STOVE AND GREENHOUSE PLANTS. 31 



larger pots. A minimum temperature of 50 degrees will suffice during 

 Winter. 



CYCLAMEN Cyclamen seeds, to insure even germinating, should be 

 sown as soon as convenient after ripening. The seeds ripen from April 

 to June. The sowing season is from September to the beginning of 

 December, and the seeds, between the harvesting and sowing periods, 

 should be kept in an open-mouthed bottle, mixed with dry sand. Al- 

 though the seed may be held for years it loses in vitality the longer it is 

 kept. The best flowered Cyclamens are varieties of C. persicum. Several 

 named varieties are offered by the large dealers, but when once a satis- 

 factory strain is secured the best plan is to set aside a few plants of each 

 color, and by artificial pollination each flower will ripen a capsule of 

 seed. To have plants in bloom by Christmas the seedlings will consume 

 from 12 to 14 months in completing their growth, and during that 

 period they should never be allowed to rest by withholding water, or 

 be subjected to other conditions unfavorable to -continuous growth. 

 The seed should be sown in shallow pans or boxes, in light sandy soil, 

 and covered to very little more than their own depth with finely sifted 

 soil and sphagnum, two parts of the former to one of the latter. The 

 swollen root-stock is formed before the first leaf makes its appearance, 

 and when the first leaf is fully developed the seedlings are ready for 

 pricking off. During this process a minimum temperature of 55 degrees 

 will be sufficient. The seedlings may be put directly into thumb pots, 

 pricked off around the sides of 4 or 5-inch pots, or into shallow boxes, 

 keeping them at all times near the light, and in as uniform a state of 

 moisture at the roots as possible. By the middle of May those in the 

 most advanced stages of growth should be in 4-inch pots. At this time 

 they should get the full light from the north side of a house, the plants 

 being placed on inverted pots, and as near the glass as possible. The 

 glass on the south side should be shaded. For Summer quarters frames 

 are the best. The bottom should have a few inches of ashes to retain 

 moisture. The sash may be raised a few inches above the woodwork 

 by running pieces of wood along top and bottom. The best shading 

 device is probably a piece of cloth fixed to a roller, so that it may easily 

 be stretched over the glass during the hottest part of the day, or the 

 glass may be covered with one of the shading mixtures. Heavy rains 

 should not strike the plants, but they will be benefited by removing the 

 sash in the evenings, replacing them as the temperature gets too warm 

 the following morning. Greenfly, the cyclamen's greatest insect enemy, 

 may be removed by periodical syringings, or by scattering tobacco 

 seems among the pots. The plants should be repotted when necessary, 

 the very latest ones getting their last transfer about the 1st of Novem- 

 ber, the earliest plants at least a month sooner. Well-developed speci- 

 mens should easily fill an 8-inch pan. The soil should consist of loam 

 mixed with lesser quantities of old manure and leaf mould ; a little sand 

 and crushed charcoal will help to keep the mass in a porous condition. 

 In potting, the corm, or swollen stem, may be half buried in the soil; 

 careful drainage is necessary. As soon as there is danger from frost the 

 plants are removed indoors; and to give good stiff stal'ks to the flowers 



