594 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 251. 



multiplication of the parts of the corolla a case of pleiotaxy. 

 Dialysis is merely the separation between parts primarily 

 undivided, as when an ordinary gamopetalous corolla is 

 divided into five distinct petals. Examples of pleiotaxy 

 among PolypetalEe, such as Roses, Pinks and Anemones, 

 are very familiar, and among Gamopetalce it has been 

 noted in Datura, Campanula, Primula, Arbutus, Nerium 

 and Gardenia. Dr. Masters makes no mention that it has 

 been observed in Ipomoea, or any member of the family, so 

 that this plant has exceptional interest botanically as well 

 as on account of its horticultural value. 



Cultural Department. 



How to Grow Cyclamens. 



THE Massachusetts Horticultural Society, in making 

 its awards last year, gave a premium to Dr. G. C. 

 Weld, of Brookline, for the successful cultivation of Cycla- 

 mens, and the Committee on Gardens, in their report, pub- 

 lish a paper by Mr. Kenneth Finlayson, Dr. Weld's gar- 

 dener, in which his method of growing these flowers is 

 explained, and which we now reproduce : 



I sow the seeds about the ist of December in a compost of 

 fibrous loam and well-decayed leaf-mold, in equal parts, add- 

 ing thereto a liberal dash of sharp, clear sand, with a further 

 quantity of finely crushed charcoal to keep the whole porous 

 and sweet. The top layer of soil in which the seeds are im- 

 mediately sown is more sandy and more finely sifted than the 

 rest of the earth. Ordinary earthen seed-pans are used for 

 this purpose, the size depending on the quantity of seed to be 

 sown, an eight-inch pan being sufficiently large to contain two 

 packages of seeds such as we buy from seedsmen. Good 

 drainage in the bottom of the pan must not be neglected. 

 When the seeds are sown and watered well with a fine rose, 

 the pans are placed in sphagnum moss in a mild propagating- 

 bed of a temperature of sixty degrees. I cover the pans with a 

 pane of glass to check evaporation, and thereby avoid the ne- 

 cessity of frequent watering, which ought to be particularly 

 guarded against. 



In this temperature, named above, the seeds will germinate 

 in from four to six weeks. After they have formed a leaf they 

 are taken into less warm quarters, and near the glass, but 

 shaded from the bright sunlight for some time. When they 

 have made two or three leaves I transplant them into boxes, 

 using compost much the same as at first, but less sandy, keep- 

 ing them all the while close to the glass at this period of their 

 existence, in order to have a sturdy and stocky foundation to 

 build on. 



They are put out into cold frames early in summer, but still 

 kept in boxes, guarded against cold draughts and sudden 

 changes in the weather, until they get sufficiently hardened to 

 stand some little rough usage. I syringe them morning and 

 evening in hot dry weather, and shade them only from the 

 fierce noonday sun, using lath shades for the purpose ; the 

 sash is removed entirelyatnight when the weather is favorable. 



About the ist of June I pot them into three-inch pots, using 

 at this potting a little well-decayed cow-manure, though sheep- 

 manure is preferable in this compost. They are returned to 

 the frames again, and the pots are plunged up to their rims in 

 coal-ashes. They must be carefully watered for weeks after 

 this operation, and syringing overhead morning and evening 

 must be steadily adhered to. With this treatment diligently 

 persevered in they will be ready for another shift into larger 

 pots about the ist of September or sooner. At this shift a 

 five-inch pot is chiefly used, this being the pot in which they 

 flower. In a few exceptional cases there may be some plants 

 that outgrow the others to such an extent that a six-inch pot 

 may not be any too large. 



The earth used in the final potting consists of three-fifths 

 fibrous loam ; the other two-fifths consist of leaf-mold, cow- 

 manure or sheep-manure, and sand, the leaf-mold predomi- 

 nating. Particular care should be exercised when potting the 

 Cyclamen that one-half at least of the bulb be left above the 

 potting-soil, for it is from the top surface of the bulb that the 

 flowers proceed, and if this is placed under the earth the flower- 

 buds will surely rot. 



I keep them in their quarters in the frames until the middle 

 of October, before taking them into the greenhouse. After 

 they are brought into the greenhouse they have as light and 

 airy a position as possible. I keep them on the front bench of 

 my Pink-house, in which place they do admirably well, the 



temperature at which this house is kept, namely, from fifty to 

 fifty-five degrees, being, in my opinion, the ideal Cyclamen 

 temperature. Indeed, fifty degrees is quite high enough; if 

 kept steadily at that point the plants will be more healthy, and 

 give more and finer-colored flowers. 



