Dec«mber, 1915. 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



377 



The Cyclamen 



H. J. Moore, Queen Victoria Park, Niagara Falls, Ont. 



THE cyclamen, although classed as 

 a half hardy perennial, with us 

 is really tender, it does not, how- 

 ever, require a high temperature for 

 its development. A steady tempera- 

 ture, which does not fall below the 

 minimum of 55 or rise above the maxi- 

 mum of 70 during winter, is ideal for 

 its successful culture. Extreme varia- 

 tions will spoil the most promising 

 batch that ever existed. The plant 

 must have all the light that is possible, 

 except during the brightest days of 

 summer, when the sun's rays should be 

 subdued by shading. 



Make the first sowing in October or 

 November. This should furnish well 

 flowered plants in fourteen months. 

 Sow again in January for succession. 

 Good, well-rotted loam and leaf soil 

 in equal parts, with sufficient sand to 

 make the whole porous, is a good com- 

 post in which to sow the seeds or to 

 pot the seedlings. In the former case, 

 however, the soil must be screened to 

 a fine degree. Many growers incor- 

 porate finely broken charcoal. Prepare 

 the seed pan by placing the coarsest 

 soil in the bottom directly upon the 

 crocks, and finish off by sprinkling a 

 layer of fine soil at least one-half inch 

 thick upon the surface. Press the 

 seeds evenly and thinly into the soil 

 one-quarter of an inch deep. As the 

 cyclamen is somewhat slow and irregu- 

 lar in germination, a thin layer of sifted 

 peat may be placed over the surface ; 



this will aid in conserving the mois- 

 ture and in preventing the seeds from 

 drying. After watering the seed pans, 

 place them in a temperature of 50 to 

 55, then as winter arrives remove them 

 to a slightly warmer position, where it 

 is possible to maintain humidity. Win- 

 ter-sown seeds germinate best in a 

 warm propagating case. 



When potting or pricking off seed- 

 ling cyclamen many growers make the. 

 mistake of inserting them too deeply. 

 In a seedling stage the tuber may be 

 covered lightly with soil. When pot- 

 ting, however, the crown of the tuber 

 should not be covered at all, but left 

 to protrude above the soil. Prick off 

 the seedlings singly into small pots. 

 By April or May they will develop 

 sufficiently to allow of repotting into 

 three-inch pots. During summer shade 

 them from strong sunlight. In August 

 pot them finally into five-inch pots. 

 The plants should be kept as near the 

 roof glass as possible. 



During the fall, when growth is most 

 active, apply manure water, but discon- 

 tinue the practice when the color of 

 the flowers is visible. From this time 

 until the flowering period is past great 

 care must be taken to prevent a lower- 

 ing of temperature, as a sudden chill 

 vrill cheek growth. With the advent 

 of winter see that the plants are out 

 of danger from cold draughts. In 

 spring gradually dry the plants off. 

 J^hinge the pots containing the dor- 



mant tubers out of doors in a shady 

 position. Water occasionally, as at no 

 time should the plants become entirely 

 dry. 



The grower of the cyclamen must be 

 observant. There are many essentials 

 to success. Three of the chief are a 

 steady temperature, a proper supply 

 of moisture at the root and in the at- 

 mosphere, and freedom from insect 

 pests. 



Calceolaria prorusa, the variety here .shown, is one of the most graceful of the genu.s under 



cultivation and might well be more widely grown. Something of its beauty may here be seen. 



These plants were grown by Mr. H. J. Moore, Queen Victoria Park, Niagara Falls. Ont. 



Notes About Roses 



Jas. M. Bryson, Avoca Vale, Toronto, Ont. 



In the practice of moulding roses into 

 good pyramids the difficulty seldom or 

 never is about the strength of the leader, 

 but the maintenance of an equality of 

 strength among the semi-horizontal 

 branches; where this is the case these 

 side branches may often be strengthened 

 by the suppression of the leader by stop- 

 ping several times during the growing 

 season. The second running consists 

 in the shortening back of the leader and 

 the three or more branches under it. 



Pyramidal roses, chiefly owing to their 

 size and the number of roses they pro- 

 duce, seldom yield blooms of the highest 

 and best type, but they make up in num- 

 bers what they lack in quality. No ob- 

 ject within the whole range of nature 

 could prove more attractive than a single 

 bush or a group of these roses of per- 

 fect form and smothered with bloom 

 from top to bottom. One of the most 

 important points in achieving success 

 with roses is the matter of pruning. The 

 majority of people do not consider, nor 

 do they study, the object aimed at in 

 pruning. It is painful to see some 

 bushes pruned with no more thought or 

 care than if the operator were pruning 

 a hedge, all the shoots being cropped 

 over, big ones and little alike. The re- 

 sult is that the strong shoots give a few 

 flowers, possibly only wood, while the 

 small shoots produce a few sickly yellow 

 leaves. 



The first object in pruning should be 

 to .select n few strong, well-ripened 

 shoots. The number selected will de- 

 pend on the size and age of the plant. 

 Por dwarfs the nearer to the ground 

 these shoots are the better. All short pre- 

 maturely ripened wood and all the old 

 weakly shoots should be cut clean away 

 leaving only those I have described 

 These should be cut back according to 

 the strength of the shoots or variety, 

 from four to six eyes or buds. The 

 stronsjer they are the longer they should 

 be left, care being taken to cut to an 

 eye, pointing outwards. By this me- 

 thod plants should grow vigorously, 

 bloom profusely, and keep young and 

 healthy for years. Pruning should be 

 done late in March or the middle of 

 April for teas. 



