44 
JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
THE CULTURE AND CLASSIFICATION OF 
PRIMULAS. 
By Mr. H. Selfe-Leonard, F.R.H.S. 
[Kead April 23, 1895.] 
May I be allowed to say a word in explanation and excuse of 
my appearance on the programme, and that the honour was 
unsought, indeed disclaimed by me, and was, I take it, the 
result rather of the paucity of Alpine Primula growers than 
of any other cause ? 
And may I also add, as regards the announcement of my subject, 
that it was not that of my own choosing as the title of a formal 
paper, though it certainly indicates the directions in which I 
am glad to offer a few observations, and desire to promote dis- 
cussion, in this Conference ? 
I am almost appalled to find myself, for such purpose, alone 
in the same curricle, or rather carriage, with eminent botanical 
authorities like our Chairman and Mr. Baker, and with such a 
prince among cultivators as Mr. Douglas. 
And yet, on second thoughts, I can catch at the encouraging 
certainty that, if that same carriage held the four of us, and we 
were now nearing the summit of some Alpine pass, say Stclvio or 
Albula, or Furka, and were in sight of mountain Prinmlas and 
Ranunculi, we should, I believe, be a very easy and untimid 
company, however recent our acquaintance ; and the last thing 
either Mr. Douglas or I would think about would be, whether 
we were wise enough for the company of those two encyclopi^dias 
of botanical learning we carried with us. 
And I am further consoled by the reflection (confirmed by 
perusal of the proceedings at the last Primula Conference —the 
first, I think, of its kind) that there is left something to be done 
which can, perhaps, be as well done by a mere practical and 
cultural enthusiast who has little or no botanical learning ; and 
that is, the subject of European hardy Alpine Prinuilas, con- 
sidered from a gardener's standpoint, and of their culture, 
whether under glass along with florists' Auriculas, or in the 
open garden. 
Considering the cliarm and character of ihoir beauty, the 
suitability of our climate to the great majority of the specie?? 
