Januiuj 28, 1876. ] 



JOURNAL OF HOBTIODLTUBE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB. 



73 



lovely flower, of more slender hafcit than the last-named, de- 

 serves extensive cultivation. F. meleagris plena should not be 

 overlooked. F. pereica ought to be in all collections. This 

 section will do well in any ordinary garden soil, though they 

 prefer a rather tenacious loam, moderately moist but well- 

 drained. Their marbled flowers are admired by all who see 

 them. — Veritas. 



Budding. — " A. C." and all other brother amateurs, may 

 save themselves much time and trouble as well as loss of buds, 

 by not attempting to take the wood out of the shield, but put 

 the shield in the usual way with the wood remaining in. I 

 found this out many years ago, after reading au article on the 

 circulation of the sap, and have practised it in my small way 

 ever since. It is the sap returning from the upper end of the 

 stock, which flows through the bark of the shield where the 

 cross-cut is made, which makes the junction between bud and 

 stock. — H. C, SoulJi Ilcints. 



THE CYCLAMEN. 



Cyclamen persicum was introduced, according to our die" 

 tionary, from Cyprus in 1731, and to point to the merit or 

 beauty of this plant is almost superfluous ; but a few words 

 may not be out of place, as its long period of blooming and in 

 the dull season, together with its delicious fragrance, combine 

 to ensure it a welcome. The fragrance and style of blossom 

 secure it a place in the neatest bouquet. There is no wonder 

 that it is so extensively cultivated for the supply of our London 

 market. 



The Persian Cyclamen is readily produced from seed — but 

 although the seed is saved from highly scented kinds, not all 

 the produce will be equally fragrant. Immediately after flow- 

 ering the seed-stalk withdraws itself from public gaze and lies 

 half coiled round the crown. In a few weeks the seed-vessel 

 will burst and shed the seeds if not watched closely. When 

 the seed-vessels are about to burst they must be picked, and 

 the seed sown ; they do not require keeping longer than a few 

 days, in order that they may burst their bonds by a natural 

 process. The seed will be ripe usually in April or M»y. A 

 seed-pan should be carefully prepared for them, as the seed- 

 lings will not benefit by transplanting during the first summer. 

 The compost for them to be fibrous and sandy heath soil well 

 chopped, two parts leaf mould, with a little well-decayed cow 

 manure, one part light sandy turf loam, and a little silver 

 sand, the whole pressed down firm, and the soil being rather 

 dry bears pressing close to the seeds, so as to put them just 

 out of sight; then cover the surface with moss, to supersede 

 the necessity of much watering. Place the pan in a warm 

 comer, and it will only require light sprinkling twice a-week. 



The young plants will begin to appear in about five weeks, 

 and the moss must be at once removed ; nothing more is re- 

 quired during the first summer's growth but to grow them 

 clean and water regularly. Pot lightly in the following Feb- 

 ruary. The seedlings will go to rest about November, and may 

 be put on a cool shelf, and kept moderately dry until the 

 following February. About this period the bulbs must be 

 again potted — singly, in 3-inch pots. Towards May, when 

 they are filled with roots, they will require a shift into 5 inch 

 pots. Place the newly-potted seedlings on some shelf close to 

 the glass in a cool greenhouse. By the ensuing autumn they 

 will be strong bulbs, possessing seven or ten strong leaves. 

 About September they will require a partial rest, so again with- 

 hold water for a while. Towards the middle of February, or 

 sooner, these two-year-old bulbs will show flower-buds, and then 

 a slight increase both of heat and moisture must be given. 



I now revert to the management of the two-year-old plants. 

 The plants being past blooming, the leaves somewhat sere, 

 about the middle of April a bed should be prepared in one of 

 warmest parts of the kitchen garden on a dry bottom, a few 

 inches of half-rotten leaves and heath soil dug-in and thoroughly 

 mixed. In this the Cyclamen should be planted with their 

 balls of earth entire, the soil being pressed firmly to them side- 

 ways. After this they are merely to be kept free from weeds 

 and watered when dry, and by the end of August these stout 

 bulbs would begin to form scores of blossom-buds. At this 

 period they must be potted, and, if they have flourished, wide- 

 mouthed pots will be requisite. A well-grown Cyclamen, like 

 awell-grown cluster of Achimenes, [requires a pan, or, as we 

 generally call it, a seed-pan. 



