GREENHOUSE AND STOVE BULBS 99 



CYCLAMENS 



The varieties of Cyclamen latifolium, or persicum, 

 a plant which has yielded under cultivation so many 

 beautiful flowers, are general favourites, and are so easy 

 to cultivate that they are largely grown for the decora- 

 tion of glass structures and rooms. There are several 

 methods adopted for raising the fine plants so often seen 

 nowadays, which are generally young specimens grown 

 from seeds. The following plan is followed by many 

 successful growers. The seeds are sown from the be- 

 ginning of August to the end of November, in pans of 

 fibrous loam, some silver sand, and a fifth of leaf-soil. 

 They are placed in an intermediate house, or a tem- 

 perature of about fifty-five degrees, and in a little shade 

 until the seedlings have begun to appear, when they may 

 be placed near the glass and pricked off when they can 

 be handled. They may be grown on in a similar tem- 

 perature during the winter, but a little increase may 

 be given immediately after potting off in February or 

 March into three-inch pots. They should be placed in. 

 frames turned towards the north for the summer, receiv- 

 ing a potting into five-inch pots in July, and being kept 

 close for a few days afterwards. After taking indoors 

 they must be near the glass, and syringed frequently to 

 keep off red spider. 



Corms which have flowered may be kept, and with 

 careful treatment will flower again, although scarcely so 

 freely as young plants. They may either be planted out 

 in frames for the summer or plunged in their pots, re- 

 potting when they show sign of making fresh growth. 

 The large-flowered varieties are very handsome, and the 

 Papilio, or Butterfly-formed flowers, and those with 

 crested blooms are also considerably appreciated by 

 those who like new flowers. 



