Raising house-plants from seed is a most fascinating work, and it is also the most economical way of obtaining a number of choice plants, as a packet of seeds may be purchased for the price of a single plant. A package of Geranium seed may give a dozen plants, while a packet of Gloxinias or Cinerarias may give a hundred or more—the fine seed germinating more freely than the large.

Mixed seeds also give a variety, no two plants being identical in bloom, and, what is most important, seedlings always bloom—while plants from cuttings are often stubborn in this respect and sometimes refuse to bloom at all, owing probably to the check received at propagation. A cutting taken from a vigorous plant, rooting quickly, and continuing to grow, is quite certain to bloom—while the reverse is the case with one slow to root and slow to start into growth after rooting. The seedling, meeting with no check, blossoms in the natural course, and it has the advantage of growing from the start in the same atmospheric conditions, and does not suffer the violent change from the moist, warm air of the greenhouse into the dryer, more uneven temperature of the living-room.

By sowing seed one obtains a number of plants with the same season of bloom, making a finer appearance than mixed plants blooming at different times. A half dozen Cinerarias or Calceolarias in full bloom is a sight to gladden the heart of the gardener.

In giving the following cultural details I have selected those seeds which are always carried in stock and may be depended upon to give good results in the hands of the amateur. Unless some one particular colour or marking is desired it is better to purchase the mixed seed—selecting always the finest, or “extra choice mixed,” which will also be the highest priced. Never buy cheap seed for house-plants. Exception may, perhaps, be made in the case of Primroses, which are more inclined to come true, and it is, for this reason, better to purchase any particular colours one may wish in separate packets. Some seedsmen now put up expensive seeds in whole and half-sized packets, and the half packets will usually give all the plants needed of one kind. The mystery of tint and colour, only to be revealed at blossom time, is one of the greatest charms of growing mixed seedlings.

The Abutilons, or Flowering Maples, if set going any time before April will flower the same season. Start in the house in flats, and when large enough to handle transplant into tiny pots in a hotbed or sunny window and grow on until time to plant in the open ground, shifting as required. They may also be started in the hotbed, or in a protected bed in the open ground when the trees are in bloom. Set from one to two feet apart, according as a close hedge or fine specimen plants are required. The new California Abutilons present a great diversity of form and colour—there are beautiful drooping bells, gay little parachutes, flowers crinkled like crape or shining like satin, some so full as to appear double. They should be cultivated frequently if grown in the open ground and potted before the nights become cold, as a chill is often as harmful as frost, and plants so exposed are likely to lose their foliage. Plants intended for winter blooming should be lifted while the days and nights are still warm.

Asparagus plumosus nanus and A. Sprengeri (emerald feather) may be started any time in the late winter or early spring. The seeds are large and should be planted in rows an inch apart each way, pressing them into the soil a quarter of an inch and covering them over. They germinate in about twenty-one days, and require no especial care other than to be kept moist and fairly warm. When an inch high transplant to thumb-pots, using the fine compost. Shift as often as necessary; all Asparagus—especially the Sprengeri—are greatly benefited by frequent repotting. Spray frequently, keep moist always, and give liquid manure once a week while growing.

A. Sprengeri grows rapidly and is the most easily managed of all varieties. It needs, however, abundant root room, and where that is restricted must be given some kind of plant-food. It is the plant most used for hanging-baskets. A basket of three two-year-old seedlings is a thing of beauty, throwing off wonderful fronds—even in the dry air of a sitting-room heated with a coal-stove. They should be given a chance to rest during the summer by setting in a cool, shady place, watering sparingly. When the plant shows signs of renewed growth repot, giving a larger pot if necessary, or, if two or three plants have been growing in one basket they may be separated and given more room. An elongated tuber is formed on the roots, which stores nourishment—like the nodules on the Clematis and Clover roots. It is useless for propagating purposes, and should not be disturbed. A basket or a pot on a bracket or pedestal is the only way in which to grow A. Sprengeri successfully, while A. plumosus nanus succeeds best in deep pots, as it sends its roots far down, often pushing its crown well above the soil in this way. A. plumosus sends out fronds several feet long, and is best adapted for growing on strings. A deep pot on a north or east window-sill suits it well, provided it is not too cool, and fine spool-wire makes a neat support and is almost invisible.

