254 



PROPS. 



generally require a loamy soil, and 

 a somewhat moist situation. 



The Primrose is very ornamental 

 as a border flower, but it has not 

 sported so much as the Polyanthus, 

 and there are therefore no florists' 

 Primroses. The border or garden 

 varieties, however, which are mostly 

 double, are very showy ; among 

 these the double flesh-coloured, 

 double white, double brimstone, 

 double red, double copper, double 

 dark-purple, and double violet, de- 

 serve a place in every garden. The 

 single white and the single red, 

 both of which are found wild, are 

 also much admired, and are valuable 

 as coming into bloom in March. 

 Plants may be raised from seed, as 

 directed for the Polyanthus. 



P. pn.e'nitens, the Chinese Prim- 

 rose, is a very beautiful greenhouse 

 plant, of which there are varieties 

 with pink, with white, and with 

 semi-double flowers. All these are 

 particularly valuable, as forming 

 neat little plants and flowering 

 throughout the winter. They are 

 jjropagated by seeds, which generally 

 come true to the variety; or by 

 cuttings, which must be struck in 

 sand under a bell-glass, and with 

 bottom-heat. They are only bien- 

 nials, and therefore new plants re- 

 quire to be raised every year. They 

 are generally grown in jjots, which 

 should be well drained with pot- 

 sherds, and filled up with a rich 

 compost of equal parts of loam, 

 peat, or sand, and rotten dung or 

 vegetable mould. 



Pkince's Feather. — Amardn- 

 tus hypochondriacus. — See Ama- 

 ka'ntus. 



Pri'nos. — Rhamnaceoe. — Hardy 

 North American shrubs, that will 

 grow in any light soil, though they 

 jjrefer peat, and any situation. They 

 are generally propagated by layers. 



Privet. — See Ligu'strdm. 



Prona'ya. — Pittosporacece. — P. 

 elegans is a very pretty little twin- 

 ing plant with purple flowers, a 

 native of the Swan River Settle- 

 ment. It is easily propagated by 

 cuttings ; and, like most other Aus- 

 tralian plants, it thrives in a mix- 

 ture of sand, loam, and peat ; but 

 it should be grown in very small 

 pots, and not kept too moist. It is 

 a valuable greenhouse plant, from 

 the great abundance and long dura- 

 tion of its flowers. It looks best 

 trained to a trellis. 



Props are artificial supports for 

 plants ; and they are of various 

 kinds, according to the nature of 

 the plant that is to be supported. 

 Twining plants are supported 

 by single rods, stakes, or poles 

 without branches ; plants which 

 climb by tendrils are supported by 

 branched rods ; and plants which 

 raise themselves by elongation, or 

 long slender shoots, among other 

 plants, are supported artificially by 

 branched rods, or by being tied to 

 simple rods. All these kinds of 

 plants, when too tender to be sup- 

 ported in the open garden, are 

 trained to walls, which are the uni- 

 versal supports of plants, whether 

 of the hardy and ligneous kinds, or 

 of such as are slender, somewhat 

 delicate, and either naturally climb- 

 ing, such as Bignbnia capreolata, 

 — or rambling or trailing, such as 

 difi"erent kinds of Eoses. Orna- 

 mental plants grown in pots are 

 sometimes supported by single rods 

 of wood, or of iron or wire, and 

 sometimes by small frames either of 

 wood or iron. These frames may 

 either be flat and of equal breadth 

 from the surface of the pot up- 

 wards; or they may be widest at 

 top, which suits most sorts of climb- 

 ers ; or they may be made in the 

 form of cones, pyramids, inverted 

 cones, or balloon-like shapes, at 



