The Cultivation of the Cyclamen. 411 



sake of display, or commercially, for the purpose of gain. It 

 is a plant well suited for amateurs, as it takes but little space, 

 and may be turned out of doors in a northern aspect, when 

 it has done flowering, to make room for other plants. The 

 treatment of these plants is not so difficult a matter, but that 

 any one may grow them who has the convenience of a two 

 or three-light frame, to protect them in the winter from frost 

 and excessive rains, which latter do them more harm than 

 slight frosts. Some who have grown, or attempted to grow 

 cyclamens, have not met with the success they anticipated ; 

 this disappointment is traceable in the beginning to the ex- 

 istence of disease, caused either by giving too much or too 

 little water at particular periods. These are the two main 

 things in which inexperienced cultivators are liable to fail ; 

 for they are plants that are soon seriously damaged by an 

 over-dose of water when at all dormant, on the one hand, 

 and on the other hand, by being allowed to get too dry in 

 the growing season. 



RAISING FROM SEED. 



This is the best mode of propagating the cyclamen, though 

 it may seem a long and tedious way of getting flowering 

 roots ; it is, however, the surest method, as you then know 

 the constitution of your plants, which is of material conse- 

 quence in plant growing. For the sowing of cyclamen seeds, 

 some persons recommend the period immediately after the 

 ripening of the seed. Others defer the operation until the 

 spring. This latter is the best and safest way, those sown 

 in autumn being apt to damp off" in the dull winter season. 

 The beginning of March is a good time for seed-sowing ; 

 and the operation is performed in the following manner : — 

 Prepare ordinary seed pans, selecting those which are about 

 four inches deep. They are prepared by filling them, first 

 with about an inch of broken potsherds, then a layer of 

 rough peat or moss, then a compost consisting of one half 

 peat made rather fine, one fourth friable loam, and one fourth 

 silver sand ; or drift sand will answer the purpose, if white 

 sand ^ is not at hand. With this compost the pans are filled 



