Plate 23. 



DOUBLE VARIETIES OF CHINESE PRIMROSE. 



We gave in our last number an illustration of some of the beautiful varieties of Chinese 

 Primroses obtained from seed by Messrs. Stuart and Co. of Nice ; we now have the pleasure 

 of adding one of their equally beautiful double varieties, and at the same time offering the 

 method of cultivation which they have so successfully pursued : — 



" The seeds are sown during the first fortnight in May, in shallow pans, and placed in 

 a greenhouse. They soon vegetate, and whilst the seedlings are quite small they are potted 

 out into 2-inch pots ; when strong enough and well rooted, they are transferred to 3^-inch 

 pots, using a light, rich mixture of loam and leaf-mould. During the hot season the plants 

 require great care in watering and shading, and occasionally a little weak liquid manure ; 

 finally, during the month of October they are repotted into 5-inch pots, and commence 

 blooming early in January, the flowers attaining great perfection and extraordinary richness 

 of colour." 



The above is very much the plan adopted by our best English cultivators, the necessity 

 for shading not being so great with us as in the brighter atmosphere of Nice ; still it is a 

 point that ought to be borne in mind by all who desire healthy plants. While all 

 figured are very beautiful, we would especially draw attention to the crimson and magenta 

 varieties, the intense deep colour of the former being especially remarkable ; and we are 

 assured by Messrs. Stuart that there is almost a certainty of such flowers being produced 

 from the seeds saved by them. 



Plate 24. 

 DRACAENA METALLICA. 



In this highly decorative class of plants we meet with many different types, both as to 

 colouring and growth ; in some we have erect, in others drooping, foliage ; in others beauti- 

 fully marked leaves, as in Dracaena Excelsa, lately figured by us ; and in others plain lustrous 

 ones, as in that which we now figure ; but all are strikingly beautiful, and are more and 

 more valued for decorative purposes. 



Dracaena Metallica, which has been exhibited by Mr. Bull, of King's Eoad, Chelsea, 

 and for which he has obtained a first-class certificate from the Eoyal Horticultural Society, 

 is of very robust habit, " and is undoubtedly the finest of all the dark-coloured Dracaenas ; the 

 leaves are as much as sixteen inches in length, of an oblong-acuminate form, and, with the 

 sheathing leaf-stalks, are of an uniform rich coppery purplish hue when young, becoming a 

 dark purplish bronze when mature. The leaves are somewhat erect and arching, and alto- 

 gether, taking into account their large size and their full and rich colouring, together with 

 the free habit of growth, Dracaena Metallica comes into the very foremost rank amongst 

 decorative and exhibition plants. It has been imported from the Samoan Islands." 



We notice that not only has Mr. Bull these very beautiful Dracaenas, but that other 

 growers of plants are introducing them, so that we may expect to see them taking the high 

 place they deserve as ornamental plants for the conservatory or house. 



