October Looking Forward 



of a hardy Cyclamen that has continued to flourish and 

 to flower for forty years; there seems no reason why 

 the Persian variety should not prove equally long lived. 

 Most professional gardeners raise Cyclamen from seed 

 each season, probably because the plants so obtained are 

 most suitable for decorative purposes and yield the finest 

 flowers. Though the blooms from old roots may be 

 smaller, they are far more numerous. The reader who 

 sows Cyclamen seed now to produce flowers in fifteen to 

 sixteen months' time has the satisfaction of knowing 

 that he is raising a stock of plants that will increase in 

 size and beauty as the years pass. Equable and cool 

 conditions are the chief aids to success ; if the plants are 

 subjected to widely fluctuating temperatures and the 

 soil to extremes of drought and moisture, then failure is 

 inevitable. 



The seeds are sown thinly in pans of light soil, and the 

 seedlings are transferred singly to small flower-pots. In 

 repotting it is important so to place the little corm that 

 it rests on the surface; if covered with soil it is liable 

 to decay. A temperature of 50 is suitable during whiter, 

 and the soil needs only to be kept moderately moist. 

 During summer a cool frame is the best place for them. 

 When, after the flowers have faded, the leaves begin 

 to turn yellow, gradually decreasing supplies of water 

 are given, and when the foliage has fallen the soil is 

 allowed to get quite dry. The pots containing the roots 

 are placed on a sunny shelf in the greenhouse, there 

 to remain, without water, until late in July. At that 

 season the corms are shaken out of the old soil and 

 repotted in fresh flower-pots 3^ inches wide ; a suitable 

 compost consists of turf loam with a little leaf soil, old 

 dry manure and sand intermixed. The roots are placed 

 in a cool frame, the compost being kept slightly moist, 

 and fresh growth soon appears. They will make quick 

 progress, and in autumn must be repotted in 6-inch pots 

 and returned to the greenhouse. This is the orthodox 



