1'he Canadian Horticulturist. 219 



the inclination may derive much pleasure from growing a few seedlings. The 

 seed is extremely small and requires fine soil, and should be barely covered, in 

 shallow boxes about two inches deep. Keep under shaded glass, giving air, 

 and never allow the soil to become dry. The seed will germinate in about two 

 weeks. When the plants get large enough to handle they should be pricked 

 out in similar shallow boxes, where they may remain until they have grown to 

 about one inch in diameter, when they may be potted singly in two-inch pots, 

 and shifted into larger pots as they require until fall, when a tuber will have 

 formed, which may be dried off and kept in the same manner as old tubers. 



Flowers grow from three to five inches in diameter, and of various shades 

 of white, yellow, red, scarlet, and crimson. Some of the single kinds are mar- 

 vels for size and gorgeous colors. The double flowers are more regular than 

 the single ones, and in appearance are much like a camellia, but they do not 

 grow to as large a size as the single ones. The stems are usually too weak to 

 support the weight of the flowers, and they drop in among the leaves, so that 

 double-flowering varieties are not as showy as single ones, though they are very 

 popular at present. Those who love beautiful flowers should not fail to try a 

 few tuberous begonias, if they have never grown any before. — American Agri- 

 culturist. 



To Preserve Scarlet Geraniums Through the Winter.— Take them 

 out of the borders in autumn, before they have received any injury from frost, 

 and let this be done on a dry day. Shake off" all the earth from their roots, and 

 suspend them with their heads downward, in a cellar or dark room, where they 

 will be free from frost. The leaves and shoots will become yellow and sickly ; 

 but when potted about the end of May, and exposed to a gentle heat, they. will 

 recover and vegetate luxuriantly. The old plants, stripped of their leaves, may 

 also be packed closely in sand ; and in this way if kept free from frost, they will 

 shoot out from the roots, and may be re-potted in the spring. 



The Cyclamen. — Although strictly speaking, not a bulb, we include it 

 in our talks on bulbs, because it is popularly known as such. These are giving 

 us great satisfaction at the present time. Some of our plants in four-inch pots 

 are, and have been for six weeks, carrying from ten to fifteen flowers each, and 

 these from seed sown fourteen months ago. The cyclamen is exacting on two 

 points, full, free sunshine and an abundance of water. They sulk if given a 

 back place in the window, and refuse to flower, and their leaves droop quickly 

 if the soil approaches dryness. Our best specimens are in a pan ten inches 

 across, into which we put six plants in all colors from three-inch pots. For 

 more than two months there has been at all times from thirty to fifty flowers 

 open, which makes it the most showy and cheerful object in our window. We 

 find that a particular soil is not so essential as was formerly supposed. We use 

 common soil from the potting bench, the same as we would for a geranium, and 

 with the best success. — American Gardening. 