The seeds of Rex and other Begonias are so fine as to look like dust. They should be sown on the surface of the soil, in flats in the house, in February or March, and an even temperature maintained. They germinate in eight or ten days, and the greatest care is required to keep the tender seedlings from damping off or drying out. The tiny plants appear first as a vague green bloom on the face of the soil, and a magnifying glass is necessary to show that each infinitesimal green point is possessed of a pair of leaves. From this time on it is a delight to watch the development of character in the leaf—quite tiny plants showing different markings. I have never raised two Rex Begonias exactly alike. When the little plants are large enough to handle prick them out into other flats, setting them an inch apart each way. When an inch high put into two-inch pots of leaf-mould, and plunge the pots in a pan of wet sand in a cool, north window where bulbs are growing, if possible, as the constant evaporation from these keeps the air moist. This is an important consideration in the culture of Begonias, and in winter water should be kept on stove, radiator or register to supply moisture. Among the fine bedding, fibrous-rooted Begonias the new Vulcan, a fiery scarlet; Vernon, a deep red; Erfordii, a soft pink, and the dwarf Bijou are the best. By starting these during January and February in flats in the house they may be bedded out in early summer. If planted in the house in January, transplanted to flats, and thence to the hotbed when it is emptied after the 20th of May, and partly shaded, they will be fine, robust plants by August, and may be used to replace the Pansies when it is not desired to carry these through the summer. If one has a sufficient number of pots, pot and plunge in the hotbed and they will not be set back by transplanting, but they must be plunged to the rim. They should be shifted when necessary, duly mulched, and not allowed to dry out.

Nothing finer than the tuberous Begonias can be desired either for bedding or for pot culture. The single are perhaps showier for bedding, but the double are handsomer for pot culture. They do admirably bedded out in a shady corner, or in pots in the sandbox. Peat, or a compost of two parts loam, two parts leaf-mould, and one part each of sand and old, well-rotted manure suits all varieties of Begonias. In setting out the tuberous Begonia it is well to mulch the bed with lawn clippings. Water thoroughly once a day, and, if very dry, or at all exposed to the sun, twice a day. So really wonderful are their blossoms, and so long and freely do they bloom, that they well repay a little extra care and protection. When frosty nights come the tuberous Begonias must be lifted, potted and kept indoors until they have completed their season of growth. Then water should be gradually cut off and the pots stored away in a dark, warm closet until spring, or if there are too many Begonias to pot they may be ripened off at once by putting on a tray of damp earth with the roots covered, and allowing them to dry gradually. When dry the tubers may be removed, wrapped separately in tissue-paper and stored in a dry, fairly warm place—a shelf in a closet or a drawer.

Probably no greenhouse flower is as little known or repays acquaintance as royally as the Calceolaria. Of infinite variety, its showy purse-shaped flowers range from a rare pure white through all the shades of pale lemon, orange, and scarlet to a deep, rich, velvety cardinal. It is one of the most easily cultivated of house-plants. The seed is fine like the Begonia, is handled in the same way, and germinates in eight or ten days. Shift as often as the pot fills with roots, using a size larger each time and disturbing the roots as little as possible. Rather more loam than leaf-mould is used in potting them. Keep in an east window in winter, where there is good morning sunlight and a temperature of at least 60 degrees. The air should be kept moist, either from blossoming bulbs or dishes of water on the stove. In a dry atmosphere it is liable to attacks of red spider, which greatly mar the foliage. The remedy or preventive measure is fresh air and moisture. Keep the soil moist but not wet. When the flower-buds appear slightly increase the supply of water and give a little manure once a week. The large felty leaves grow so thick and close that when the buds appear, to prevent injury from lack of light it may be necessary to remove a few leaves. If kept growing vigorously and shifted frequently, plants should be in five-inch pots by February and coming into bloom. When in full bloom it is well to remove to a cool room, where the blossoms will last for weeks. Cuttings may be taken when they are through blooming, but I think it best to begin afresh each year with seed.

