Plate 67 . 
VARIETIES OF PRIMROSE. 
Early spring flowers are now deservedly attracting a good deal of attention, and efforts 
are being made in various directions to improve their quality, for they become thus more 
valuable for decorative purposes. Amongst those which have been thus treated, our old 
garden favourite the Primula has come in for its share of attention. Mr. Richard Dean, of 
Ealing, has been very successful ; three of the varieties figured in our plate have been raised 
by him, and we are also indebted to him for the following notes : — “ The three figured are 
seedlings from Primula vulgaris auriculcejlora, fertilized by other flowers of mauve hues, 
with a view to producing violet, purple, and scarlet flowers ; they are all true Primroses, 
and when in flower form dense tufts of blossoms. I am not only endeavouring to improve 
the colours of the Primrose, but also to augment the quality of the flowers ; and in selecting 
the seed parents, I am endeavouring to get the thrum eye as perfectly developed as possible, 
to have the pips stout and round and of a thick substance, and the colours well defined. 
I think the beauty and usefulness of the common Primrose as a decorative plant in our 
gardens during the early spring months are not appreciated as they deserve to be, and 
as I believe they will be at no distant date.” 
AVe have only to add that Violet Gem was exhibited this spring at one of the 
meetings of the Floral Committee of the Royal Horticultural Society, and was awarded a 
first-class certificate. 
Plate 68. 
POINSETTIA PULCHERRIMA ROSEA CARMINATA. 
Among the plants which have of late years come so extensively into use for winter 
decoration, not one has been found more useful than the Poinsettia. Its brilliant bracts 
of bright crimson are so vivid that it is sure to attract attention, while the ease with 
which it is now propagated, places it within the reach of all who care to use flowers in the 
decoration of their houses ; for even with those who have ample space at their disposal, it is 
now the custom to treat it as an annual, and not to keep the plants from year to year. It is 
very difficult to grow in anything like regular form, and dwarf plants about a foot or 
eighteen inches high are therefore j^referable. 
The best plan is to take cuttings and strike them early in heat ; when struck they 
should be potted off singly and kept in a hotbed or stove near the glass, using a compost of 
two parts fibrous loam, one part each of sandy peat and leaf soil, with a free admixture of 
silver sand, and affording good drainage. If dwarf plants are wanted they should be 
stopped until July, but not afterwards, and the plants from the cuttings then put in will be 
very dwarf Shift in July into the flowering pots, which for cuttings put in in the spring 
need not be more than seven inches in diameter ; they should be kept near the glass, 
moderately watered, and with plenty of air. 
The variety now figured was exhibited by Mr. W. Bull, King’s Road, Chelsea, and is 
remarkable not merely for the novelty of its colour, but also for the larger number of 
leaves in the bracts, exhibiting a tendency to duplication. 
