340 
THE CYCLAMEN. 
loam, and one-fourth silver sand ; or drift- 
sand will answer the purpose, if white sand 
is not at hand. With this compost the pans 
are filled up to within an inch of the top. 
The soil is then to be pressed down lightly, 
and the seed scattered thinly over the surface. 
The seeds are covered in by sifting about half 
an inch of fine soil over them, which is to 
be pressed down rather firmly, and then 
moderately watered. The seed-pans are then 
to be covered over with a thin layer of loose 
moss to keep them moist ; this prevents 
evaporation, and does away with the neces- 
sity for frequent waterings. Place the pans 
in a frame or pit, which should be kept close 
until the seeds begin to germinate ; then 
shade them, and give a little air in fine 
weather. Or they may be set upon the shelves 
of a green-house, which will answer as well 
as a frame. When they are pretty well esta- 
blished, they may be potted into single pots. 
TREATMENT OF THE YOUNG PLANTS. 
The seedlings must be potted off into sepa- 
rate pots as soon as they have made two or 
three young leaves. Get some of the same kind 
of compost as that used for seed-sowing, and 
have it made rather fine. The pots used should 
be large thumbs, or those whichare three inches 
in diameter. Take the strongest plants out of 
the pans, without damaging the roots more 
than cannot be avoided. The plants must be 
carefully separated so as not to damage or 
break off the leaves, which are attached by 
rather brittle stalks. In potting, the soil must 
be pressed rather firmly around the base of 
the plant ; and after potting they must be 
put back into the frame, where they should 
have a good watering, and must be kept quite 
close and well shaded until they begin to root 
round the sides of the pots. When this is the 
case, they must have more air and less shade 
until they are quite hardened, when the lights 
may be left off" entirely, except during heavy 
rains, when of course they must be put on, to 
keep the soil from becoming saturated with 
water. The young plants that are left in the 
seed-pans may be thinned out, if too thick, 
and a little fresh soil may be added to fill up 
the openings where the young plants were 
taken out ; after which they should be watered 
and put in a shady place in the open air, that 
they may grow hardy and stunted. The plants 
so treated will make good plants for potting 
off the next year. 
As the plants show signs of becoming 
dormant, water must be withheld to a great 
extent until the following season. They will 
recommence growth about the latter end of 
March or the beginning of April. As soon as 
this is observed, they must be turned out of 
the thumb-pots and shifted into three-inch or 
four-inch pots, according to their size, using 
the compost a little coarser than that em- 
ployed for the young seedlings. Select those 
only for shifting that have begun to grow. 
After shifting, keep them close for some time, 
admitting a little air in the middle of the day, 
but shutting them up early in the afternoon, 
to raise the internal temperature. After they 
begin to root round the sides of the pots, they 
must have a little manure water. Cow-dung 
will form the most suitable liquid for them, 
and it should be prepared thus : — to three 
gallons of soft water add half a spadeful of 
the dung, which will make it strong enough 
for them ; this must be well stirred up two 
or three times, and then allowed to settle, 
the clear liquid only being given to the plants. 
This manure must only be given them when 
they are in full health and growing freely or 
blooming ; and must be no more applied after 
there is the least sign of the decay of the 
leaves. From this period all the water they 
requii'e, which will be but little, must be given 
to them in a pure state ; and the proportion 
will vary according to the stage at which the 
resting process is arrived. By the time the 
plants are quite matured, they will, if kept in 
a frame, require scarcely any water; the damp- 
ness of the frame will most likely keep them 
moist enough. In this case the pots should 
be laid on their sides, in order that they may 
not catch any drip from the sashes during wet 
weather ; they may remain in this position 
until the following spring. It is to be under- 
stood that the plants are not to be dried off com- 
pletely, or so far as to destroy all the leaves. 
If the plants have to be rested in a green- 
house, the shelves of which afford a very 
convenient place for the process, they must 
not stand through the resting period without 
water; but should have just enough to keep the 
leaves from dying off completely. Theless they 
can have, so that this is secured, the better. 
Mr. Mitchell, of Stokeley, some few years 
since, proved peat soil to be very conducive to 
the growth of these plants. He states, that 
although for many years he has raised seed- 
lings by the thousand, he had never been 
enabled to bloom them in less than three or 
four years from the seeds (except C. count), 
until he used peat soil in a very rough state, 
mixed with sandy loam, in the proportion of 
six parts of the former to one of the latter. 
The seeds were sown in June, as soon as they 
had ripened, and the pots containing them set 
into a cool frame till the March following, when 
many of the C. persicum produced flowers ; 
this was before they were one year old. The 
peat earth employed was full of fibre, but 
with scarcely any sand, and was obtained from 
a dry elevated situation where the common 
heath abounds. 