Cinerarias make fine, large plants, as broad as they are high, their rich, velvety leaves showing on the under side wonderful colourings of green and lavender, purple and plum. The large heads of single daisy-like flowers show many shades of white, lavender, crimson, purple, and maroon. Most of the varieties have a dark eye and are sharply margined with some contrasting color. The seed is fine and is simply pressed into the soil. It germinates in from five to seven days, and requires little heat. As the plants are rather difficult to carry through the hot weather it is better to defer sowing until August. Their growth is rapid if given a cool, moist atmosphere, but a draught is most injurious and care must be taken never to over-water them. They like a moist, but never wet, soil, frequently stirred when there is any sign of damping off. They may be carried through an unusually hot spell in a cool north or east cellar window, always avoiding draughts. In winter an east window suits them best, with abundant room to develop their leaves. They are an exceedingly ornamental plant even without the flowers. The shady side of the sand-box is the best place for them in summer. They need frequent shifting, and by winter should be in five-inch pots. After the buds appear give liquid manure once a week. The utmost care must be taken to guard against aphides or green plant-lice, which are absolutely fatal if allowed to gain any foothold. The prevention is plenty of fresh air and tobacco-dust sprinkled on the leaves, which mars their beauty. The remedy—dipping in water heated to about 135 degrees, or brushing off the lice and killing them.

Carnations are the most easily grown of all desirable house-plants. If planted in drills in the hotbed in April, or in the open ground when the trees are in leaf, they will bloom in about four months. For outdoor blooming the Marguerite Carnations are usually selected, and the Giant of California is a new and choice variety of this popular strain. The seed is sown an eighth of an inch deep, the plants appearing in from five to seven days. When large enough to handle transplant into fresh rows in hotbed or flats, setting them an inch or two apart each way. When they are two or three inches high prick off into pots filled with three parts good loam and one of leaf-mould and plunge back into the hotbed. When the weather is warm enough set them in well-prepared beds of loam, enriched with a liberal quantity of well-rotted manure, planting them a foot apart each way. Cultivate frequently during summer to keep them free from weeds. A little soot and ashes added to the soil between the rows will heighten the colour of flowers and foliage and add stiffness to the flower-stems. The ashes will also counteract the tendency to burst the calyx, so troublesome in the Carnation. Plants intended for winter blooming should have all the buds removed during the summer, up to the first of September.

Only a few flowers will be obtained in the open ground the first year, but if the plants are protected during the winter they will bloom freely the second season. While blooming no seed should be allowed to form, and if size and quality are desired more than profusion of bloom, all but the terminal buds on each stalk should be removed. This is the method employed by florists to produce their long-stemmed beauties. Dig in the second summer a little old manure between the rows and sprinkle ashes there. A mulch of two or three inches of lawn clippings between the plants will hold the moisture so that cultivation will not be necessary. Fresh Carnation seed should be sown each spring, that there may always be blossoming plants and the bed made perpetual. Carnations will not stand the second winter, hence the need of young plants to renew the bed.

If it is desired to perpetuate any variety cuttings may be taken, or the plants may be increased by layering. Branches from each plant may be pegged down between the rows, equal distances apart, severed from the old plants when sufficiently established, and allowed to remain when the old plants are removed in the fall or following spring. The bed will, in this way, perpetuate itself; but cuttings from the same plants deteriorate in two or three years, and fresh seed should be sown every two years at least.

In growing winter Carnations for the house shift them as often as the growth of the plant requires, using three parts loam, one part leaf-mould, and one part each of sharp sand and old manure. When ready to bloom they should be in five-or six-inch pots. They require an atmosphere cooler than that of the ordinary living-room. A south window away from direct fire, where the temperature stands at 50 or 55 degrees, is best. Water thoroughly, but allow the soil to nearly dry out before watering again. If possible sprinkle the foliage every day and watch carefully for green fly and red spider; though there is less danger of their appearance in a cool room than in the hot, dry air of the living-room. When the flower-stalks appear they will need support, which may be supplied by placing three or four sticks or cat-tails at the side of the pot and twisting strings around them, back and forth, forming a frame around the plant. There is an excellent Carnation frame on the market, costing a few cents, which is similar but much neater. Stakes thrust into the ground near the crown of a plant are apt to injure it, and must be used carefully if at all; the finer the point on the stake the less damage done. Should green lice or flies appear syringe the plants with tobacco tea, or fumigate with tobacco, leaving them in the smoke long enough to insure success. Or the plant may be dipped in hot water at about 130 degrees; this will kill all insects or eggs.

