NERS 
How to Raise Cyclamen from 
Seed 
VV BEN a visitor exclaimed with surprise 
at the fifty thumb-pots of cyclamens 
on my windowsill I suddenly realized how 
few amateur gardeners raise cyclamen from 
seed. Yet the process is easy to accomplish 
in an ordinary house and so much cheaper 
than buying either corms or plants that one 
may have half a hundred cyclamen plants for 
the cost of two or three of the ordinary 
florists’ products. 
The one essential point in the successful 
cultivation of cyclamens is to avoid any 
sudden change. I am more and more con- 
vinced that the chief secrets in the culture of 
this plant are uniform warmth, uniform 
moisture and uniform light, which also 
means uniform care-taking. In winter the 
little plants must be given all the light 
possible, and toward summer they must be 
somewhat shaded. They will flower in any 
ordinary window and so plentifully that you 
will not lack for Christmas gifts. 
Pay the highest price for the seed and you 
will then be sure of getting the best that 
is on the market. The “giant-flowered”’ 
strains, though very beautiful, bear fewer 
blooms. I have found the best mixed 
Persica varieties the most satisfactory, and 
while the flowers are not of very large size 
they are borne in much greater profusion. 
The quality of the soil used for starting the 
seeds is of great importance. Cyclamens 
remain for several months in their seed box 
and must be able to get sufficient nourish- 
ment during that time and yet not be over- 
stimulated. Soil that is rich to begin with, 
made light by the addition of leafmold and 
sand, will be the best. A perfect soil for 
the purpose is one composed of half loam 
and half decayed wood taken from the heart 
of old trees, which is so entirely rotted that it 
looks like soil in the hand. ‘This affords no 
nourishment to the plants, but holds moisture 
for a long time. Whatever the soil, it is 
wise to roast it for a couple of hours before 
Seedling cyclamens before transplanting. The corm 
begins to develop at this stage 
THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 
using it, so as to destroy all possible animal 
life. 
Plant the seeds in boxes of this sterilized 
soil, setting each seed half an inch deep and 
one inch from its neighbors each way, so that 
after germinating each plant may grow on and 
finally be lifted without disturbing the rest. 
October is the very best month to plant 
seeds in the house. This will give flowering 
plants the following autumn and early winter, 
and at Christmas, when they are most wanted, 
the plants will be in the best condition. 
Moreover, the culture of the large plants 
just before flowering is most easily accomp- 
lished out of doors and during the summer. 
However, seed may be sown any month; the 
plants will flower a year from the sowing of 
the seed and will continue to give masses of 
beautiful, and in many strains, sweet- 
scented bloom for months thereafter. I 
have had good success with those brought 
on regularly from February to February. 
After sowing always keep the soil slightly 
moist and, if possible, cover the box with 
glass which will save constant watering. 
Put the box in a warm, dark corner of the 
living room in a temperature of from 65 to 
70 degrees. Not many seedlings will appear 
in less than a month, twenty-one days being 
the shortest germinating record with me. 
When they do appear, the little plants are 
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ess ce a 4 
One year old cyclamen raised from seed in the 
window garden. Start 1n October for flowers 
at Christmas of the next year 
quite irresistible with their tiny bright 
varnished leaves, crimson stems and absurd 
little corms just beginning to form. 
When the seedlings have two leaves I pot 
them up into thumb pots, and transfer them 
to larger pots as they require more space, 
always keeping the top of the corm a little 
above the surface of the soil. Early in June 
I place the pots in an old coldframe, which is 
uncovered save for some narrow slats running 
north and south laid across the top, so that 
OcrToseER, 1908 
as the sun moves the shade may be thrown 
across all the plantsin turn. Kept thus, and 
never allowed to get dry, they are by autumn 
magnificent stocky plants crowded with 
leaves. By July they will need the final 
5-inch pot in which they will flower the 
following winter. 
A few applications of very weak liquid 
manure just as the buds begin to show, will 
add the final touch to success. Bring the 
pots into the house before there is any danger 
of frost. 
New York. L. Se Baas 
What Must Be Done This Month 
IBY NOT plant mixed bulbs unless you 
intend to plant but a very few. Keep 
the named varieties separate, and label each 
variety with its proper name and the name of 
the seedsman from whom the bulbs were 
purchased. In this way you will know 
which varieties succeed best with you and 
which seedsman keeps the most reliable 
bulbs. Prepare the soil and plant the bulbs 
carefully, and when using fertilizer be sure 
to distribute it evenly. 
Sweet peas sown during the month will 
flower much earlier next spring than if 
sown in January or February. During the 
winter protect them from hard freezes by 
placing oat straw or old leaves around the 
roots. ‘Then, even if the vines are killed, 
the roots will still be alive in the spring. 
Prepare the soil now for planting out 
strawberries the last of the month and the 
first of next month. 
Harvest rutabagas and sweet potatoes any 
time during the month when the weather is 
dry. Store them in a cool, dry, frost-proof 
place and discard all bruised and damaged tu- 
bers, for they will soon rot and spread decay. 
Sow a mixture of oats, wheat, and rye now 
for chicken greens. By feeding this during 
the winter and spring you will be surprised 
at the increase in the number of eggs. 
Clear off the asparagus beds and burn the 
old tops. Store the pumpkins and winter 
squashes any time before frost. 
Trees that have had the ground around 
them kept free from weeds and trash are 
usually free from scale and other insects, 
so be sure to clear the ground around the fruit 
trees and burn all refuse. 
Give a good cultivation to turnips sown last 
month in the drills and thin out to one every 
three inches. If necessary pull out the weeds 
from amongst the turnips sown broadcast. 
Georgia. Tuomas J. STEED. 
