20 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



large pea. Some of them are still no larger than small peas. It 

 is difficult to keep imported bulbs ; they come in bad order. He 

 agreed with Mr. Hovey in regard to planting out, and would pro- 

 tect from wet. 



Mr. Hovey said there were two causes of failure in cyclamen 

 culture, neglect after blooming and omission to repot. Large 

 pots are not necessary, they are injured by placing in large pots 

 and giving too much water. English cultivators always recom- 

 mend moderate sized pots, but the bulbs sometimes grow too 

 large to get into these pots. They require good drainage and not 

 the one shift system, but continued shifting, if fine specimens are 

 required. 



C. B. Gardiner, who also had some fine specimens on exhibi- 

 tion, said that he had but little experience, and had tried different 

 methods. They will not do well in heat ; 55° nearly spoiled the 

 blossoms. Heat drives out the flowers prematurely and makes 

 them short and stubby. Lai'ge pots are not necessary ; Vaey do 

 not seem to fill up the pot with roots. He had a root with the 

 crown completely gone, but it threw out leaves and flowers on the 

 sides and did not seem to be injured. He sowed his seed the first 

 of April, and potted part the first week in July, and part later. 

 Those potted olf early are much the largest. He would shift often, 

 changing the soil if not the pot. 



Mr. O'Brien said that the seed should be sown carefully, a 

 quarter of an inch apart. He had never tried peat, but had tried 

 liquid manure, and did not lilce it. 



Mr. Hovey said that roots were sometimes procured from Italy 

 by English cultivators, and planted in peat, and were very 

 successful. The soil was imported also. 



John G. Barker, chairman of the Flower Committee, said that 

 he had been much interested in the cyclamen. It was a plant well 

 adapted to the window. He had four plants in three-inch pots, 

 the bulbs of the size of an English walnut, each with from ten to 

 eighteen flowers and buds. They were potted in loam and placed 

 in a north window. They require care in watering. He put a 

 small earthen pan under the pots and filled with water two or three 

 times a week. In proportion to the size of the bulb his plants 

 were as good as Mr. O'Brien's. 



James Cruikshanks said that Mty years ago but few cyclamens 

 were to be seen, as the best gardeners were ignorant of their culti- 



