218 WOOD AND GAEDEN 



good look-out for those that I judge to be the most 

 beautiful and desirable, and mark them for seed. 

 These are also taken up, but are kept apart, the flower 

 stems reduced to one or two of the most promising, 

 and they are then .planted in a separate place — some 

 cool nursery comer. I find that the lifting and re- 

 planting in no way checks the growth or well-being of 

 the seed-pods. 



I remember some years ago a warm discussion in 

 the gardening papers about the right time to sow the 

 seed. Some gardeners of high standing were strongly 

 for sowing it as soon as ripe, while others equally 

 trustworthy advised holding it over till March. I have 

 tried both ways, and have satisfied myself that it is 

 a matter for experiment and decision in individual 

 gardens. As nearly as I can make out, it is well in 

 heavy soils to sow when ripe, and in light ones to wait 

 till March. In some heavy soils Primroses stand well 

 for two years without division ; whereas in Ught ones, 

 such as mine, they take up the food withiu reach in 

 a much shorter time, so that by the second year the 

 plant has become a crowded mass of weak crowns that 

 only throw up poor flowers, and are by then so much 

 exhausted that they are not worth dividing afterwards. 

 In my own case, having tried both ways, I find the 

 March sown ones much the best. 



The seed is sown in boxes in cold frames, and 

 pricked out again into boxes when large enough to 

 handle. The seedlings are planted out in June, when 