Cyperus, or Umbrella-plant, may be easily raised from cuttings, but it is sometimes desirable to have a number of plants for aquatic gardening, and growing from seed is an economy. The seeds should be sown in flats and kept warm; they germinate in about ten days, coming up very freely. As many as three hundred plants have been secured from one packet. Prick the seedlings out into larger flats as soon as they are big enough to handle, and when two or three inches high pot them off into two-or three-inch pots of muck, plunging into wet sand and keeping constantly moist. Shift them as the pots fill with roots, and by the time the plants are in four-inch pots the water should be kept standing in the saucer all the time. When they attain proper size they should be grown in a jardiniÈre or other vessel holding water, or else the pot in which they grow should be plunged in water. The Cyperus, being a semi-aquatic plant, cannot have too much water; the lack is quickly shown by the leaf-tips turning brown. Two plants kept fairly wet in pots, but plainly suffering, so were plunged into a lily-tank; in a few days the roots had pressed to the surface in search of water, and hung, a perfect fringe, over the edge of the pots. The effect on the tops was as pronounced—the crown quickly sending up lush green umbrellas in striking contrast to the discolouration of the original plants. There are two varieties of the Umbrella-plant—a dwarf, growing not more than eighteen inches high, and a tall variety growing three or four feet; the former is prettier for table decorations, while the latter is more effective for pedestals in halls and drawing-rooms. Remove all weak or spindly umbrellas and all discoloured ones; it is also well to remove the flowers, as seeding injures the plant.

Cyclamen may be started in flats or in a cool hotbed from January to March, pressing the seed into the soil about twice their depth. They must be kept moist, not wet, all the time. They do not require as much heat as the Calceolaria, but the temperature must be kept as even as possible. The seed germinates in from two to four weeks, according to its vitality. It is best to start them in large flats and let them grow on undisturbed. About the last of May remove them to a cold-frame on the east side of the house, disturbing the roots as little as possible, and setting the plants about eight inches apart each way. Keep the soil moist and mellow by frequent cultivation, or by mulching it with sphagnum moss or lawn clippings. When the plants have attained some size give weak liquid manure once a week, pouring it in a shallow trench between the rows, that it may not touch the bulbs or foliage. Treated in this way they should be ready to bloom by winter; if grown in pots they will not bloom until the second season. When cold weather comes lift the plants and put in four-or five-inch pots, according to size, using good garden loam and one-fourth the quantity of old, well-rotted manure. They should be grown in a cool east room and syringed daily.

In the spring after blooming withhold water gradually, giving no more than will keep the roots from drying out, and set them in a cool, shady place during the summer—the rear of the sand-box is best, where other growths will protect them from the sun. In continuous wet weather they should be turned on their sides or otherwise protected from extreme moisture. When they show an inclination to grow again, if they are in large enough pots, remove as much of the top-soil as possible without disturbing the roots, and replace it with fresh, rich earth and old manure. If the plants are crowded with roots remove them into pots one or two sizes larger. Give them a good watering and set in a somewhat lighter and warmer position. Cyclamen bulbs, like the Amaryllis, should not be allowed to dry out entirely, as this destroys the roots, and when the top growth starts in advance of the root growth, as is usual, the plant will die from insufficient nourishment. Florists frequently send out dry bulbs with flower-buds half an inch long and no sign of roots; such bulbs rarely amount to anything. When obliged to start a dry bulb, it is better to sink it half way in the soil and cover with sphagnum moss. Set it in a dry, cool place, and examine it from time to time that it may not be kept back longer than necessary. The starting of leaves is a fair indication of root growth, as the premature growth is usually of buds.

