7)ctober 24, 1§03_ 
THB GARDENING WORLD. 
887 
READERS’ COMPETITION. 
For details of this competition and prize offered, please 
see pace 893. Please post on Friday night. 
Successful Cyclamen Culture. 
The Cyclamen is universally admitted to be one of our most 
valuable winter-flowering plants, owing to its free-blooming 
propensity and the long season that the plants can be kept m 
periect condition. Throughout the daris winter months the 
Cyclamen quarters are gay with an abundance of flowers of 
varied, hue, allowing of a constant picking of blooms, without- 
spoiling the effect of the collection. To begin with, get good 
seed. Co to a good Arm for the seed, which, to give satisfaction, 
must be plump and fresh-looking, not the withered seed oi 
years past, the germination of which will be very slow and un¬ 
even, which is very disappointing when one is wauhing daily 
.for the expected progress that is so deferred. 
The first week m August is a good time to sow. The suitable 
•.soil for the seed is a mixture of one-half loam and one-half 
leaves, through a g-in. riddle, with a sprinkling oi silver sand 
.and some broken crocks run through a fine sieve. Place the 
.mixture on a tin tray or sheet of galvanised iron over a fire, 
-and keep stirred about until well heated through, which will 
ten sure the death of all insects and eggs, which would otherwise 
jprove very detrimental to the germination of the seed and the 
growth of the seedlinm This may seem a trivial and unneces¬ 
sary operation, but success m Cyclamen culture, like success 
witn anything else, is only attained by strict attention u> 
minor details. I prefer 12-in. pans to boxes for sowing, as there 
is often much trouble with fungus in boxes. Well drain the 
pans, and water the soil before sowing. Do not sow care 
iessly, but place the seeds 1 in. apart, and cover lightly with 
fine soil. Cover the pans with sheets of glass, which will pre¬ 
vent the ingress of insects and undue evaporation. A layer of 
clean moss over the glass will exclude the strong light. In 
about 24 days the moss may be removed, and the pans put on 
a shelf near the glass. Air must be admitted gradually until 
the leaf is expanded, when the glass may be taken olf alto¬ 
gether. 
As soon as possible pot them singly into thumb-pots in a 
mixture similar to that advised for the sowing, keeping the 
-conn well above the soil. A good contrivance to get the young 
plants well up to the light, where they can have good attention,, 
is to raise sheets of galvanised iron on large pots on a side 
-stage in a warm house where the temperature never falls below 
60 °deg. ; cover it with a layer of clean washed gravel, free 
from soil, run through a fine riddle. The thumb-pots will 
stand well on this, and will not dry up so quickly as they would 
on a shelf. Spray them over often in good weather, and when 
the sun is bright throw a light shading over the glass outside. 
Avoid cold draughts, and keep a sharp look-out for mice, which 
are very partial to the young corms. Tumi gate the house lightly 
with X L All vapourising compound once a fortnight, to keep 
down the tiresome yellow tlirip and green fly, two of the Cycla¬ 
men’s worst enemies. A careful stirring of the surface soil 
i occasionally with a pointed stick will be found to benefit tlie 
young plants. 
As soon as the pots are filled with roots a shift into 3-in. and 
4-in. pots will be necessary. A suitable compost for this shift 
will be two parts fibrous loam pulled up small, one part leaf 
mould, and one part spent Mushroom manure, with a good 
. sprinkling of silver sand and crock dust, carefully freeing the 
1 whole from worms before using. The pots must be clean and 
well crocked, the soil pressed in with the fingers only. A 
heated span-roofed frame running north and south will be the- 
best place for them now. Raise the bed with ashes, well up to- 
the glass. Careful attention must always be paid to the water¬ 
ing of the plants, and more especially directly after potting. 
The pipe heat must also be carefully managed, as excessive 
fire heat is most injurious in many ways. In dull cold weather, 
however, a brisk heat in the pipes, with a little ventilation, 
will maintain a nice growing temperature, which must range 
from 60 to 72 deg., the latter with sun heat only. When the 
pots are again full of roots, and the sooner the better, the final 
j shift must be given. 
