CYCLAMEN, CYDONIA 343 



is I don't know; it has caused many a large grower to have a head- 

 ache. The plants simply won't bloom; the buds get brown or dry 

 up before they open. It was the same with Chrysanthemums 

 years ago; we hardly knew what it was to have trouble aside from 

 aphis or green fly, but the longer we are in the growing business, 

 the longer becomes the list of insect pests and diseases we have to 

 fight. 



CARRYING PLANTS OVER 



It isn't so very long ago that the dormant corms were imported 

 from the other side, many florists starting them in the Fall and 

 blooming them during the early Spring months. But we got away 

 from that and the large grower no longer thinks of carrying over 

 either plants or corms for another year. However, the retail grower 

 may do so, especially in the case of plants of a superior strain, 

 which he would like to grow another year for seed ; or in the case of 

 a lot of small plants left over at the end of the season. It is not at 

 all necessary to even dry off the plants before starting them again. 



Let us suppose that by the end of February you have a nice 

 batch of 3J/2- or 4-in. pot plants, either through flowering or without 

 buds; remove a few of the older, outside leaves, lift the plants out 

 of the pots, carefully remove most of the soil, cut back some of the 

 heavy roots and destroy the dead ones, and then repot. Plants 

 that were in 5s can go into 4s, and those from 4s into 3s. Use a 

 rather sandy soil to encourage root growth and keep the plants 

 in a 52-deg. house. Some of the remaining leaves may get yellow 

 and can be removed. 



In about four to five weeks, sometimes even before, you will 

 notice new growth. During Spring and the following Summer 

 treat the plants the same as the seedlings. Your large left-over 

 plants can be handled the same way, only if they are full of leaves 

 remove most of the old ones. You can also take 5-in. plants and 

 shift them into 6s and let all the leaves stay on ; some of them may 

 come off during the Summer, but mighty fine specimens can be 

 developed for another year from such stock. 



CYDONIA JAPONICA (JAPANESE QUINCE) 



Among the extra early flowering shrubs you should include 

 the Japanese Quince. It is almost the very first to flower in Spring, 

 and the larger a specimen becomes, the more showy it is, because of 

 its bright scarlet (or, less commonly, pink) flowers. 



If you get from your nurseryman a few 2- to 3-ft. plants they 

 will grow into money. You can either let them develop into large 

 specimens which are easily transplanted no matter how large they 

 may become, or you can divide the plants from time to time, as it 

 is the nature of these flowering Quinces to send up suckers from 

 below like Lilacs. 



