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THE GARDENING WORLD. 
March 20, 1909. 
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8difoi?iol. 
SwA Sovuxv$ frames. 
Those who have heated greenhouses and 
the convenience for making hotbeds could 
afford to be independent of the snowstorm 
that set in at the close of February. Ama¬ 
teurs entirely dependent upon the heat of 
the sun elected, no doubt, to wait, al¬ 
though seeds of such things as Sweet 
Peas, Antirrhinums, Stocks, Dianthus, 
Phlox -Drummondi, Iceland Poppies and 
similar things would have taken no harm 
if they had been sown before the storm. 
The mere protection of a glass light keeps 
out the cold rain and snow, thereby ren¬ 
dering the above subjects safe. Most of 
them, although treated as half-hardy an¬ 
nuals, suffer more from damp than from 
the actual amount of cold in our climate. 
A frame, therefore, affords them sufficient 
protection, although no growth could 
have been made during the prevalence of 
the storm owing to the low temperature. 
Such things as Nicotiana, Zinnia, 
French and African Marigolds, Tagetes 
signata and Lobelia like a gentle heat to 
start them. This can be overcome by 
sinking a deep box in the frame and fill¬ 
ing it with fermenting manure. This may 
be covered with some light soil and the 
pots plunged in it. This mild bottom 
heat will help the germination of these 
things wonderfully. The chief danger of 
introducing manure to frames is that it 
will encourage slugs and possibly snails, 
the heat making them active if they are 
present. In an old frame this class of 
enemy is often difficult to avoid, but seed- 
lings, of which they are fond, like Zinnias 
can be protected by removing the pots 
from the plunging bed as soon as they are 
well germinated and standing them on an 
inverted pot in a saucer of water. Slugs, 
snails and wood-lice are unable to cross 
water, and the seedlings will thereby be 
saved. 
Some seedlings are very much inclined 
to damp off, especially in cold and damp 
seasons, when they are reared in cold 
frames. Stocks are very liable to this 
trouble, but when the seedlings commence 
to damp off in pots or pans they should 
be transplanted immediately into boxes 
of moderate depth in a light but rich soil. 
They should be watered to settle the soil 
about the roots, immediately after trans¬ 
planting, but no more water may be re¬ 
quired for a week, or even longer, and a 
successful grower will have to keep his 
eye upon such seedlings and withhold 
water as long as it can safely be done. 
This class of plant really requires very 
little moisture in the seedling stage, and 
if the grower bears this in mind and is 
careful with the watering the seedlings 
will come through a lot of bad weather 
unharmed in a carefully ventilated frame. 
How to Grow Chinese Primulas. 
A, Seeds sown in -pans of light sandy sell. B, Seedlings pricked off. C, Promising 
seedling. D, Potted up singly to increase double varieties. E, Cutting taken from an 
old plant. F, Old plant moulded up with moss and sand to encourage production 
of roots from the offshoots. G, Young plant severed after rooting, to be potted up 
singly. Ji, Compost. 
fiow to Gfow Chinese Pnn^ulas 
C 
The time has now arrived for making 
the first sowing of Primulas by those who 
desire to have the first lot in bloom in the 
autumn. The seeds should be sown rather 
thinly in light, sandy soil, covered slightly 
with the finer portion of the same soil 
and placed in a temperature of 6o degs., 
to hasten germination. A pane of glass 
may be placed over the seed pan, which 
will save watering and encourage a better 
germination. 
Fig. A in the accompanying drawing 
shows a seed pan when ready to be placed 
in heat. As soon as the seedlings are well 
up, the pan may be placed in a cooler 
position and the glass removed. At this 
season of the year not much shade will be 
necessary, but the pans should be near the 
glass to prevent drawing. When the seed¬ 
lings have made one rough leaf they may 
be transplanted into other pans, as shown 
at B. A sturdy little plant is shown ?t 
(Primula sinensis ) 
C, and when the seedlings have grown . 
little larger they should be potted of 
singly in thumb pots, as shown at D. B; 
this time the weather will be gettinj 
warmer, and they may be transferred inti 
cold frames facing the south, but shade< 
during the warmer part of the day. 
The subsequent treatment is to shif 
them into larger size pots'as they requir 
it—that is, before the roots get pot-bound 
The earliest flowers, that may make thei 
appearance may be removed to encourag 
strong growth, but towards autumn th 
plants of this early sowing should he fi 
to make a display in a heated greenhouse 
A few years ago the old double whit 
Primula (P. sinensis alba plena) was muc 
grown for the sake of cut flowers. As th 
flowers are perfectly double, it cannot b| 
raised from seed, but may be propagate 
in other ways. The first idea was to tak 
cuttings as shown at F, which meant 