They begin flowering sparingly eleven months from the date 

 of sowing, but will not come into full flower until thirteen 

 months from that time. I commence stimulating when they 

 begin to form their flower-buds, or sooner should the pots be 

 well crowded with roots, my never-failing stimulant being Peru- 

 vian guano, or its best imitation ; also, soot and guano in equal 

 parts, mixing them thoroughly before using. A small hand- 

 ful of any of the above fertilizers, dissolved in a six-gallon can 

 full of water, is used once a week should the weather be clear, 

 so that they demand much watering ; otherwise, the watering 

 is less frequent. 



Cyclamens thus treated will continue to flower until late 

 spring or early summer, when they will show signs of a want 

 of rest ; this rest must be brought about gradually, and should 

 never be too severe — that is, never so severe that they will 

 lose all their roots and foliage. Old plants are turned out of 

 the pots some time in June, all the soil is shaken from their 

 roots, and they are then planted m frames, giving them a thor- 

 ough watering, to settle the soil about them. Afterward a nice 

 layer of short grass is laid over all to keep the soil cool and 

 moist. 



I also shade the glass with a heavy coat of paint, and keep 

 the sashes at all times raised at both ends four or five inches, 

 to secure a current of air over them continually. All this done, 

 there is no further attention necessary except a watering at 

 long intervals, until they show some signs of activity, which 

 will be about the beginning of August, when the grass cover- 

 ing should be removed, in order that the young leaves which 

 will now start will have a chance to develop. The soil from 

 this date is kept more moist. 



In the third week of August they are repotted and treated 

 like the younger plants — that is, they are plunged in ashes and 

 syringed overhead twice a day if the weather demands. Under 

 such treatment I get flowers as good in every particular from 

 old plants as I do from younger ones, and a great many more 

 of them. 



Diseases of the Carnation. 



'T'HE enemies of the Carnation are numerous. There is, for 

 ■'• example, the rust (Uromyces caryophyllinus, Schr.) that 

 has already ruined many beds and many more are doomed. 

 This fungus works in a very obscure manner until it has 

 undermined the constitution of the plant and then it shows 

 itself in great brown dusty patches upon leaf and stem. It is 

 a genuine rust and is closely related to the forms upon grass 

 and grain. Its habits are such that to stamp it out requires 

 the heroic treatment of fire. Spraying may prevent its spread 

 to healthy plants, but nothing can be put on an attacked plant 

 that will rout the deeply seated enemy. A recent letter from 

 Nebraska reported it in that state. 



But while this rust is a bad enemy it is not the only one. It 

 gets the credit due to other foes. When samples are sent to the 

 station the first question is this : " Is this the rust ? " And more 

 often it is not the rust. One of the most common Carnation 

 troubles is what may be called the leaf-spot. This is caused 

 by a fungus that is somewhat local in its work, at least may be 

 confined to one small spot while all other parts of the plant are 

 entirely healthy. As a rule, however, a plant that is attacked 

 in one place will be a victim elsewhere. These spots are at 

 first somewhat swollen or thickened patches which soon be- 

 come brown or even almost brick-red in color, and later, 

 dotted with blackish specks, which are the places where the 

 spores are produced and ooze out when mature and the sur- 

 face is wet. By means of these multitudes of spores the 

 fungus is able to spread rapidly through a house if affected 

 plants are permitted to remain untreated. From the nature 

 of this trouble it is quite evident that it is amenable to the 

 ordinary treatment for fungus parasites. 



Last winter a large grower of Carnations volunteered to treat 

 his plants affected with blight as follows : One-half of a large 

 house was sprayed each week with a solution of a half-ounce 

 of sulphide of potassium to a gallon of water. He was so well 

 satisfied that he soon extended the use to all his houses and 

 felt the remedy was of great value to him. 



Another Carnation trouble is an anthracnose, and, while this 

 is bad upon large plants, it is the most destructive to cuttings. 

 This colletotrichum appears upon the surface of the stems 

 and bases of the leaves as small black specks which, under the 

 microscope, are made up of spores and dark stiff hairs. It is 



