Part II. PRIMULA. 299 



their summer ornaments, and by that time the Primroses will 

 have begun to fade after furnishing a long and abundant bloom. 

 Then take them up, divide the offsets singly, doing this in a 

 shed or shady position if the day be sunny. Tufts of new or 

 scarce varieties, or those of which a large stock is required, may 

 be divided into the smallest offsets ; where much increase is not 

 required, the plants should simply be parted sufficiently to allow 

 of their healthy development. As soon as they are parted, they 

 should be planted in the kitchen-garden or some by-place. The 

 richer and moister the soil is the better they will grow, and if 

 the position be a half-shady one, it will be an improvement. 

 The alleys between the Asparagus-beds would do admirably for 

 them, in case room was scarce, and more convenient positions 

 could not be found. It would be desirable to shade them for a 

 few days after planting, if the weather be very bright, and 

 simply by spreading boughs or old garden mats over them ; 

 and it need hardly be added they .should be thoroughry watered 

 soon after planting. They should be planted in, line's at ten or 

 twelve inches apart each way if the plants be strong and regular 

 in their development, and, if small offsets, closer in the lines in 

 proportion to their size. By autumn they will make fine plants, 

 and may then be taken up, preserving as much of the root as 

 will come up with ordinary care, but not of necessity any soil or 

 ball, and transferring them to the beds in the flower-garden or 

 pleasure-ground. 



However, the forms of the plant most precious for the garden 

 are the beautiful old double kinds. No sweeter or prettier 

 flowers ever warmed into beauty under a northern sun than their 

 richly and delicately tinted little rosettes. Once they were 

 grown in every garden ; Jhen the day came when they, in com- 

 mon with many hardy flowers, were cast aside to make way for 

 gaudier things ; but now people are beginning to grow them 

 again, and are enquiring where they can get some old and half- 

 lost kinds they used to know long ago. The best known and 

 most distinctly marked kinds are the double lilac, double purple, 

 double sulphur, double white, double crimson, and double red. 

 These and several other closely allied forms are occasionally 

 honoured with Latin names descriptive of their shades of colour, 

 In catalogues of the present day I find the following : — Pri- 

 mula vulgaris alba plena, lilacina plena, purpurea plena, 

 rosea plena, rubra plena, sulphurea plena; but we had better 



