74 BULBS AND TUBEROUS-ROOTED PLANTS. 
seedlings should be pricked out into thumb pots when 
their first ieayes are not more than half an inch in diam- 
eter. The young bulbs then will be about the size of 
small peas, and, in potting, these should not be placed 
below the surface of the soil, which should be coarse 
light and rich, with pieces of pots, finely broken, intet- 
mixed, and be well drained. Although the Cyclamen 
demands a moist atmosphere, and. the soil in the pots 
must not get dry while the plants are in a growing state, 
there is nothing more injurious to them than water, if it 
stands about the roots, or the soil becomes sodden. 
From the time the seed is sown until the plants are in 
flower, they must never receive a check. Growth must 
be rapid and steady. Frequent shiftings will be neces- 
sary, at least as often as the pots are nicely filled with 
roots, and in shifting, remove from one pot to another 
but one size larger, always using the same kind of soil. 
During summer the plants may be grown in a shaded 
frame, outside, or in the greenhouse, which is, by far, 
the most convenient. If in the latter, the glass should 
be whitewashed, as they must be protected against the 
direct rays of the sun, as well as dry atmosphere. As 
early as the October after the seed is sown, the plants 
will have filled five-inch pots, the bulbs an inch and a 
half in diameter, and flowering beautifully, each plant 
producing from fifty to a hundred blossoms. The colors 
will be from pure white to the darkest purplish crimson, 
with all the variations these colors will produce; the 
more pleasing being pure white with crimson eye, or white 
with delicate pink spots. The only enemy the Cyclamen 
has to encounter is the thrip, and this will not be 
troublesome if the plants are kept in continuous growth. 
Should the appearance of thrip become manifest by the 
curling of the leaf, remove it as quickly as possible ; 
allow no foliage on the plant that is not perfectly 
healthy, and this pest will soon disappear. 
