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326 JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. [ April 19, 1883. 
doubt that this is the correct explanation of the cause of failure 
where they have been tried. I have two large Horse Chestnuts, 
but not on a lawn ; they are in a border, and the scythe of course 
never goes under them. Snowdrops in large quantities, Daffodils 
and Tulips also grow under them, and have done so for many 
years ; the Tulips, though covered by them, may perhaps be 
scarcely considered directly under them, at least not under the 
branches, and I need not say they are not florist flowers. In some 
of the parks in Wiltshire I have seen the grass under the forest 
trees—Beech for instance—quite carpeted with the wild blue 
Hyacinth or Bluebell, and a lovely sight it is. I fancy, too, I 
have seen the cultivated Hyacinth also, but at any rate my belief 
is they would succeed. Some of the woods, too, in Wiltshire are 
also carpeted with the wild Hyacinth for acres together. Is it, 
perhaps, any explanation of the fact that bulbs may do well under 
trees where many things decline to grow, that the bulbs come into 
bloom before the trees come out into leaf, and so are not con¬ 
tinually shaded from the sun as any growth of the later months 
is?—Y. B. A. Z. 
TREES AND SHRUBS NOT INJURED BY RABBITS. 
It is extremely difficult to name trees and shrubs that rabbits 
will not eat; in fact I find they will nibble at everything, espe¬ 
cially if newly planted, and they have a partiality for trees or 
shrubs from fresh ground, even if they have access to any quantity 
of the same kind growing on the spot, and prefer in all cases 
the foliage or wood of youDg to old plants. It is interesting and 
instructive to observe the inquisitiveness of the rabbit in the 
case of importations of fresh trees or shrubs to their haunts. I 
never planted a tree or a shrub but they have skipped across to 
it after all was quiet. They would sniff at the fresh soil and 
cleanse their nails in it, then at the tree or shrub and try its 
quality ; but the following trees and shrubs have survived where 
ground game abounds. 
The most valuable of all evergreens is the Rhododendron, 
especially R. ponticum, which being in many instances semi- 
prostrate in habit forms excellent cover, doing well in shady 
situations. Rabbits are very fond of burrowing under the bushes, 
more so than under any other, which may be accounted for from 
the ground being dry. Pheasants as a rule nest in isolated 
specimens in preference to those in the mass. The Rhododendron 
will grow in any loamy soil, doing well in all except those of the 
limestone formation. Andromedas and Kalmias are not eaten 
by rabbits, while Azalea pontica and Box, which does well in 
shade and light or gravelly soil, are not eaten. Elders also 
thrive, and Euonymus europteus. Yews though somewhat cut, 
and Portugal Laurels injured in severe winters by the rabbits, 
recover, and make handsome evergreens. Sloe or Blackthorn 
is not much cared about, and the Bird Cherry (Cerasus padus) 
is not eaten. Birch is not touched, and Alder not seriously. 
Beech, though in some request, generally makes headway, and 
so does the Mountain Ash or Rowan. Bitter Willows are exempt 
from their ravages. The only Conifer that grows without serious 
disfigurement is the Corsican Pine, and this with Rhododendrons 
forms handsome plantations. 
There is often great difficulty in forming plantations and 
shrubberies where ground game is plentiful, from their being 
little provided for the use of the animals in severe weather, or 
when their ordinary supply of food is cut off by snow. The 
damage done may often be much mitigated by planting as nurses 
thickly the kinds of tree or shrub the rabbits are most partial to, 
such as the Broom and Ash. They are also very fond of Whin 
or Gorse. In making plantations where there is much ground 
game the plants should in the first instance be strong, and their 
stems for at least a yard high ought to be made proof against 
the ravages of rabbits, by coating them with some pigment, 
nothing being better than fish oil with a fourth of coal-tar added. 
The oil is the crude material, to be had at most fishing towns of 
note.—G. Abbey. 
DOUBLE VARIETIES OF PRIMULA SINENSIS. 
These flowers are too well-known and justly appreciated to 
necessitate any eulogistic remarks from any pen. Sufficient 
evidence of this is easily acquired by a knowledge of the demand 
not only for the plants but for flowers in a cut state in the 
market. On this account they are very largely grown by skilled 
market growers, especially the old Double White, named alba plena, 
and it is surprising to notice their great superiority to the majority 
of the plants so frequently seen in private gardens. The great 
difference of effect, like everything else, is regulated by the 
causative operations at work in the production of such dissimilar 
results, and leads us to ascertain the best methods adopted in 
their successful cultivation. 
