336 



CASSELL'S POPULAR GARDENING. 



set readily. Unless the cultivator wishes to ohtain seed 

 rrom particular varieties, he should remove these ; 

 hut if he will have seed he should not leave more than 

 two or three pods on the strongest plants, lest he ex- 

 haust them too much ; and he must look well after 

 it that the stems of the seed pods do not rot, which 

 they will do, being very susceptible of damp. The 

 plants must be kept fairly dry, but not so dry as that 

 they will be hindered in maturing their seed. A cold 

 frame where the Cyclamens can be placed by them- 

 selves is the best place at this stage ; it should face 

 the south or west, and if the pots can be raised above 

 the surface of the ground, so much the better. When 

 the seed is gathered, the plants may be kept rather 

 dry until they begin to show signs of making fresh 

 growths ; they should then be turned out of pots, the 

 soil shaken from the roots, re-potted in clean pots and 

 a good soil, returned to the cold frame and kept a 

 little close for a few days. At this stage the bulbs 

 should never be over-potted, i.e., placed in too large 

 pots. A half to three-quarters of an inch space be- 

 tween the circumference of the bulb and the pot will 

 be found quite sufficient ; it may be necessary to give 

 another shift later on, but the general rule is to place 

 the bulbs at once in the pots in which they are to 

 flower. As soon as the plants begin to throw up 

 strong leaves they should be encouraged to grow 

 vigorously, by watering as required, by giving plenty 

 of air, and keeping them clear of green-fly, which is 

 very injurious to the leaves when it is allowed to in- 

 fest them. If the weather is hot during the months 

 of June, July, August, and September, and the grow- 

 ing plants occupy a cold frame, besides watering the 

 soil of such as are dry, sprinkle also freely overhead 

 once in the forenoon, but it should be done with a 

 watering pot having a very fine rose, otherwise the 

 foliage will be bent down bj^the weight of the water, 

 and eventually the leaves will not be erect and com- 

 pact, which they ought to be. And in reference to 

 watering over the foliage, this caution is necessary : 

 never to close up the lights of the frame for the night 

 until the leaves are quite dry, otherwise they will be- 

 come drawn. Another important point is, that while 

 the plants are in the cold frame they should never be 

 too much crowded, but allowed some few inches be- 

 tween the leaves, so that air may circulate among 

 them, and a robust growth be maintained. 



A good soil for specimen Cyclamens can be made 

 up of the following: — two-fifths coarse leaf -mould, 

 the same quantity of very light, soft, yellow loam ; 

 one-fifth dry cow-dung, and sufficient fine white sand 

 to prevent it from running together. The dry cow^- 

 dung should be collected in fine weather, and it would 

 be advisable, after rubbing it small, to pour some 

 nearly boiling water over it to kill all seeds, which 

 are very troublesome if not destroyed in this way ; or 



it may be baked in an oven to secure the same end. 

 The leaf-mould should also be well moistened, mixed 

 with cow-dung and sand ; the loam should be rubbed 

 quite fine in the hands in a dry state, mixed with the 

 other ingredients, and then there is produced an ex- 

 cellent compost to grow the Cyclamen in. 



The leading points in the culture of the Cyclamen 

 may be summarised thus : — Constant and unvarying 

 temperature, as far as it can be maintained ; a moist 

 atmosphere ; abundant supplies of water, while 

 avoiding anything like stagnation at the roots ; free 

 cii'culation of air, avoiding cold draughts ; light in 

 winter and shade in summer, with freedom from in- 

 sect pests. These conditions well observed will keep 

 the plants in vigorous growth from first to last, and 

 will conduce to the production of specimens of which 

 the cultivator may well be proud. 



Two things must be mentioned in connection with 

 the Cyclamen : one is the marvellous development 

 of colours in late years, from deep glowing shades of 

 crimson and purple to the purest white, many of tbe 

 pink and rose varieties being especially beautiful ; 

 and the origination of a large-flowered section, known 

 as C. persicum yiganteum. The flowers of these are 

 very large and of the finest form, stout in texture, 

 and rich in colour. It was at one time feared that if 

 the flowers gained in size there would be a drawback 

 in point of number, but it is found that the giant 

 type is as free of bloom as the varieties with smaller 

 flowers. Indeed, the large-flowered forms are fast 

 taking the place of the smaller types. Thej' origi- 

 nated by means of selection, and with more than one 

 grower. Mr. Henry Little, Messrs. Sutton and Sons, 

 Mr. Edmonds, Mr. Clark, and Mr. H. B. Smith, 

 have been foremost in the work of impro^^ng the 

 Cyclamen ; the last-named is an extensive grower at 

 Ealing, and very often as many as 30,000 plants can 

 be seen at his nursery. 



Growers of the Cyclamen find a tendency on its 

 part to deteriorate in quality, and they therefore 

 seek to maintain and improve upon it by means of 

 artificial fertilisation. The best time to do this is as 

 early in March as possible, but it may be done as late 

 as April, although it is generally considered that the 

 later it is done after the first week in March the less 

 chance is there of obtaining the ■wished-for result, as 

 insects at that period of the year often interfere with 

 the work of the fertiliser. When the sun shines is 

 the best time to do the crossing, and in the following 

 manner: — Having selected a plant as the pollen 

 parent (and it should have good-shaped flowers and 

 be desirable in colour), take hold of the stalk between 

 the left finger and thumb, just below the flower, and 

 with the right thumb strike the side of it and the 

 pollen will be found deposited on the left thumb-nail. 

 Then apply this pollen by means of a dry and fine 



