Were it not for the practice of forcing spring and early-flowering plants, our plant-houses, parlours, and drawing-rooms would be un-cheered by many blossoms in the dull months of December, January, and February. There are very few plants cultivated that bloom naturally, say in a greenhouse or a room, in those months, and those that - either naturally or by means of art - may be had in flower then are peculiarly valuable. Fortunately there are a good many hardy perennials, both bulbous and fibrous, which submit to forcing freely; and there are not a few - such as the early-flowering Scillas - which scarcely require the treatment implied in that term to bring them into flower a good many weeks before their natural period. A little gentle persuasion appears to be all that is needed to stir these susceptible subjects into unnaturally early activity, if they are well prepared and early established in pots beforehand. The object of this paper is to draw attention to three species of Primula that are most useful for indoor decoration in the dead of winter, but which are not often seen so used, or for any purpose of decoration whatever.

The writer believes, therefore, that their value is not well known, and that any addition to the number of plants that may be had in bloom in winter and early spring will be welcomed by all who have to cater for floral requirements during those seasons. The three species alluded to are Primula denticulata, P. erosa, and P. amcena, the two former from the Himalaya and Northern India, and the latter from the Caucasus. There are many other species of spring-flowering Primulas which may be found equally useful for winter decoration indoors, but I confine my remarks to those named, as the treatment to be described will be applicable to any others which may submit to the process of being stirred by excitement into premature growth and inflorescence. Those Primulas are very unlike anything else commonly employed for indoor decoration in winter. They are pretty, modest things, not loudly claiming attention, but quietly arresting it by their simplicity and grace and soft colouring.

My own circumstances compel me to grow them in small pots fitted to slip into vases for room decoration, 7-inch pots being the largest that are convenient for our purposes. It might be desirable in some cases to have larger plants than can be grown in pots of that size, but large plants are not so easily managed in the dull dark days of the year in the moist atmosphere of a forcing-house as those that are smaller, into the centres of which air may penetrate freely and dispel the moisture that is apt to accumulate there and destroy the umbels as they emerge from the crowns. The plants are divided into single crowns in April or early in May. If stock is not plentiful the most prominent crowns only of the stock-plants are taken off in the shape of cuttings, and treated precisely as cuttings, putting them singly in small 60-pots in sandy loam and peat, and keeping them in a close cold frame till they are rooted. A little shade must be given till they are established, after which, if they are carefully attended to with water, no shading will be necessary, but injurious.

When the roots have reached the sides of the pots, but before they become matted, the plants are shifted into 4 or 5 inch pots, using fibrous loam and peat and old well-decomposed sheep or cow dung, the latter and the peat being together equal to about one - third of the mass, and as much sharp gritty sand should be added as will render the whole open and porous when compressed in the hand. As soon as the roots begin to penetrate the new soil, the plants begin to make rapid development of leaf, especially so in the case of P. denticulata and P. amcena; P. erosa is slower and sturdier, though not less sure than the others. They should never be allowed to suffer from lack of water at the roots, but it is injurious to give it over-head at any time - an occasional syringing in the afternoon of a bright exhausting day will be found beneficial, but the practice of watering over-head with the rose, if continued, leads to the destruction of the crowns by damping at the base of the foliage. About the beginning of July, sooner or later, according to the progress the plants have made, they are shifted into their blooming-pots, using the same compost as has already been described, and well-arranged drainage; and the plants are treated afterwards as already directed, giving plenty of air at all times - in fact, removing the lights wholly except in wet showery weather, and even then tilting them as high as possible, their use being only to exclude rain.

Towards the end of August the plants are gradually stinted of water, and are brought to rest by the end of September or beginning of October. They are very apt to start their flowers in October, or even in September, if they are not stinted thus, and subjected at the same time to a retarding process in every way. If the plants have been previously plunged, they are raised out of the plunging material and placed upon boards or slates, and are exposed to all kinds of weather except that which is wet. "When the leaves begin to decay and become yellow they should be cut away, and the pots be stored in the driest and airiest position at command. The forcing is a very simple matter. As with all hardy plants - it may indeed be said all plants - forcing should be used, persuading or coaxing into activity. No creature, whether plant or animal, likes to be rudely shaken out of rest; they suffer either in temper or constitution a ruffling or shock that recoils in the shape of vexatious failures, if nothing worse, on the hand that inconsiderately administers it. Those Primulas are no exception to this rule; they are natives of high alpine regions, and are consequently easily excited into activity by a slight rise of temperature.

A greenhouse temperature of about 45° is as much as they will bear up till March, when they will endure and come more quickly forward in a few degrees higher. Bottom-heat is neither beneficial nor advisable, and the atmosphere should be as dry as possible, and the plants placed near the glass in an airy position. Syringing and watering overhead are to be avoided, else the umbels are apt to damp, and not unfrequently the foliage also, if the atmosphere is close and moist, and the moisture be allowed to remain long about the crowns. They will continue to bloom for about three weeks after coming into flower, and may be introduced into heat at corresponding intervals. When they begin to unfold their leaves and flowers they will require abundant supplies of moisture, and once or twice a-week they will be benefited by receiving a supply of liquid manure of a mild nature and clear. The flower-stalks develop much more quickly than the leaves, and the flowers are faded and gone long before the latter attain their full development.

Early-forced plants are not divided till the leaves are full-grown; later-forced ones are divided not later than the second or third week of May; and the stock-plants are encouraged to make growth after the crowns are removed, and usually produce a number of crowns, small, but useful, for dividing early in autumn for the purpose of increasing stock; or for flowering, in small pots, in their natural season, which is about April and May. Those species of Primula are never likely to be very useful out of doors, in the north at least, but they are well worth the trouble of cultivating in pots for indoor decoration in the three first months of the year. W. S.