APRIL 35 



inches of the ground, and then the ferns have their 

 turn, and the mutilated bulb foliage is hidden away 

 under their green skirts until it dies down to the 

 earth. This cutting of the foliage does not interfere 

 with the next season's flowers, provided that these 

 few inches are left to help mature the bulb. The 

 effect of the arrangement is delightful at two sepa- 

 rate seasons, which is one of the main ends to 

 secure in gardening. 



I have just seen the four best plants of cyclamens 

 which it has ever been my privilege to behold. 

 Not one carried less than two hundred buds and 

 blossoms. The proud owner told me their history, 

 and I make haste to record it. 



Twelve months ago she was about to throw away 

 her plants as old and worthless, when it occurred to 

 her to split one of them up, and to see what might 

 happen. Accordingly she took a corm of a large 

 white kind, and divided it into four pieces, leaving 

 some growing points on each and carefully dipping 

 the raw edges into powdered charcoal to heal the 

 cuts. They were potted up separately into five- 

 inch pots, and put on a greenhouse shelf near the 

 glass until they began to grow, when they were 

 removed to a cold frame. Twice a day they were 

 syringed, and of course duly watered, and in August 

 they were shifted into pots one size larger, and 

 before cold weather came were removed into a cool 

 house, from which frost was barely excluded. Here 

 they have remained all through the winter, getting 

 plenty of air and daily moisture overhead as well 

 as at the roots. The soil, which was firmly rammed 

 into the pots, consisted of two parts of turf mould, 



