ON TIIE CYCLAMEN. 
85 
though still requiring all the light they can get, minus the direct 
beams of the sun. In June they will have made good progress, and 
will require shifting into larger pots, and placing in a favourable 
position where they can enjoy plenty of light, not sunlight, except 
in the early morning or afternoon, and regularity in watering, 
especially in the matter of overhead syringing, which is most bene¬ 
ficial. As the days draw in the plants will want all the light they 
can get, protect from early frosts, keeping the temperature to about 
45°, and fresh air whenever practicable. 
The earliest flowers always show the best colour, and they may 
be looked for as early as Christmas, but they do not come into 
general bloom till February and March. After blooming they will 
need shade, and .the following summer the plants will cease to 
put forth fresh leaves, then less water must be given until growth 
is again started, and so the same plant will continue to bloom year 
after year, though the usual practice is to throw away the tubers 
after the third or fourth year, as the quality of the flowers deterio¬ 
rates with age. 
The characteristics of the Cyclamen which it is desirable to 
improve are 
I. The plant; its habit; compactness of growth ; elegance 
of form; freedom in bloom. 
II. The leaves; variegation, or strength of colour. 
III. The flower ; colour ; size ; fragrance. 
The efforts of various of our well-known cultivators of this plant 
have been directed into different channels. Mr. Little, of Hilling¬ 
don, has striven to produce the finest colour, the deepest crimsons 
and purples, and his efforts have been duly recognised by this 
•Society, who have awarded him First-Class Certificates for several 
of his most successful examples, as for instance, Queen of Crimsons , 
Ruby , Purpureum , Prince of Purple, and Purple Gem , which would 
be difficult to surpass in this his speciality—colour. 
Again, Mr. Hook, of Bridgfield, is aiming at a combination of 
good quality blooms, with silver margined foliage, in this, so far 
as the foliage is concerned, Mr. Hook has succeeded in raising a 
strain with beautifully distinct foliage, deep green in the centre, 
margined with a distinctly lighter colour, but as yet there is much 
room for improvement in the flowers. 
Mr. Edmunds, of Hayes Nursery, another persevering culti- 
