84 
JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
It is to this species that my remarks on the cultivation of the 
Cyclamen mostly apply. All other species being hardy, or at least 
half-hardy. There is one peculiarity which distinguishes persicum 
from all the other species of Cyclamen. In ail the rest, as soon as 
the flower has been fertilised, and the seed-pod formed, the peduncle 
commences to assume a spiral form, and as the seed ripens it is thus 
carried as on a contracting corkscrew down to the ground, and 
eventually under the surface, where it may germinate ; persicum is 
an exception to this rule. 
Cultivation . 
In the matter of cultivation a complete and utter change has of 
late years been effected in the management of this plant, and with 
startling results. 
An eminent cultivator said to me the other day a lady once 
called upon him some some eight or ten years ago, and said she 
wished to grow C. persicum in a little glass frame, known as the 
“ "Whiteman,” in a sitting-room, and hoped to do wonders with 
them. He let her have some seed, and eight months after she wrote 
to him, declaring that the plants raised from his seed were then in 
flower. His reply was, “ Get a certificate from the clergyman of 
your parish, and then I will believe you, hut not without.’’ The 
thing was regarded as an impossibility, and my friend’s incredulity 
was scarcely to he wondered at. That, however, struck the key¬ 
note. Eapidity of growth, no cruel drying process, by which the 
very life-blood, as it were, of the plant was driven away. Best; 
hut with sufficient moisture to keep the corm plump, and the 
foliage fresh, but no more, or injury will ensue; it is the happy 
medium that must he struck, that when the plant is ready for 
flowering there must he no lost ground to recover, no exhausted 
strength to recoup, the progress must be regular, onward, easy. 
The soil most recommended for the Cyclamen is a compost of fine 
loam and leaf mould, about equal parts, with sufficient silver sand to 
keep it free. The seed should be sown in shallow pans, well drained ; 
sow as soon as the seed is ripe, say August or September, though 
some recommend waiting till November and December. Keep the 
pans in a temperature of 50° until the seedlings appear, when they 
should get as much light as possible, or they will become drawn 
and weakly. When ready prick them out into 5-inch pots, putting 
six or eight into each pot, and in spring re-pot them singly into 60 
size pots. As the sun Ibecomes more powerful they will need shade. 
