P R I 



P R I 



should terminate rather above the eye, which 

 should he very white, smooth and round, with- 

 out crack?, and distinct from the ground-co- 

 lour : the ground-colour should be bold and 

 rich, and regular, whether it be in mic uniform 

 circle or » bright patches : it should be di- 

 stinct at the eye", ami only broken at the outer 

 part into the edging; a fine black, purple, or 

 bright coffee-colour contrast best with the white 

 eye : a rich blue, or bright pink is pleasing, 

 but a glowing scarlet or deep crimson would be 

 most desirable, if well edged with a bright 

 green; this, how ever, can seldom be expected : 

 the green edge is the principal cause of the va- 

 riegated appearance in this flower, and it should 

 be in proportion to the ground-colour, that is, 

 about one-half of each : the darker grounds are 

 generally covered with a white powder, which 

 seems necessary, as well as the white eye, to 

 guard the flower from the scorching heat of the 

 sun's rays." 



It is observed, that all flowers that want any 

 of the above properties are turned out into the 

 borders of the garden or rejected wholly by 

 every good florist ; for as there are varieties 

 every year from seeds, the bad ones must make 

 room for their betters : but in some the passion 

 for new flowers so much prevails, that supposing 

 the old flower to be greatly preferable to a new 

 one, the latter must take place, because it is of 

 their own raising. 



Culture. — These beautiful plants are raised 

 without much difficulty, by proper care and at- 

 tention in their management with respect to 

 the parting of the roots, and the planting them 

 out in their due season ; they succeed best in a 

 strong soil, and some of them, as the Primrose 

 kind, in a shady situation. 



Culture in t/ic Poli/ant/ui 1 ; kiruls. — These are 

 all capable of being increased by seed and the 

 parting of the roots, the former being the only 

 method for obtaining new varieties, or a large 

 supply of plants. The seed should be collected 

 from such flowers as have large upright stems, 

 and which produce many flowers upon the stalk, 

 being large, beautifully striped, open, flat, and 

 not pin-eyed, as from such seed a great variety 

 of good sorts may he expected ; care should be 

 however taken that no bad or common flowers 

 ttaiul near them, as they will be apt to debase 

 them, by the admixture of their farina. 



The seeds should be sown in boxes or large 

 pots filled with light rich mould. The proper 

 season for this business is in the autumn, or 

 the early spring; but the former is the better, 

 as bv sowing then the plants come up well the 

 same vear, and are strong and fit to plant out 

 the following spring, and are fine plants for 



flowering the second sprine*. In the first season 

 the sowing should he performed as soon as pos- 

 sible after the seed becomes well ripened, 

 though some advise December as a good time ; 

 but when in the latter, or the spring season, it 

 may he dune in February, March, or the fol- 

 lowing month. The seed should be sown over 

 the surface tolerably thick, being covered in 

 very lightly, and the boxes or pots placed where 

 they may have a little of the morning sun, hut 

 not by any means the mid-day heats. The 

 plants mav be much forwarded by the pots or 

 boxes being plunged in a mild hot-bed ; in 

 the spring, when dry, they should be frequently 

 refreshed with water, in very moderate propor- 

 tions at a time, removing the plants more into 

 the shade as the heat advances, as it soon de- 

 stroys them. The autumn-sown plants should 

 have a warm situation during tin- winter, or he 

 protected from frosts or severe weather by- 

 glasses or other means. 



In the spring or early summer the plants of 

 the different sowings will be sufficiently strong 

 to plant out, for which a bed or shady border 

 should be prq^ared, and made rich by neat's 

 dung, on which the plants should be set out 

 about four or five inches distant in every direc- 

 tion, care being taken to water them occasionally 

 till well rooted, after which they only require 

 to be kept free from weeds ; and when they 

 flower in the following spring the best flowers 

 should be marked, and the rest be removed into 

 the borders or other places for affording variety ; 

 and the valuable plants may be removed, when 

 they have finished flowering, into the borders or 

 beds where they are designed to flower and re- 

 main, in the same manner as above, watering 

 them slightly till well rooted again. The roots 

 afterwards require to be parted and removed an- 

 nually, and the earth of the borders renewed, 

 to prevent their degenerating. 



It is necessary, m order to keep up a proper 

 stock of plants, to raise new seedling plants 

 every two or three years, as the old plants 

 mostly decline in beauty after the third year. 



In the latter method, the roots should be 

 parted in the beginning of the autumn, as soon 

 as the flowering is over, and it may likewise be 

 done early in the spring; hut the former is the 

 best lime, as the plants get stronger and flower 

 better in (he spring. 



In performing the work the plants should be 

 taken up out of the ground, and each bunch 

 divided into several slips, nut too small, unle-s 

 where a great increase is wanted, being careful 

 to preserve some root te each slip ; ihey are then 

 to be planted in a fresh dug border, enrochad 

 with dung as above, setting them live or *ix 



