JOURNAL 



OP THE 



Royal Horticultural Society. 



Vol. XIII. 1891. 

 Part II. 



PERSIAN CYCLAMEN. 



By Mr. W. Warren, F.R.H.S. 



[Read January 13, 1891.] 



I have been honoured by receiving an invitation to read a 

 paper on the cultivation of the Persian Cyclamen, and, with the 

 simple preface that the name " Cyclamen " is derived from the 

 Greek kvkXoq, meaning "circular," in allusion either to the form 

 of the leaves, the corm, or the flowers, I will at once proceed to 

 describe the method of cultivation as pursued at Worton Gardens, 

 Isleworth, without for a moment assuming that it is necessarily 

 the best or the only desirable method. 



First, let me say that the old bulbs left from the previous 

 season are not considered worth the trouble of further cultivation, 

 but are sold for the purpose of extracting the cyclamine they 

 contain. 



With regard to the plants reserved for seed, of course the best 

 are selected, viz., those that combine the qualities of large, good- 

 shaped, five-petalled flowers, bold foliage and dwarf growth. 



The flowers of the selected plants are daily hybridised (when 

 there is any pollen) with the finger, and the plants, potted in 48 's, 

 are not allowed to bear more than six seed-pods, or the seed and 

 its offspring would be weak. We cannot always be sure of obtain- 

 ing six pods, as occasionally some of them decay unexpectedly. 

 The seed ripens about the middle of May, when it is collected 

 and placed in the sun, so that it may be well matured, otherwise 

 it germinates slowly. 



The first week in June the seed is sown in pans a foot square 

 (as these are found to afford more available space), with plenty 



B 