Geraniums are as easily raised as Carnations—indeed, it seems only necessary to put them in the ground and await results. In the spring sow the seed in drills in hotbeds or flats, covering with an eighth of an inch of soil. The plants should appear in from ten to fifteen days, and if they do not stand too closely may be allowed to grow on until they have two or three leaves. If mixed seeds are sown of the fancy-leaved, the scented, the zonale and the Lady Washington, the development of the several kinds will afford a fascinating study.

Care should be taken to save the more delicate-looking seedlings, as these will give the choicest varieties; the more robust plants among the zonales indicate a retrogression toward the original type, which has scarlet blooms. All choice new Geraniums are produced by seeds from hybridised flowers. Pot off the last of May in three-inch pots, using good garden loam and well-rotted manure. Pot them rather firmly and plunge into the sand-box in full sunshine. Water thoroughly and allow the soil to become dry before watering again; this tends to harden the new growth and makes the plants stocky. Nip out the top of the plants, forcing them to break or make new branches near the ground. The nearer the ground a Geranium branches the better plant it will make. Pinch off the shoots as they appear, allowing them to grow only three or four inches long. Remove all buds that appear before fall and shift to larger pots if needed, though Geraniums do not need as much pot room when blooming as many other flowers. Give liquid manure once a week after the buds appear—before that time the use of fertilisers encourages the production of foliage rather than of flowers.

Zonales should bloom by February and Pelargoniums by March or April the first year. They should be watered more freely when in bloom. Geraniums should be grown close to the glass to give best results. In prolonged cloudy weather the buds will blast and the new growth look sickly in spite of all care. Pelargoniums are very satisfactory when raised from seed, showing great diversity of colour and markings. When they have finished blooming in the spring cut them back freely, using the cuttings for new plants. The old plants should be set in the shade to rest and watered sparingly. At the end of that time they may be brought into the sunlight or plunged into open ground and encouraged to grow freely. Removing a portion of the leaves at this time—every other one, for instance—will cause new shoots to break at the axils of the leaves, and every new shoot means new blossom points. By the middle of September the plants should be lifted, cut back to the point where the wood begins to harden, and given a warm, sunny window. Cuttings started in spring, if shifted, kept growing and pinched back occasionally, should be in splendid condition for early spring blooming. In growing Geraniums never lose sight of the fact that stocky, many-branched plants give flowers in abundance; tall, spindly plants the reverse. A Geranium should always be as broad as it is high to be at its best. Ivy Geraniums need extra care to keep them low and stocky. Water sparingly and give abundant sunshine if you wish these to bloom.

Geranium seeds come up very irregularly, so that it is well not to disturb the ground for some time after the proper season of germination has passed. In this way many extra plants are secured.

Gloxinias

Like all fine seeds the Gloxinias often give a surprising number of plants from a single packet. The seed is sown on the surface of small flats in the house and the plants appear in about ten days. They are very tender at first and must be protected from undue heat, moisture, cold or draughts. They may be potted when large enough and plunged in the shady side of the sand-box, in a cold-frame, on the east side of the house, or in a shady corner in the open ground, where they will be protected from the sun during the hottest part of the day. Keep the soil constantly moist; a light mulch of sphagnum moss or lawn clippings will keep it in proper condition. Avoid wetting the foliage and as far as possible touching it. The stems of both leaf and blossom are very brittle and the slightest blow may deprive one of a cherished blossom. For this reason I like to grow them by themselves and use a mulch instead of cultivation. So much of the beauty of the plant depends upon the perfection of the foliage that every effort should be made to preserve it. In setting or potting Gloxinias the crown of the bulb should be above the earth, the soil should slope to the rim of the pot, that no water may settle about the crown and rot it. The plants may remain in the hotbed or other quarters until the approach of frost, when they must be shifted into larger pots and given a position in an east window with plenty of light. Gloxinias, if kept growing vigorously and shifted frequently, should bloom the following season. Some florists advise resting the bulb the first winter, but this, I think, is a mistake; the plant has done nothing to require a rest, nor has the bulb gained sufficient size to live without nourishment for any length of time, so that drying off is likely to result disastrously. After the Gloxinia has completed its period of bloom water should be gradually withheld and the foliage allowed to ripen. The bulbs may then be set away in their pots in a warm, dry place, until the following spring; or, if grown in hotbeds, they may be dried off by withholding water until the foliage ripens, when they may be lifted, wrapped in cotton-wool or tissue-paper, and stored in a dry, fairly warm place during the winter.

