248 PRIMULACE^. 



in the tender seedling state. A cold frame, hand-lights, or 

 glasses, should therefore, if possible, be devoted to them, in 

 which they will be more easily guarded against all enemies than 

 if they were in the open ground. Small pots should be used 

 to sow in, and they should be plunged in sand or coal-ashes. 

 The soil should be sandy loam, peat, and well-decayed leaf- 

 mould, in equal proportions, with plenty of sharp sand to keep 

 the whole sweet and open. Sow thinly, and keep the soil regu- 

 larly moist till the plants appear, when caution in watering will 

 require to be exercised to prevent damping, to which Primulas 

 are all rather liable in their first stages from seed. As soon as 

 the plants are big enough to handle, they must be pricked out 

 thinly in pans, pots, or boxes, and returned to the frame, or set 

 in a shady, warm, sheltered place, and well attended to with 

 water, — taking care, however, not to allow the soil to become 

 stagnant with too frequent waterings, which would very soon 

 be followed by sickness and death to the plants. Primulas de- 

 light in moisture in the growing season; but a good sound 

 watering at intervals, not daily driblets or sprinklings, is what 

 they want. When the plants have made sufficient root's and 

 bulk of leaves they may be transferred to their permanent 

 quarters, and well watered after planting, when they will need 

 little more attention for the season beyond keeping them clean. 

 In the case of getting up large quantities of Primroses and 

 Polyanthuses, for the purpose of planting out in woods and 

 suchlike places, the foregoing directions would be troublesome 

 and expensive, as they are only meant for the more valuable and 

 rare species and varieties. The common varieties are best 

 sown on a warm border in the beginning of April, in beds, 

 broadcast or in drills, and, when fit to handle, planted out in 

 nursing-lines in rich soil well manured with old hotbed dung. 

 Cuttings are best put in in spring, when growth has fairly 

 begun : the same soil as recommended for seeds is suitable for 

 cuttings. Division should be done immediately after flowering 

 is over, unless large increase of particular sorts should be de- 

 sired, or when the plant is very weak and would obviously be 

 invigorated by being divided immediately before flowering com- 

 mences ; in such cases everything should be done to prolong 

 the growing period, and all flowers removed as soon as they 

 can be got hold of. Under the name P. veris, Linnaeus in- 

 cluded the three forms of Primula most common in this coun- 

 try, — the Primrose, F. vulgaris; the Oxlip, F. elatior ; and the 

 Cowslip, F. veris of modern botanists, being considered by him 

 essentially the same for the purposes of science. But to gar- 

 deners and florists it is convenient to distinguish between the 



