THE 



VOL. v.] 



MARCH, 1882. 



[No. 3. 



THE 



The colored plate presented to our 

 readers with this number will enable 

 them to become acquainted with this 

 pretty flower, if perchance they have 

 not already become familiar with its 

 bright, cheery face. Of all the window 

 plants we cultivate, none repay so 

 profusely the care bestowed by their 

 abundant flowering all the winter long 

 as this, and we have often wondered 

 that it is not more generally grown by 

 those who are fond of winter-blooming 

 plants. Mr. Tick states in his monthly 

 magazine that the reason why the 

 Chinese Primrose has not come into 

 more general use is that it requires 

 several months to bring it to perfection 

 from the seed, and that care and atten- 

 tion are needed during this period of 

 the plant's life to keep them in a healthy 

 condition; just as though any true lover 

 of flowers was not willing to give all 

 the attention needed to the perfect 

 development of his favorite flowers. 

 Has it not been rather a want of know- 

 ledge of the requirements of this par- 

 ticular flower, than any unwillingness 

 to give the required care which has 

 prevented it from becoming a general 

 favorite. Believing this to be the true 



OHINESE PRIMROSE. 



state of the case we give our readers 

 Mr. Vick's directions for its cultivation, 

 assuring them that there is no better 

 authority on this subject on this side 

 of the Atlantic : 



" Seed should be sown any time from 

 February until the first of June, and, if 

 sown at different times, the plants will 

 come into bloom in succession. Soil for 

 the seed is best prepared by taking some 

 good leaf-mold and about twicai^as much 

 fibrous loam, made pretty fine, mix them 

 together, and add enough sharp, fine sand 

 to make the whole light and porous. A 

 five or six-inch pot may be used ; fill in 

 the bottom with coarse drainage, and then 

 the soil to a height within an inch or an 

 inch and a half of the top, and press it 

 down. Over this sprinkle a layer of fine 

 sand, and then water it througli a fine 

 rose ; after the pot has stood awhile to 

 drain, the seed may be sown on the sur- 

 face, and have the lightest possible cover- 

 ing of fine sand. Place a pane of glass 

 over the pots and stand it where it will 

 get the light, but not the sun, and wliere ^ 

 a pretty steady temperature, ranging near 

 65**, will be maintained. If the atmos- 

 phere is moist, but little water will be 

 needed until the plants appear, but if the 

 pot should become dry, water it by stand- 

 ing it in a dish of water, allowing the 

 moisture to aoak upwards into the soil,, 



