70 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ January 24,1884. 
received. Preliminary reports have been published from the English station 
at Port Rae on the northern shores of the Great Slave Lake, from the German 
station in Cumberland Sound, from the Austrian at Jan Mayen, and from 
some of the others ; but the principal interest attaches not to the observa¬ 
tions taken separately, but to the collation and comparison of the whole, 
which may be expected to lead the way towards problems of the greatest 
importance to meteorology. In the present day one science is so mixed up 
with a number of others, and so involved in them, that it is impossible to 
separate them, or to define the exact limits of each. Many of the problems 
of meteorology belong as much to geography, or at times even to experi¬ 
mental physics, and an address which speaks of the progress of meteorology 
ij perhaps apt to appear in some degree discursive. It is that the true 
student of Nature, whilst limiting his detailed work to one particular direc- 
t on, must consider her kingdom as a grand and comprehensive whole, one 
and indivisible. 
The following gentlemen were elected the officers and Council for the 
•ensuing year :— President: Robert Henry Scott, M.A., F.R.S., F.G.S. Vice- 
Presidents : Hon. Ralph Abercromby ; Edmund Douglas Archibald, M.A.'; 
John Knox Laughton, M.A., F.R.A.S., F.R.G.S. ; William Marcet, M.D., 
F.R.S., F.C.S. Treasurer: Henry Perigal,F.R.A.S. Trustees: Hon.Francis 
Albert Rollo Russell, M.A. ; Stephen William Silver, F.R.G.S. Secretaries: 
George James Symons, F.R.S. ; John William Tripe, M.D., M.R.C.P.Ed 
Foreign Secretary: George Mathews Whipple, B.Sc., F.R.A.S. Council: 
William Morris Beaufort, F.R.A.S , F.R.G.S.; George Chatterton, M.A. 
M.Inst.C.E.; John Sanford Dyason, F.R.G.S.; William Ellis, F.R.A S. ; 
Charles Harding ; Richard Inwards, F.R.A.S.; Baldwin Latham. M.Inst.C.E., 
F.G.S.; Robert John Lecky, F.R.A.S.; Edward Mawley, F.R.H.S.; Cuthbert 
E. Peek, M.A., F.R.G.S.; Capt. Henry Toynbee, F.R.A.S.; Charles Theodore 
Williams, M.A., M.D., F.R.C.P. 
CULTIVATION OF DOUBLE PRIMULAS. 
Few plants are so valuable a3 these when successfully grown, 
They are useful for affording tiowers, cuttings for table decora¬ 
tion, also for greenhouse and conservatory adornment, and by 
judicious treatment may be had in flower for ten months of the 
year. The best method of propagating double Primulas is in 
the first place to prepare a quantity of well-decayed leaf soil 
passed through a fine sieve; it should be mixed with sharp sand 
in the proportion of one bushel of leaf soil to a peck and a half 
of sand; after this is done pack the compost rather tightly 
round the collar of the plants so as to form a kind of pyramid 
round each. This should be done in May or June to insure 
early flowers, and for succession another batch should be done a 
month later. The plants should be placed in a close house or 
pit, water being withheld from the roots, only syringing 
moderately to keep the compost moist. In about a month from 
the time of being dressed roots will be found starting from the 
stems of the plants. It should be mentioned that before using 
the compost some of the leaves should be removed with a sharp 
knife, leaving about half a dozen to a head. Shading must also 
be employed to prevent the soil getting dry, as the less the 
plants are watered the better. 
When the roots have firm hold of the leaf soil the plants 
should be shaken out of the pots and divided with a knife, leaving 
all available new roots with each crown. Transfer the young 
plants into 60-size pots, which should be placed into a close pit 
-close to the glass, and if a little bottom heat be at command so 
much the better. For instance, an old Melon or Cucumber frame 
will answer admirably for this purpose. Shading must be again 
•attended to, gradually lessening it as the plants become estab¬ 
lished, which can be seen by turning a plant or two carefully 
out of the pot, and then they should be shaded only when the 
sun is very strong. Repot them in about half and half leaf 
soil as finely sifted as before, and very light fibry loam with 
plenty of sand and careful drainage. 
When the plants are well rooted, which will be about a 
month from the time of potting, they will require shifting to 
48-size pots, which are large enough however luxuriant the 
plants may be. The compost employed this time should be 
three-fourths turfy loam and one-fourth well-decomposed cow 
manure, the plants now being placed in a pit without any bottom 
heat. 
The second and third batches should be placed in a house 
slightly shaded if the situation requires it, and kept close for a 
few days, then gradually inure them to the light, as after 
October they will require full exposure to insure good and strong 
foliage and lloweis. The first potted batch will by this time be 
showing a number of flowers, and should be removed to alight 
•structure or placed on shelves where a small quantity is] grown. 
The temperature of the house during the winter months must be 
as near 55° by day as possible, or rising to 60° with sun heat and 
falling to 50° at night. After the pots are filled with roots a 
little soot water may be given once a week with advantage, also 
a little Clay’s Fertiliser once a month. The lower leaves when 
showing signs of decay may be cut in quite close either with a 
small knife or a pair of Grape scissors, removing a good quantity 
whether decayed or not where flower only is required, as this 
will encourage and prolong their blooming. 
After the first batch has been in flower about a month they 
will require a rest for a time. In three weeks, however, they will 
begin to flower again, but the second batch will take their place 
in the interval, so that by this means the cultivator may have a 
continuation of useful flowers till July. Shading must again be 
provided when the bright days of spring come, as the flowers 
soon becomes pinky, which deprives them of their value when 
pure white flowers are in request. Careful watering is essential 
throughout the season.—J. Pithers, Simmerhill . 
ERYNGIUMS. 
Although umbelliferous plants generally have little floral 
beauty to recommend them to the general cultivator, yet a few 
compare very favourably with many of our favourite garden 
plants in handsome foliage and general ornamental character. 
Eryngiums, or Eringos as they are. more commonly called, rank 
among the most striking of these; the blight and varied colours 
presented by their involucres, and also by their foliage, render 
them very attractive and desirable. They are said, however, by 
some not very hopeful growers to be too tender for our climate 
and to succumb during winter, a charge which may hold good 
when the season has been excessively damp; an extreme to 
which, although we are unfortunately liable, is hardly sufficient 
excuse to account for their scarcity in cultivation. The fault 
lies more, I think, in the fact that we are not so persistent 
in our efforts to succeed as we ought to be; too ready to throw 
it up as useless, after one, or at the most two, unsuccessful 
attempts to establish them. I find that in our average winter 
these plants require no protection whatever, and such as E. pan- 
danifolium, E. bromelisefolium, E. Lasseauxii, E. paniculatum, 