I never could discover why our potters do not supply pans 



for the Cyclamen, since it does so well in them. A pan for a 

 very strong specimen should be barely Gh inches deep by nearly 

 8 in diameter. Nothing looks worse than to see a plant wide 

 and tufty in character stuck in a tall and narrow pot. 



Henceforth the plants will require to stand on a cool green- 

 house shelf near the glass, regular watering, moderate at first, 

 and iuereased with the increase of foliage. By November they 

 will be in blossom, and continue so through the winter. If a 

 long succession is required some may be kept back in a cool 

 frame, for they will endure "i" or H" of frost tolerably well it 

 hardened previously. — J. H., Gardeiier to Ladij C. Lrgges. 



Dickson's Favourite Cucumber. — I can testify to all Mr. W. 

 Taylor says of his Cucumber. It is a first-rate variety for 

 general purposes ; one that does not recjuire much heat to 

 grow it to perfection. We have grown it three seasons with 

 equal success. Last year we planted, the latter end of March, 

 three plants in a three-light box, in a mixture of chopped turf 

 and leaf mould, on a dung bed with a moderate heat. The 

 first fruit was cut April 28th, and from that date to May 28th 

 sixty-six were cut, fine fruit 1.5 to 16 inches long. Our last 

 plants were put out in the latter part of .June in some pits that 

 had contained bedding stuff, and previous early Potatoes, so 

 that they had not much bottom heat and no top heat ; they 

 grew luxuriantly, and continued in good bearing till Novem- 

 ber. — G. P., JUN. 



Two Useful Hints. — Very often a screw-hole gets so worn 

 that the screw will not stay in. Where glue is handy, the 

 regular carpenter makes the hole larger and glues in a larger 

 plug, making a nest for au entirely new hole. But this is not 

 always the case, and people without tools and in an emergency 

 often have to fix the thing at once. Generally leither is used, 

 but this is so hard that it does not hold well. The best of all 

 things is to cut narrow strips of cork and fill the hole com- 

 pletely, then force the screw in. This will make as tight a 

 job as it driven into an entirely new hole. 



Another hint of a similar character may be useful. One 

 often desires to put a staple into a block of stone. The hole 

 is made, the staple inserted, and lead melted and run in. But 

 unless the hole is made with the bottom larger than the top, 

 the lead will in time work out if there is much jar or side 

 strain on the iron. Besides, the lead itself is liable to some 

 compression, which admits of looseness, especially after being 

 subjected to very hot fires. A much better article ia sulphur. 

 It this be melted and poured-in around the staple instead of 

 lead, it makes a much more durable job. Besides, it is often 

 more easy to procure sulphur than lead, as every store keeps 

 it that deals in general variety. — {American Builder.) 



AMERICAN APPLES. 



[The following communication was received with a col- 

 lection of Apples by Messrs. Stuart & Mein of Kelso, N.B.] 



This collection of Apples was grown at Kalamazos in the 

 State of Michigan in the United States of America. The 

 specimens in this collection are a few of the most approved 

 sorts that are cultivated in the western States. The variety 

 that I would most especially recommend for cultivation in 

 Scotland and England, even as a standard tree, is the 

 Waggner. This Apple, while possessing every requisite for 

 the table, has fine flavour, beauty and symmetry of form, is 

 also remarkable in its habit of growth. It may be said to be 

 rather of a dwarf, thickset, upright habit, forming a tree of 

 the finest symmetry. The buds on the young wood being 

 prominent and thickly set, it comes very soon into bearing, 

 so much so that I have frequently seen the trees in the nursery 

 row of three and four years' standing bearing large quantities 

 of fine specimens of fruit ; and in this case, when the trees are 

 set out in the orchard and thickly set with fruit, it is absolutely 

 necessary to thin-off the fruit to a proper distance, bo that it may 

 not only grow large, but that the tree may be so strengthened 

 as to bear a full crop every season, which it will not fail to do 

 if this is properly attended to. 



There are several other varieties in this collection which, I 

 have no doubt, might to a certain extent succeed as standard 

 trees in this country, and it is very likely that the greater num- 

 ber of them have been already tested ; but there is no doubt 

 that all of them would succeed much better in producing far 

 finer specimens of fruit when cultivated on the wall, or even as 



