We have occasionally referred to these as among the most desirable of our spring flowers, and they bear cultivation very well. There are several shades of color, and some with double flowers, mostly from plants that have been found wild. From the following from a correspondent of the Garden, it would seem as if there were to be some earnest attempts by florists at their improvement. Perhaps our own gardeners will like to share in this interesting effort:

"These are plants that will repay the trouble of raising them from seed, as thereby a great variety of color is gained, and we shall soon find multiplied the terrific names given in catalogues to these first glances of the spring. The seed does not germinate till the following spring, but it should be sown when ripe. I have now several pans full of seedlings, which will not bloom till next year, though they were sown in April, 1875; for all that I shall be well repaid, as the flowers were carefully hybridized, and the pans have required little attention after sowing the seed. Turfy loam mixed about half-and-half with cocoanut fibre is the best compost for sowing all such seed as will have to remain a long time in the pans; this compost does not become sour or consolidated."