Heliotropes

Are more easily raised from seed than from cuttings, which require special care. Several of the new varieties, like Lemoine’s seedlings, give exceptionally large and early flowers, ranging in colour from pure white through all the shades of lavender, purple, and blue to deep indigo. If wanted for winter blooming the seed may be sown any time during the spring, but for bedding out it should be sown in February or March, and the plants duly potted off and plunged in a box of sand in a warm, sunny window, or a hotbed, until it is time to bed them out in the open ground. The compost should contain a large proportion of leaf-mould—three-fourths mould and one-fourth loam and sharp sand.

The seeds of Heliotrope must be kept merely moist, never wet and never allowed to dry out, or they will not sprout; keeping the soil just on the verge of drying out, yet never allowing it to do so, is the whole secret of starting Heliotrope from seeds. It is best to sow the seed in moist soil to avoid the necessity of watering afterward, as is done with other seeds; if the soil is just wet enough to be crumbly, neither wet nor sticky, and can be kept so, they will prosper. Cover the seed lightly with white sand and remove the glass if any appreciable moisture appears—anything more than a fine mist. It germinates in from fifteen to twenty days, and the plants require no special care beyond good soil, warmth, and plenty of sunshine with frequent waterings. When grown as house-plants they should be showered once or twice a day to prevent the inroads of the red spider—their worst enemy.

There is no more desirable bedding plant than the Heliotrope, and the more freely it is cut by removing generous portions of stem with the blossom the more freely it will bloom. It is admirable for replacing Pansies and may be grown on in the hotbed until the Pansy’s day is past. Where there is not enough Heliotrope for large bedding operations, purple Ageratum may be combined with the Heliotrope with excellent effect; this is a method often employed in the city parks, and when judiciously done one scarcely notices that the beds are not all Heliotrope. Plants may be taken up in the fall and cut back for winter blooming. Blossoms always form on the terminals of the branches.

Lantanas

Are hard-wooded, shrubby plants, the leaves more or less rough and prickly. The colours range from pure white through various shades of lemon to orange, red, a new bright scarlet, and the rosy lavender of the Weeping Lantana. The seed in its immature state is incased in a green pulp or berry, changing to blue as it ripens, and consists of a little nut with several kernels, so that one is sometimes surprised with two or more plants from what seems to be a single seed. The seed may be started in the house, or in the hotbed early in the spring; sowing in drills one-quarter of an inch deep. It germinates in from twelve to fifteen days, but soaking in warm water, for a few hours before planting, will hasten its appearance. They require about the same treatment as Geraniums, but should be shifted oftener and given plenty of water. As soon as the plants are four or five inches high transplant them to a tobacco pail, or some large wooden receptacle containing a compost of muck, loam, and old manure, or muck alone, and place in full morning sunshine, out of doors. Thus managed I have grown, from seed sown in March, plants that measured nine feet or more in circumference by September and were a mass of bloom all summer long, the blossoms defying all efforts at counting.

Grown in this way, with an abundance of roots and top room, rich soil, sun, and water, no better ornament could be desired for the porch or steps; but I do not think it a desirable plant for the house, as the hot, dry air causes it to drop its leaves, and it is almost sure to be attacked by the red spider. It is better to start fresh plants each spring and let them go when frost comes.

Lantanas make fine hedgerows between house lots or for defining different portions of the grounds. They should be planted in rich ground two and one-half feet apart.

The new Weeping Lantana is the most charming member of the family. It is of much more slender growth than the rest and inclined to be pendulous, or weeping. Its delightfully fragrant flowers are produced in round heads the size of a half-dollar at the axil of every leaf and show a lovely rosy-lilac hue. If planted in the open ground the Weeping Lantana quickly covers a considerable area, presenting a solid sheet of bloom throughout the summer. It will bloom freely in the house if given a warm, sunny window, abundant room, and showered daily to keep back the red spider, or dipped occasionally in hot water for that purpose. It must always have abundant root and top room and plenty of water.

