DOUBLE PRIMROSES 
The elegant old-fashioned charm of double Primroses is a link 
between today and olden times for, by reason of forfeited reproduct- 
ive organs, propagation is by division only and all plants are pieces 
of the original found or developed so long ago. In Ireland, England 
and France doubles of every color could be had prior to the last 
decade or two, but now these old varieties have become very scarce. 
In America only four old doubles are to be had, and of these the old 

Burgundy French Double, Marie Crousse 
Cottage White (double White) and Quaker’s Bonnet (double Laven- 
der) are two of the very oldest and best. 
Doubles, more than any of the English Primroses, require unstint- 
ed moisture, a soil rich in organic plant food, and as cool a situation as 
possible to assist in bearing the enormous flower crop and recover- 
ing from it, which is the reason the English often plant them under 
gooseberry bushes. They should be divided every two or three 
years depending upon rapidity of growth, and a manure mulch kept 
around the plants the year round for coolness and food is good. A 
layer of straw over the mulch in early spring will keep the blossoms 
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