INTRODUCTION. 



THE PRIMULA CONFERENCE. 



This Meeting, held on April 20th and 21st, 1886, in one of 

 the crush rooms of the Royal Albert Hall, adjoining the 

 Conservatory of the Royal Horticultural Society, was one of 

 a series of meetings designed for the purpose of collecting and 

 diffusing information on various branches of Horticultural science 

 and practice, and of interesting the Fellows and the general 

 public in the work of the Society. Previous meetings of a 

 similar character had been devoted to the Exhibition of Apples 

 from all parts of the empire (see " British Apples, Report of 

 Committee," Macmillan, 1884), to a similar display of Pears, to 

 Exhibitions of, and Conferences on, the species and varieties of 

 Narcissus. A similar Exhibition of Orchids was held in associa- 

 tion with a public meeting, whereat Papers were read and a 

 discussion held on points of scientific and practical importance 

 in connection with the cultivation of this popular class of plants. 

 (See Journal Royal Horticultural Society, Vol. vii., Part 1.) All 

 these meetings proved successful from the point of view of 

 practical Horticulture, and created considerable interest among 

 the public. With a view of doing yet further service, the 

 Council of the Society decided to avail themselves of the occasion 

 of the Annual Exhibition of the National Auricula Society to 

 hold a conjoint Exhibition, in which not only should Auriculas 

 and other 4 'Florists' Flowers" of like character be represented, 

 but also as complete a collection formed as could be got together 

 of species and varieties of the genus Primula and its near allies. 

 With this view the following programme was issued, and 

 communications were opened up with cultivators of these plants 

 at home and abroad : — 



Class L — The Auricula. 



II. — The Primrose and Polyanthus. 

 „ III. — Varieties of Primula Sieboldi. 

 IV. — Varieties of Primula sinensis. 