Petunias

Probably no common flower of the garden has been so improved during the last few years as the Petunia. The small-flowered variety of a few years ago with its straggly habit and narrow range of colour—chiefly white and faded magenta—is now superseded by magnificently fringed and ruffled beauties in a wealth of colour, from purest white to glowing crimson, and a velvety purple that is almost black, with wonderfully veined and tinted throats and thick, stocky stems. It is difficult to realise that they are the same plants, plus a few generations of good living and culture.

The double Petunias are desirable for pots, vases, and bedding out, but I do not think they compare with such strains as Burpee’s Defiance, the Giants of California, the Ruffled Giants, and the Miranda. Miranda, for example, is a rosy carmine merging into a brilliant scarlet in the throat—the nearest approach to a scarlet Petunia yet produced. The seed of double Petunias will yield a fair proportion of double flowers. The young plants of both the single and double varieties require great care at first, being very sensitive to hot sun or cold air. Once established, however, they will stand a great deal of both—more, indeed, than almost any other flower of this class. Plant them in flats in the house in March by pressing the seed into the soil without covering; keeping moist and warm until the seed germinates, usually from eight to ten days. When large enough to handle, prick off into larger flats and set them in a warm north or east window. When the leaves touch set them two or three inches apart each way in other flats and let them grow until it is time to place them in the open ground, hardening them gradually by exposure to more sun and air each day, and transplant with great care. If intended to replace the Pansies they may be set in the bed in June, the Pansies affording them protection until they have attained some size. Set each little seedling on the north-east side of a Pansy plant, and by the time the Pansies have passed their zenith they will be ready to stand alone.

Always remove poor or inferior plants in order that the highest standard may be maintained; the finer varieties may be readily distinguished from the more common sorts by the stems and foliage; the latter having thin stems and small leaves, set rather far apart, while the stems of the fine varieties are very stocky; the leaves large, more or less crinkly, and set closely on the stem; the buds thick and compact, while those of the common type are long and thin. Petunias grow so rapidly that vacant places left by culling are soon filled. The finest specimens may be lifted for winter flowering. They will bloom freely in the house and often show a richer colour than when out of doors. They need considerable root room—any crowding of the roots, or starving of the plants being quickly shown in the deterioration of the flowers. Avoid chills and draughts. Give liquid manure and water freely, but do not let the soil get wet or sour. A little charcoal in the potting soil is an excellent corrective of this tendency. Always remove the flowers as they fade, thus prolonging the blooming season and increasing the beauty and size of the blossom.

Require the same general treatment as other house-plants. A good compost of leaf-mould, loam, and sand is best for the first few shiftings, manure being added as the plants attain size. Repeated shifting hastens blooming, while keeping the plants in small pots retards it. When ready to bloom they should be fine, large plants in five-or six-inch pots. They should blossom in November and, if well cared for, they will flower from that time on until spring. In potting the Primrose care must be taken to have the crown of the plant slightly above the surface of the soil and the soil lowest at the edge of the pot, that no water may settle around the crown and cause it to rot. When the buds appear give the plants diluted liquid manure once a week. As the leaves of Primroses are easily injured they should be placed where they will be subjected to as little handling as possible. Window brackets make an ideal place for them, as they can be turned and inspected without removal, and the large velvety leaves, drooping gracefully over the pot, will develop perfectly. Injured or faded leaves should be removed at once. A receptacle rather broad than deep gives opportunity for the best development. A hanging-basket, milk-crock with drainage hole, or jardiniÈre with outlet will answer. Sufficient root room is particularly necessary in the case of old plants, as these have more divisions to the crown and therefore spread more. Primula obconica does better when grown in shallow dishes; a dish four inches deep and eight wide is much better than the usual flower-pot.

Florists start their Primroses each year from seed, but there is no reason why, if one has a choice plant, it should not be carried over to the second year, when, being larger, it will give more flowers.