August 25, 1906 



HORTICULTU RE 



11)7 



Culture of the Cyclamen. Ill 



Mont Blanc 



The time has now arrived when the plants both 

 old and young ought to be ready for the final potting. 

 The size of pot to finish young plants in depends 

 upon what time they are required to flower. For 

 Christmas use a five or six inch pot is generally large 

 enough, but if they are to be kept back until early 

 spring a seven inch pot is the desirable size. For old 

 plants the size of pot will be in accordance with the 

 aspiration of the grower, but it is well to bear in mind 

 that the effect of a good cyclamen can be completely 

 spoiled by its being in too large a pot. 



The soil for this potting is similar to that previously 

 used — one-half fibry loam, one-fourth old horse manure, 

 the remainder composed of leaf mould, broken charcoal 

 and sharp sand all thoroughly sterilized, or even a little 

 richer if the plants are in good health. This rich 

 compost ought to carry them to the flowering season 

 without any liquid feeding. We have never known 

 cyclamens to be much benefitted by feeding at the time 

 they are coming in flower; stimulants tlien encourage 

 soft thick flower stems that will fall over with the 



least liaudling and the flowers will not keep their color 

 any length of time. 



Opinions vary in regard to the value of sterilized 

 soil some being in favor of, some against and others 

 indifferent; we have used nothing else for a good num- 

 ber of years and the results have been entirely satis- 

 factory. In addition to killing ofilensive germs, we are 

 certain that, in our soil at least, by sterilizing some 

 food elements are released or brought into activity, 

 that unsterilized would remain practically dormant. 



At this season cyclamens can hardly be kept too 

 cool but as soon as the nights commence to get chilly 

 the house where they are should not fall below 55 deg. 

 A bracing atmosphere that is life for such plants as 

 primulas, cinerarias, etc., will give cyclamens a check 

 at the very worst stage of their g^o^vth. Not until 

 the flower buds are well above the foliage should they 

 be put in a cool house, thus greatly prolonging the 

 flowers and flowering season. 



All decaying leaves should be pulled out clean from 

 tlie rootstock, other\vise the trouble will soon .spread. 

 If it should have spread before being detected clean 

 out and dust a little air-slaked lime over the decayed 

 part. 



The importance of having the plants at ail times 

 near the glass should not be forgotten, and the location 

 of the house or frame — we prefer a house — should be 

 high and airy; close proximity to trees will encourage 

 a leggy uneven growth. Portable shading, although 

 entailing more labor gives the ma.ximum light if re- 

 moved when the sun goes down. 



Enthusiasts generally tell us that their particular 

 hobby is dead easy when we know how. We think too 

 much emphasis is at times put upon the easiness, so 

 when the novice tries his hand he is liable to be greatly 

 disappointed. We would be sorry to give the impression 

 that cyclamen growing is an easy undertaking. It is 

 the very opposite. It is by no means easy even when 

 we think we know how, a group of well grown 

 cyclamens being always the product of an enlightened 

 and painstaking grower. 



--yI'«z--«.-t-€-<r 



Spraying 



The question is often heard, "Why are there more 

 insects now-a-days than there used to be?" In many 

 instances the answer is found in the greater knowledge 

 growers now possess concerning these troubles. Through 

 the agricultural publications and the experiment sta- 

 tions information in regard to life histories, preventive 

 measures and remedies has been disseminated so that 

 people appreciate in a greater degree the immense 

 amount of loss sustained by the country each year. 



However, in many instances there are increased num- 

 bers of insects and diseases due to the concentration of 

 crops in certain localities, increased transportation facil- 

 ities, immense importation of foreign stock, and care- 

 less or ignorant experimentation. 



But' notwithstanding the greater intelligence and im- 

 provement in combative means which has been attained 



in the last three or four years there is still room for 

 advancement. In a farming town not five miles from 

 the busy city of Brockton, Mass., there are men who do 

 not know the meaning of insecticides. They go on year 

 after year struggling against heavy odds, paying toll to 

 codling moth, tent caterpillar, cabbage worm, potato 

 beetle, onion maggot, plum eurculio and the myriad of 

 others insignificant alone but exacting a tremendous 

 price when present in merely ordinary numbers. How 

 these people expect to compete with up-to-date growers 

 who study their conditions all the time is a question. 



It is now the height of the spraying season. The 

 main application for the codling moth, an insect that 

 alone causes an annual loss of thirty to forty milliona of 

 dollars per year in the United States, should have been 

 done immediately after the blossoms fell and before the 