The compost for this potting must be good fibrous loam, 
I leaves, and spent Mushroom bed, with a sprinkling of some 
approved chemical manure and a little soot; 5-in. and 6-in. 
pots will be large enough. The soil can be made sufficiently 
firm with the fingers, keeping the crowns well above the soil. 
The plants now require plenty of room, and, perhaps, the ashes 
lowered, to give sufficient head-room. When the roots have 
begun to take possession of the fresh soil the pipe heat may 
be dispensed with, excepting in cold or wet weather. Admit 
plenty of air in good weather, leaving a little on at night. 
Shade during the brightest part of the day. By the end of 
August the blooms will be pushing up freely, and the plants 
may then be housed in a clean, low, span-roofed house, where an 
even temperature can be maintained at a mean of about 58 deg. 
If larger specimens are desired, some of the strongest plants 
can be given a shift into 8-in. or 9-in. pots about the end of 
July ; in fact, as soon as they have made good use of the pot 
they are in. When the pots are full of roots a little of Clay’s 
fertiliser or Ichthemic guano in the water occasionally will 
greatly benefit them, and, by way of a change, a little stable 
manure water in a weak state. A slight fumigation occasionally 
with X L All will keep insect pests in check, and, with good 
attention, the plants will be in good condition for the Novem¬ 
ber shows, and will continue to make a grand display until 
February. Albion. 
Winter-Flowering Tree Carnations. 
At this season of the year there are very few plants so useful 
as winter-flowering Carnations. Their comparatively easy cul¬ 
ture and free-flowering habit ought to insure a more extensive 
cultivation, especially by those who cannot have houses devoted 
to the Malmaison varieties. They are also more serviceable for 
decorative purposes, and may be used for the conservatory, to 
which, they add a charming effect. A model tree Carnation is 
a plant from 2 ft. to 3 ft. in height, bushy, with numerous side 
growths springing from the main stem, vigorous in habit and 
profuse in bloom. Early propagation is undoubtedly an essen¬ 
tial if success is to be attained. For flowering in October and 
November propagation should be done early in December. 
Select side growths, and, where possible, with a heel of the 
old wood, place five or six around the edges of small 60’s, and 
plunge in a brisk bottom heat of 70° to 75°, keeping the plants 
close for a time, but on no account allow them to droop. A 
suitable soil for cuttings is a yellow sandy loam, leaf soil, and 
silver sand in equal parts. Care must be taken that the base 
of the cutting rests firmly at the base of the hole made by the 
dibber. The soil should be in a somewhat moist condition to 
preclude the necessity of watering for a considerable time. 
Each day carefully wipe all moisture from the top of the glass 
to prevent drip, removing decayed leaves as soon as discovered, 
and immediately root action has commenced admit air freely. 
The batch of cuttings inserted in December should be ready 
for potting singly late in January, when a later batch of cuttings 
should be taken. As soon as the plants are established remove 
them to a temperature of 50° by night, raising 5° during the 
day, with air admitted thoughtfully to prevent the plants from 
becoming drawn. Keep a watchful eye on the young plants, 
and on no account allow them to become drawn or root-bound, 
or they will experience a check to growth when repotted. Early 
in March the first batch should be ready for potting into 4 in. 
•or 5 in. pots according to the size of the plants. A further stock 
of cuttings may be inserted in March, and treated as previously 
-advised. 
The main object of the grower is to keep his plants growing 
steadily and have them as sturdy as possible. Careful atten¬ 
tion must at all times be paid to watering, which is certainly 
one secret of success. 
Abundance of air should be given on all favourable occasions. 
When the warm weather sets in the plants do well in cold frames. 
For final potting use a compost of three parts yellow fibrous 
loam one of peat, and about the same of sheep manure, rubbed 
fine, with one quarter mortar rubbish or sandstone, wood ashes, 
an 1 a sprinkling of bones (half-inch) and charcoal. 
Syringe the plants twice daily during favourable weather, 
which will assist to /keep red spider and thrips at bay. If the 
plants are healthy and free from parasite's it will be a- pleasure 
to watch the development of the leaves, and their colour will 
be a rich glaucous green. About June the lights may be open 
or taken off during the, daytime, and as the season becomes 
favourable they may be leffr-offi altogether. As the pots become 
full of roots the plants will require feeding. Give an occa- 