Raising double-flowered Primulas from seed is anything but a 
profitable occupation for the many. A few experts may fairly 
succeed, and give to the world, as the result of their patient 
labours, truly good and novel varieties; but as a rule all good 
florists’ flowers are the reward only of much patient and intelli¬ 
gent work, such as cannot ordinarily be effected. Neither are 
cuttings of Primulas so freely produced as is the case with many 
softwooded plants, otherwise we should more frequently find 
them in smaller collections. There are two fairly successful 
methods of increasing these plants—-viz., by earthing-up the side 
shoots, and by cuttings. Presuming that we have old plants to 
deal with at the present, which is the best possible time to handle 
them, it will be necessary, if the plants have been subjected to a 
temperature higher than 65°, to harden them off in a lower tem¬ 
perature for a few days, when the shoots should be cleansed from 
all the old persistent footstalks, of which there are usually an 
abundance. I have found Grape scissors very convenient for the 
purpose, after which the pots should be filled with soil up to the 
active crowns of the plants, and if an incision is made in each 
shoot it will facilitate root-action. The soil employed for layer¬ 
ing—good fibrous yellow loam, leaf soil, and coarse silver sand in 
equal parts—should be well watered round the shoots. The plants 
should then be placed in a close pit or house with a moist tem¬ 
perature of from 65° to 70°, and be kept shaded and moist. They 
will be well rooted in about three or four weeks after being 
treated, and may be severed from the parent plant and potted 
singly in small pots, using the same compost, placing them again 
in the same temperature until they are well established, when 
they may be gradually hardened off. It is very beneficial to 
keep the small plants as near the glass as possible, and well 
shaded. By this means with care there is no reason why every 
shoot should not be quickly converted into a well-established 
plant. 
They may also be increased by cuttings, and this is a very con¬ 
venient method when there is a constant demand for young 
plants. They can be taken from the plants with a good chance 
of success any time between March and August. In all cases the 
cuttings should be well hardened before being removed from the 
parent plants, and with a portion of the mature wood attached. 
Each cutting should be carefully cleaned, and inserted singly in 
well-drained small pots filled with soil like that described for the 
layering process, with a copious supply of coarse silver sand upon 
the. surface, and for this as well as most other purposes the coarse 
Bedford sand is preferable. The pots should then be plunged in 
the propagating case with a bottom heat of from 65° to 70°, a 
higher temperature being, judging from my experience, not 
desirable. The cuttings should be well watered, after which they 
will require but little or no more water until they are rooted. If 
so it should be given carefully, allowing as little as possible to rest 
upon the foliage. They will usually root in a fortnight or three 
weeks. They must be kept well shaded during sunshine. It is 
not absolutely necessary to have a hotbed to plunge the pofs in, 
as the cuttings will root freely enough under a handlight in the 
same temperature. After being well rooted they may be removed 
and gradually hardened off, and kept in the small pots until the 
latter are well filled with roots. 
Supposing this stage is reached by the middle or end of June, 
they should then be shifted into larger pots, say 54 or 48 sizes, 
using as compost for potting fibrous loam, leaf soil, and sand ; if 
the 48-sized pots are to be the flowering size, the mixture will be 
more useful to the plant if an equal part of well-decayed cow 
manure is added. They may then be grown in a cool house near 
the glass, with a cool base for the pots to rest upon. The necessity 
of perfect drainage cannot be too strictly enforced, no small 
amount of success depending upon this receiving proper attention ; 
or they may be placed in a cold pit or frame facing north, or in a 
shaded position, when they should be kept close for a time, only 
giving air during mid-day. The time of placing them in the cold 
frame must, of course, be regulated by the weather. If cold and 
dull, they are best kept in the house rather later, or until favour¬ 
able weather sets in. If the pit is very deep the pots should be 
arranged upon other inverted pots ; and in places where only a 
small number is grown this will be the wisest course to adopt, as 
it insures a more copious supply of air amongst the plants, and 
allows of perfect drainage. Yentilation should be effected by 
tilting the lights from below rather than sliding them down. 
During the month of August and early in September, if the 
nights are warm and moist, it will greatly benefit the plants if 
the lights are entirely removed, replacing them again early the 
following morning, as the dew which usually prevails during the 
night appears to suit them, and during these months I find they 
