14 = 4 , 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[April, 
It may seem untimely to bring -window 
plants to notice at this season, but the chief 
cause of ill-success with house plants is in not 
beginning far enough ahead. Most people do 
not think of house plants until frost comes, 
while we ought to be preparing them all summer. 
We can not have 
plants bloom satis¬ 
factorily in the 
house unless they 
have had proper 
treatment before¬ 
hand. 
Strawberries in 
Missouri. 
double Chinese piujiijose.— (Primula Sinensis— var. Grandiflora rubra.) 
A correspondent 
in Audrain Co., 
Mo., writes: “I 
planted in my gar¬ 
den the Mexican 
Ever-bearing 
Strawberry, the 
Agriculturist, the 
Jucunda, and a 
seedling I had 
raised from Long- 
worth’s Prolific; 
they all grew well. 
The Mexican Ever- 
bearing bloomed 
and bore fruit until 
the ground was 
covered with snow, 
but the berries were 
small and taste¬ 
less, and I could 
get about two a 
week. I suppose if 
I had planted an 
acre, I could never 
have gathered a 
saucerful at a time, 
so I cut up the 
vines and threw 
them over the 
fence. My seed¬ 
ling was a strong, 
thrifty plant, and 
the fruit was fine, 
but it was not 
abundant, so it fol¬ 
lowed the Mexican 
humbug over the 
fence. The Agri¬ 
culturist and the 
Jucunda are all 
the varieties that 
I want. These far 
surpass all others 
that I have raised 
or tasted, and they 
are not few. The Agriculturist is a re¬ 
markably hardy and thrifty plant, and it 
yields abundantly; it is sweet and of good 
flavor, and of large size. The Jucunda is more 
tender, and does not stand the long dry sum¬ 
mers nor the cold of winter so well as the Agri¬ 
culturist. I measured some berries of the Jn- 
cunda, which were from five to six inches in 
circumference, and they had had no extra cul¬ 
tivation. We did not require a third as much 
sugar for the Jucunda and Agriculturist as for 
the Wilson’s Albany. I would not cultivate the 
Wilson’s Albany for my own use, it is too sour.” 
Our correspondent’s experience with the “Mex¬ 
ican Everbearing” is similar to our own. 
Chinese Primroses. 
There is no plant that will give more satis¬ 
faction in window culture than the Chinese 
Primrose in its different varieties. If we go to 
the florists in December, and purchase plants 
with the buds 
ready formed and 
just about to open, 
the chances are 
that we shall not 
get a flower. The 
change from the 
atmosphere of the 
greenhouse to that 
of our living rooms 
is too great, and the 
buds will blast. 
If we procure the 
plants in Septem¬ 
ber or October, 
and let their 
change from open 
air to our closed 
dwellings be grad¬ 
ual, they will suc¬ 
ceed finely. There 
are now many va¬ 
rieties of the Chi- 
11 e s e Primrose, 
double and single, 
and of colors vary¬ 
ing from pure 
white to deep crim¬ 
son. Besides, there 
is a great difference 
in the foliage, and 
the flowers of 
some are beauti¬ 
fully crimped or 
fringed. The 
Double White va¬ 
riety is now quite 
common, and is 
one of the most 
prized plants by 
those who grow 
flowers for the 
bouquet - makers. 
The double sorts 
bloom less freely 
than the single 
ones in house cul¬ 
ture, but if the at¬ 
mosphere of the 
room is not “kill¬ 
ing dry,” they will 
give very satisfac¬ 
tory returns. The 
double colored 
sorts were a few 
years ago more 
rare than the white 
ones, but of late several very fine varieties 
have appeared. We have seen nothing finer 
in the way of Primroses than one sent us by 
John Saul, the well-known florist of Washing¬ 
ton, D. C. We present an engraving of a small 
plant of this, the Grandiflora rubra. Of course, 
an uncolored engraving can only give form, and 
we are obliged to leave its rich crimson to the im¬ 
agination. These choice varieties can only be 
perpetuated by cuttings. The plants, after 
flowering, throw up offsets from the base,which 
are removed and treated like other cuttings. If 
one wishes fine double Primroses, lie must ob¬ 
tain them from the florists. Still, the single 
ones are very fine, and can be readily raised 
from the seed, provided that be fresh; and if 
the seed be of a “ good strain,” as the florists 
say, there is a chance of obtaining some very 
handsome varieties. The seeds should be sown 
in June or July in a box or pan of very light 
soil, in a shady place. When the plants are 
large enough to handle, they may be trans¬ 
planted to another box, and when still larger, 
put in the pots in which they are to bloom. 
The roots are very fine, and the soil should be 
rich, open, and light. A mixture of peaty soil, 
cow-dung, and sand suits them best. Seedling 
plants will bloom the next winter. They 
should at the approach of cold weather be 
taken in-doors, placed in a room without fire, 
and given air every mild day. By gradually 
inuring them to house culture they will go on 
and bloom abundantly. Plants that have 
bloomed in-doors should be set out in a shady 
place for the summer, and kept properly wa¬ 
tered ; if they show flower-buds, pinch them off. 
