74 BULBS AND TUBEROUS-HOOTED PLANTS. 



seedlings should be pricked out into thumb pots when 

 their first leaves are not more than half an inch in diam- 

 eter. The young bulbs then will be about the size of 

 small peas, and, in potting, these should not be -placed 

 below the surface of the soil, which should be coarse, 

 light and rich, with pieces of pots, finely broken, inter- 

 mixed, and be well drained. Although the Cyclamen 

 demands a moist atmosphere, and the soil in the pots 

 must not get dry while the plants are in a growing state, 

 there is nothing more injurious to them than water, if it 

 stands about the roots, or the soil becomes sodden. 

 From the time the seed is sown until the plants are in 

 flower, they must never receive a check. Growth must 

 be rapid and steady. Frequent shif tings will be neces- 

 sary, at least as often as the pots are nicely filled with 

 roots, and in shifting, remove from one pot to another 

 but one size larger, always using the same kind of soil. 

 During summer the plants may be grown in a shaded 

 frame, outside, or in the greenhouse, which is, by far, 

 the most convenient. If in the latter, the glass should 

 be whitewashed, as they must be protected against the 

 direct rays of the sun, as well as dry atmosphere. As 

 early as the October after the seed is sown, the plants 

 will have filled five-inch pots, the bulbs an inch and a 

 half in diameter, and flowering beautifully, each plant 

 producing from fifty to a hundred blossoms. The colors 

 will be from pure white to the darkest purplish crimson, 

 with all the variations these colors will produce ; the 

 more pleasing being pure white with crimson eye, or white 

 with delicate pink spots. The only enemy the Cyclamen 

 has to encounter is the thrip, and this will not be 

 troublesome if the plants are kept in continuous growth. 

 Should the appearance of thrip become manifest by the 

 curling of the leaf, remove it as quickly as possible ; 

 allow no foliage on the plant that is not perfectly 

 healthy, and this pest will soon disappear. 



