M "P?e (grander) arid Isalor). fe- 



THE CYCLAMEN. 



T pays well to buy large bulbs in the fall. .They are not expensive 

 and will yield so many flowers, and by having a variety of colors 

 will render the window a very marvel of beauty. The bulbs 

 should be planted in pots of well drained rich sandy soil, the 

 crowns exposed, and after growth begins placed near the glass 

 and kept constantly moist. They are moisture-loving plants and 

 will only thrive with such treatment. A strong bulb will have many flowers and 

 will yield them from late fall until the next June, and'each flower has the strange 

 faculty of lasting for a number of weeks. When summer comes the bulb should 

 have a season of rest. To insure this the pot may be set in some half shady place 

 and given only just enough water to keep the ground from becoming dry and 



dusty. A very good plan is to bury the 

 tuber at the time in the pot in the open 

 ground and thus the root when uncovered 

 in the autumn is fresh and plump. In 

 August or September the bulb should be 

 got ready for its winter campaign by re- 

 ducing the ball of earth about the roots, 

 but with care, and placed in a larger pot 

 with plenty of new rich soil. As to kinds, 

 the Cyclamen Persicum is an old and well 

 established variety of very beautiful and 

 mottled foliage and great variety of color- 

 ing as to flower. ( iiganteum is a greatly 

 improved and' larger variety of Persicum, 

 the flowers of great size and many-colored, 

 the wealth of rich dark foliage with its 

 silver tracery is very beautiful. This variety is becoming better known ; formerly 

 it was a great rarity but is now more often seen, and bidsjfair to become quite as 

 popular as the well known and much loved Persicum. It is well to cultivate 

 both, as one variety enhances the beauty of the other. — Vick's Magazine. 



Fig. 408.— The Cyclamex. 



" I dote upon oaks," said the languishing maid, 



" So noble, so stately, though few. 

 Tell me, now, Mr. Jones, what's your favorite tree ~ J " 

 And he tenderly answered her, "Yew." 



— Drake 's Maya -Jiie. 

 (432) 



