Among the many useful decorative greenhouse plants, the Chinese Primula holds a prominent place; and it is indispensable among the dwarf section of flowering plants, not only on account of the time of year at which it naturally flowers, but also for its floriferous qualities, and for the long time which it continues in bloom. It is also one of the most useful subjects for room decoration, as it stands such work better than most plants, and is a very suitable plant for the breakfast-table, or for a small dinner-table; while for conservatory decoration, nothing looks more beautiful than a wire stand filled with the scarlet and white varieties mixed, and a few pots of Lobelia to hang over the edges of the basket.

The Chinese Primula has been wonderfully improved of late years, both as regards colour, size, and substance of flower, some of the strains sold by our leading seedsmen being wonderfully fine.

The Chinese Primula has to be raised entirely from seed; the time of sowing will depend upon the time when they are wanted to bloom. For autumn and winter flowering the seed should be sown in the beginning of February; a well-drained pan should be used with some roughish soil over the crocks, two inches of the top being filled with leaf-mould sifted, some peat-soil rubbed through a fine sieve, and a good dash of silver sand added. Have the surface of the soil levelled, and then scatter the seeds thinly; shake a little of the soil over the seed through a fine sieve, and water through a very fine rose; then cover the pan with a piece of glass, and set it where there will be a temperature of about 65° kept up: an early vinery suits very well. The young plants are very impatient of too much moisture, so as soon as they are well brairded the glass must be tilted up at one side, and the pan set near the light in an airy part of the house. The young plants must be pricked off singly into thumb-pots as soon as they have made two rough leaves, using the same compost with the addition of a small modicum of loam; set them in a warm pit, and shade slightly for a few days until they get hold of the soil, when shading may be dispensed with.

As soon as the pots are moderately well filled with roots, shift into 4-inch pots, using the soil in a somewhat rougher state, and about equal parts of loam, peat, and leaf-mould, and a good quantity of silver sand, to keep all open. The plants may soon require a little support, which may be given by means of three little pieces of sticks thrust into the soil close to the neck of the plant. They ought always to be grown near the glass, however, and a free circulation of air about them will tend to make them sturdy and independent of support - though, of course, favourable opportunities for giving air must be taken advantage of. After the middle of May they may be inured to a lower temperature, and about the end of June they may be set in a cool pit, or in a cold frame set on a bed of ashes, and liberally aired through the day, but the lights kept on at night. Some of the stronger plants may be shifted into 6-inch pots, which is quite large enough to flower them in, though some shift them into 8-inch pots. Still, as good plants can be grown in the smaller pots, and they are easier managed, some of them should be retained in the smaller pots: they will bloom earlier, and may be suitable where 6-inch pots would prove too large for the purpose.

They must be carefully watered after being shifted into the larger pots, and kept somewhat close for a few days, and shaded from bright sunshine, till they take with the shift, after which they may be aired liberally.

The best batch of Primulas we ever grew, and as good as we have ever seen, was grown in a cool pit, set on a shelf against the back wall and close under the ventilation, which was the old system of sliding sashes. The plants throve amazingly in this situation, and were very sturdy as a matter of course; and the flowers, for size and depth of colour, were the admiration of all who saw them. After the pots are pretty well filled with roots, they will be benefited with an occasional dose of clear soot-water: this makes an excellent manure, and puts a nice healthy green appearance on the foliage such as few other things in the way of liquid manure can accomplish, It is also a safe manure to use, if nothing but the clear water be made use of, after having had the soot steeped for, say, four-and-twenty hours or so. The plants may remain in the cold frame or pit until about the beginning of October, when they should be removed to a warmer situation, say a warm greenhouse. The nights during the month of October get rather raw and cold for them to stand out longer with safety, as the leaves might turn yellow and drop off.

A temperature of about 50° will be amply sufficient for them now, however, and about 5° more through the month of November, and onwards during the time they are in flower.

A pinch of seed should also be sown about the beginning of June, proceeding in the same way as described above: the glass which covers the pan may be shaded slightly until the seed vegetates, when the shading should be removed and the glass tilted up. When the young seedlings are ready for potting off, let them be put into small pots; and when they have got established, they may be grown on in a close frame or pit through the summer months, and this will make them nice and hardy, and able to stand over the winter well. They will require to be shifted into larger pots some time during August, and we do not advocate a larger size of pot than 4 or 5 inches for this batch. They will bloom during the spring months, and prove very useful.

These plants will flower again during the autumn, if they are taken care of. Pick all the flower-stems off, and shift them into 6-inch pots, and grow them on in a little heat until June, when they will do in a cool pit or frame, as described above. Though the flowers are never so large as on younger plants, still they may turn in very useful. Where it is considered desirous, from having an extra good strain of plants, or other circumstances, to save one's own seed, a few of the best plants should be set apart for this purpose, - not, as is very often done, to set them aside out of the way and to partial neglect, but setting them aside for special treatment - even better treatment than when grown for flower - keeping them well watered and free from insects, and assisted to form seed by fertilising the blossoms. This can sometimes be done, and is practised by some, by pulling off a few of the flowers gently: as the flowers bring the anthers along with them, and are drawn over the stigma, a portion of the pollen may happen to come in contact with them, thus securing fertilisation.

However, we consider this a very barbarous mode of procedure, as no doubt all the parts of the flower are intended to perform their part in maturing the seed.

J. G., W.