192 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



so well used, it is difficult to account for the general neglect of the 

 fine old double Primroses. They should be in every garden, except 

 those on light soils, for in these they do not flourish. In any soil of a 

 loamy nature the double lilac, white, and pale yellow, will grow freely 

 and are among the best of spring flowers. The crimson and some 

 other shades are a little more exacting but are well worth trying. The 

 equal neglect of the old florists' polyanthus is more easy to understand, 

 for, though it has much charm, it is rather a thing to look at in the 

 hand than of value as a conspicuous plant for the garden ; still, without 

 considering the show points of special marking and lacing of edges, 

 a free-growing strain of these might well be among our early flowers, 

 and, planted rather closely and fully set with bloom, would have an 

 effect of richness that would be of marked value among the flowers of 

 spring. 



Following the true Primrose in time of blooming are the large 

 bunch Primroses, and of these, though there are also fine things 

 among the pink and red colourings, the best for garden effect are the 

 whites and yellows. Carefully grown strains, the result of nearly a 

 lifetime of watchful selection, have produced beautiful flowers of large 

 size and handsome habit. Stalks a foot long and individual blooms 

 two inches across are by no means uncommon, and yet there is nothing 

 of coarse appearance about the flower. Among the whites and yellows 

 alone there is an extraordinary variety of detail, which, while it is 

 not apparent in the mass, makes the plants extremely interesting as 

 individuals ; hardly any two that may be seen near together have 

 the same physiognomy. The disparity is mainly in the form and 

 disposition of the petals, for some are smooth-edged and others largely 

 or finely notched ; some stand clear while others are imbricated ; some 

 are flat and others waved. The old florists' distinction of pin-eye 

 and thrum-eye also alters the character of the flower, for though it is 

 not noticeable or of any importance when the plants are seen in the 

 mass, yet, when the individual bloom is observed, the single flower and 

 the whole truss gain by the thrum-eye, where the anthers rise above 

 the pistil and form a symmetrical centre, and especially when this is 

 further enhanced by a raised, fretted ridge at the edge of the tube, 

 forming a kind of crown and giving the flower what is called a rose- 

 eye. In the pin-eye the pistil rises above the anthers and shows alone, 

 and the more ornamental detail is wanting. 



In a woody garden where some thousands of these bunch Primroses 

 are grown the effect is extremely striking. The yellows have developed 

 to a tint of the deepest orange, which gives great richness to the mass 

 of full yellow colouring and additional value by contrast to the tenderer 

 tones of pale yellow and white that are seen in the more distant 

 stretches of the garden. 



At the time of fullest bloom the best are marked for seed, and every 

 year some thousands of seedlings are raised ; one portion of the garden 

 being given to the divided plants and another to the seedlings. In the 

 case of a good loamy soil the seed may be sown at once, but in lighter 



