being pen- 

 dant instead of erect ; 

 but some of these were 

 erect and others hori- 

 zontal or partially up- 

 right on fine days, and 

 drooping when bad wea- 

 ther sec in. I made 

 another sowing in 1872 

 with seed that I knew to 

 be good, being home- 

 saved, and from a place 

 adjoining that from 

 which I had previously 

 secured it; and, instead 

 of some thousands of 

 plants, I had not more 

 than half a dozen. This 

 year I also sowed a batch 

 in the same place, and I 

 have abundance of plants 

 again. Now, the atten- 

 tion was the same on all 

 three occasions, but the 

 sowing of 1872 was a 

 faOure. 



I fear I have not been 

 attentive in the matter of 

 Primroses, as I let them 

 ripen and shed theii' 

 seeds where they grow. 

 I have one or two beds 

 of low shrubs where some 

 of the best kinds are, and 

 a number of seedlings 

 there come up every year. 

 The large weeds and other 

 rank rubbish are cleared 

 off by hand, but a little 

 shelter or shade by small- 

 er herbage I consider of 

 service to the seedling 

 Primi-oses. All of indif- 

 ferent character are re- 

 moved as they flower, and 

 a large proportion run 



into the wild form, with liowever, a fair proportion of good 

 flowers, which of course are duly eared for. I think that 

 in many instances the seed must have remained in the ground 

 a whole year or more before it has vegetated. From obser- 

 vation made — not on the beds alluded to, but where an edging 

 of some extent has been planted on ground fresh to the Prim- 

 rose, yet well adapted to its growth — I have noticed it is a 

 long time ere these self-sown plants make their appearance, 

 although there are often a great many of them when they do 

 come, thus proving that the seed takes a considerable time to 

 germinate even when sown by Nature herself. The Poly- 

 anthus certainly is not longer in germinating than many 

 other plants, and does so sooner than Celery and Parsley, but 

 the seeds of the Primrose, or at least a number of them, do not 

 terminate so soon. 



As the interest now taken in the Primrose will doubtless 



Jackanapes-ou- Horseback, 



lead to many experiments, I am in hopes of something being 

 done with the Japanese species in the way of hybridising ; and 

 as it is certainly one of the most robust of the whole family, 

 it is likely its progeny will not lack vigour. I have small 

 hopes of seeing it with three or tour tiers of flowers all out 

 at a time, never having seen any plant yet resembUng the 

 plates given of it; but its colour is good, and it is unques- 

 tionably the latest of ordinary h udy kinds. As it is said to 

 sometimes have lavender-coloured flowers it may be the fore- 

 runner of a blue, which has been aimed at by hybridisers of 



the common Primrose. 

 Certain it is that all the 

 colours between mauve, 

 magenta, and crimson 

 are tolerably well repre- 

 sented, while a bright 

 yellow equalling that of 

 the^Calceolariais^not, as 

 far as I am aware, yet to 

 be found either in single 

 or double varieties. I do 

 not think the ordinary 

 double form of the wild 

 Primrose hue is as plenti- 

 tiful as it was forty or 

 fifty years ago, for at that 

 time I have seen edgings 

 of it in cottage gardens 

 in the north, while now 

 it appears to be scarce. 

 But good kinds of Prim- 

 roses are sometimes met 

 with in the least promis- 

 ing places. A friend of 

 mine was du'ected by one 

 of the officers connected 

 with the Ordnance Sur- 

 vey to a double yellow 

 growing in an out-of-the- 

 way place in a wood 

 amongst a number of 

 single ones of the ordi- 

 nary stamp, and doubt- 

 less this will prove more 

 robust in constitution 

 than other kinds that 

 have been a long time in 

 in cultivation. DuU-eo- 

 loured browns are not 

 uncommon, and perhaps 

 better colours might be 

 obtained by planting a 

 few of the mauve, crim- 

 son, and magenta varie- 

 ties amongst those of 

 the ordinary colours, and 

 leaving the rest to na- 

 ture. I have occasionally 

 put in some in planta- 

 tions and other places, 

 which I trust will at 

 some time give good re- 

 sults, but I have not been 

 successful by sowing in 

 rough places, though I 

 do not despair of getting 

 some of the Polyanthuses to succeed in such situations. Those 

 approaching the Cowslip type are evidently the most hardy on 

 rather thin but moist ground. My greatest favourite, however, 

 is the single white Primrose, which is the earliest bloomer of 

 the whole family, edgings of it sometimes being in bloom in 

 November, but singular to say not so this year, although that 

 month was the finest I think I ever remember. Yet as the 

 Laurustinus is also more backward than usual, we may 

 assume that the late cold spring did not allow the Primrose to 

 go to rest, nor the Laurustinus to perfect its buds so soon as 

 usual ; hence the backward condition of both compared with 

 what they are in ordinary years. Amongst seedlings from 

 the white I find many of the colour of the ordinary wild 

 Primrose, and some intermediate ones, and now and then dark- 

 coloured varieties appear amongst them, but the latter class 

 are not numerous. There is great variety when kinds with 



