Octobee 13, 1888.] 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



409 



and retain all flowers possible at the same time, I 

 would advise transplanting a portion of the stock 

 annually, early or late in September, according to 

 the season, till a sufficient quantity was procured. 



Lilies. — For the great majority of Lilies the 

 present season will be found excellent for making 

 fresh plantings ; those of the candidum section 

 should have been planted some weeks ago, but for 

 those even of this section that have been dried for 

 importation it is not too late, though to delay 

 it will not improve matters. All those which 

 belong to the longiflorum, tigrinum, speciosum, 

 pardalinum, auratum, and such groups, could not be 



ginale, and the crimson-banded rubro-vittatum ; all 

 these are grand, and when established have no equals 

 among the many gems of which this gorgeous 

 genus is composed ; particularly tine have been the 

 spotless forms of virginale and the gaily-coloured 

 rubro-vittatum this season, while of platyphyllum it 

 may be said that we have no nobler or grander Lily 

 extant. J. 



THE GENUS PRIMULA. 



A few seasonable cultural remarks may be useful 

 at this time, when the old collection requires over- 

 hauling, and a few repotting, before the cold weather 



not very successful in cultivating these Primulas, 

 especially some of the smaller species, natives of the 

 European Alps. They do fairly well for a few yeais 

 after being imported, but gradually degenerate, ami 

 in time fail to flower, when they are not worth look- 

 ing after. 



I have tried various compounds of soil in which 

 to grow the whole of the Alpine and Himalaya 

 species of Primula, and find that loam with a little 

 leaf-mould and decayed manure is uot sufficiently 

 open ; it does very well for a time, but by-and-bve 

 the mass hardens, and the finer hair-like roots 

 perish. I add to the loam about a third part of 



Fig. 5G. — psecdophcsnix sargenti : a new palm from Florida, (see p. 408.) 



taken in hand at a better time, and among these 

 may be included Szovitzianum, chalcedonicum 

 pyrenaicum, and many more. For such as Harrisi the 

 best results are obtained when pot-culture is resorted 

 to, and the plants afforded the protection of a house 

 or warm frame or pit. Few plants, perhaps, more 

 quickly resent the use of crude manures than 

 Liliums, and they should never be used ; when 

 manure 'is used at all let it be thoroughly decom- 

 posed ; in this state the varieties of L. speciosum and 

 longiflorum are benefited by its use ; pardalinum, 

 californicum, and superbum, delight in moist sandy 

 peat — in fact, these will endure a considerable 

 amount of moisture at the root, and revel in full 

 sunlight overhead. A light very sandy loam, or 

 loam and peat in equal parts, seems to suit the 

 varieties of auratum, such as platyphyllum, vir- 



sets in. I seldom have time to do much to our 

 plants from the time the largest proportion of them 

 go out of bloom in April and May. At that time 

 the plants are placed in a partially shaded position 

 out-of-doors ; and they do not require very much at- 

 tention through the summer months. All that they 

 get is to supply them with water when it is required, 

 and to keep the pots free from weeds. Their natural 

 requirements suggest a free exposure to light and 

 air ; ours have sufficient air, as we leave the plants 

 fully exposed out-of-doors up to the beginning of 

 November, when they are placed in glass frames, and 

 they get all the light possible without exposing them 

 to the direct rays of the sun. Even now, when the 

 plants are being repotted, they are again placed in 

 the same position out-of-doors. Many persons ire 



brown fibrous peat and this is quite sufficient to keep 

 the compost open for twelve months. Broken pieces 

 of limestone rock are excellent for t'ne smaller- 

 growing European species. In some instances, the 

 small species, such as P. Allionii, P. minima, 

 P. iluretiana, &c, do well planted close to a piece of 

 rock projecting from the surface of the soil in the 

 pot or pan in which the plants are placed. A single 

 plant of any of these is too small to occupy a pot by 

 itself. A dozen plants might be put out in a 4 or 

 5-inch pot. 



I find the Auricula aphis attacks nearly the whole 

 of the Primula family; and the smaller alpine species 

 seem to be held in special favour by these trouble- 

 some parasites, which cluster thickly amongst the 

 small fibrous roots close to the surface ; and it really 



