Grteiikumt and ^Stove fiants. 



295 



PRIMULA. 



Few plants are iiioi'e usel'ul foi' green- 

 house decoration than the Chinese Pri- 

 mulas, of which there are now so many 

 tine varieties, single and double. If re- 

 quired the single kinds alone vvill furnish 

 flowers the whole year round, seed being 

 put in at different times so as to produce 

 bloom in succession. But it is for winter 

 flowering that these plants are most accept- 

 able. Young plants are the best, the old 

 ones should be discarded each year after 

 they have bloomed, and others brought on 

 regularly to take their place. 



To get the plants strong for autumn 

 flowering some seed should be sown early 

 in March ; at this time a large .shallow pan 

 should be drained and filled with fine 

 sifted loam, to which is added some leaf- 

 mould and sand ; press the soil smooth, 

 and slightly water the surface to close up 

 any holes wherein the seed might get too 

 deep. Allow a day for the soil to dry, and 

 then sow the seeds, not too thickly, cover- 

 ing very slightly, and again ])ressing the 

 surface smooth. Place a piece of thin 

 white paper over the top to prevent the 

 soil drying, so that no water need be given 

 until the plants are up ; stand in a tem- 

 perature of 50°. As soon as the seeds 

 vegetate remove the paper and put near 

 the glass so as to prevent the young plants 

 being in any way drawn up weakly. Shade 

 slightly when the sun is bright, giving 

 when required just enough water to 

 moisten the soil, but not to make it too 

 wet. Admit air in the day, and when the 

 little plants are an inch high prick them 

 off 3 or 4 inches apart in shallow boxes, 

 drained and filled with soil such as the 

 seed was sown in ; place the boxes close 

 to the glass, and keep the night tempera- 

 ture similar to that in which the seeds 

 were sown, allowing it to rise with some 

 air on in the daytime proportionate with 

 the now increasing sun heat. Shade a 

 little when the sun comes on the plants, 

 and give water as the soil gets dry. Treat 

 in this way until the end of May, when 

 they will do best in a cold frame stood 

 facing northwards in an open situation ; 

 plenty of air should now be given with a 

 thin shade in sunny weather. By the 

 middle of June the plants must be moved 

 to 5-inch pots. The soil should now have 

 some good rotten manure mixed with it in 

 addition to the leaf-mould and sand, drain 

 the pots moderately and move the plants 

 with as little disturbance of the roots as 

 possible ; pot moderately firm and return 

 to the frames, which should now be half 

 filled with fine ashes to raise the pl.nnts up 



near the glass so as to keep them stout, as 

 if Primulas ever get drawn they are half 

 spoiled ; to prevent this they must never 

 be stood too close together. After potting 

 keep the frame a little close foi a few days, 

 then give plenty of air in the day with 

 some on at night as well ; keep the aslies 

 on which the pots stand damp, and give 

 water to the plants when required. If the 

 lights are drawn oft' altogether in the 

 nights, and replaced by day, the dew will 

 benefit the plants, and as the pots get full 

 of roots give manure-water once or twice 

 a week. In most cases 5 or 6 inch pots 

 will be large enough to flower the plants 

 in, but if it is thought desirable to grow- 

 some on bigger they may be moved to pots 

 a size or two larger towards the end of 

 August. After this time no more shade 

 should be necessary. Before there is 

 danger of frost move them to a house or 

 pit where tliey can be stood well up to the 

 glass. Up to this time it will be well to 

 pinch out all flower-stems produced as 

 soon as they are visible — this will have the 

 efl'ect of strengthening the plants, and 

 enabling them to bloom better when re- 

 quired later on. During the flowering and 

 through the winter they will bloom better 

 in a temperature of 45° than if colder, and 

 care should be taken during the dark dull 

 weather not to wet the foliage, or to give 

 more water than is necessary : neglect in 

 either of these matters tends to cause the 

 plants to damp ott' — a complaint to which 

 Primulas are subject in winter, especially 

 when in too low a temperature, or .stood 

 far from the glass. A successional sowing 

 should be made about the beginning of 

 May to flower later on in Avinter and spring 

 after the earliest are over. 



The double kinds of Primula, the flowers 

 of which last longer than those of the single 

 varieties, are increased by cuttings made 

 of the side shoots, which, when well man- 

 aged, the plants produce freely. The cut- 

 tings may be put in any time during the 

 spring or summer ; they should be cut 

 away from the parent plants with as much 

 stem as obtainable, and put singly in pots, 

 only large enough to hold them, filled with 

 fine loam, to which a good portion of sand 

 has been added. No more water should 

 be given than is needful, or the cuttings 

 will be liable to rot ; if they are put in 

 early in spring when the weather is cold 

 the temperature of the house should be 

 kept up by fire-heat to 50° or 55°, and they 

 should be kept moderately, but not too 

 close, as overmuch confinement will also 

 cause decay. When enough roots are 

 foimed to support the plants from flagging, 

 gradually give more aii', and stand them 



