THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, Anui 24, 1860. 03 
Russian botanist, who named and described A. Mertensiana , 
gives Sitka as its locality, many miles further north than 
A. Williamsonii grows, and speaks of it as having reuiform scales ; 
(Slrolili squamts reniformibus integris ), a striking distinction, 
besides many other points of difference.— (American Gardener's 
Monthly.) 
CULTURE OF CHINESE PRIMULA AND GLOXINIA. 
“ Ashton ” wishes to know when seeds of Primula and 
Gloxinia should be sown, and the peculiar treatment the plants 
require. 
I presume that the Chinese Primula with its various shades of 
colour, is what is referred to. In a previous volume a good deal 
of useful information will be found on the various sections of the 
hardier Primrose family, but many of which are difficult to 
manage, except by amateurs who feel a zest in the pursuit. 
Some people think it manly to decry the labours, and what they 
call the crotchets of the keen florists; but the skill and attention 
to minutirc, and the unwearied diligence bestowed on florists’ 
flowers and upon many little beautiful alpine plants now be¬ 
coming rare in collections, ought rather at all times to command 
the approbation of the lovers of the beautiful. The Chinese 
Primrose has also received frequent attention in these pages, but 
a few hints thrown together may not be unacceptable at the 
present time. 
1st. Times and modes of Sowing. —These should be regulated 
according to the period at which it is desirable to have the 
plants in bloom. To flower early in winter, say November and 
onwards, the seeds should be sown from the middle of March to 
the end of April. A hotbed will be useful for raising the seed¬ 
lings. Let a pot be well drained and filled to within an inch of 
the top, with sweet, sandy loam, and a little heath mould, if 
comeatable. Press this down not over firmly, and then water 
it well, and allow the pot to stand for at least twenty-four hours, 
until the surface is getting dryish, then sow the seeds. Cover 
slightly with fine earth of a light sandy character, press this 
covering gently, cover the pot with a square of glass, and plunge 
the pot for three parts of its height into a temperature of from 
65° to 75°, the heat of the atmosphere of the bed averaging from 
55° to 65° at night. A piece of paper may lie over the square 
of glass until the seedlings begin to appear. 
I mention these minutiae as so many safeguards against failure, 
not but that success may be obtained though they be wholly or 
partly neglected. Thus the securing of moisture in the soil of 
the seed-pot, and yet a dryish bed for the seeds to be in, provides 
them with a sufficiency of moisture for germination, without 
waterings to any extent; and the dryish surface, and the rather 
dry, slight covering pressed neatly over the seeds, prevent any 
chance of the seeds rotting from excess of moisture. 
Again : The square of glass placed over the pot prevents that 
moisture freely evaporating ; and this, again, is so far prevented 
by the shading of the paper until germination has taken place. 
In all such seed sowing, and especially when the seeds are small, 
as in the case of Gloxinias and Calceolarias, it is advisable to 
water as little as possible until the seedlings are fairly up. There 
is also a reason why the square of glass should be large enough 
to cover the whole of the rim of the pot. In all old gardens, 
insects, such as woodlice, are generally numerous enough, espe¬ 
cially about hotbeds and pits, where dung or leaves, &c., are 
used as a heating medium. Though constantly destroying vast 
numbers of these gentry, and thus keeping them down, allow 
them access by a small cranny to some very young seedlings, 
and what you saw as green specks to-day, you may never have 
the chance of beholding again. T his is one reason why seedsmen 
are blamed, when the fault lies with the gardener and the insect 
enemies he has to contend with. Even this spring I sowed some 
very small seeds in a slight heat in a pit, and being next to 
certain that the seeds were good, I was surprised that nothing 
came in a number of pots. I found the squares of glass were 
too small to cover the top of the pots entirely. A full grown 
woodlouse, or slater, as I called them in my younger days, 
might be able to press up the edge of the glass, and thus get in; 
but I have never found them do so, nor yet trying to get into a 
pot from the hole in the bottom. If the crock is placed on the 
hole with its convex side downwards, so as to cover the hole 
thoroughly, that, and the entrance of worms, too, wmuld bo 
prevented'. Plenty of drainage above that convex crock will 
prevent all stagnation of water. In cases of great nicety, a bell- 
glass should be used instead of a square of glass. For want of 
such contrivances, I have known pots of seedlings of such t hings 
as Primulas, cleared in a night by woodlice, slugs, &c. This is 
one reason why, when these squares of glass are used, I reoom* 
