1869.] THE GLADIOLUS. 541 



nails should also be kept some distance back from tlie branches, for if 

 they tome in contact with them, or should the hammer in driving 

 them in strike or bruise the branch in the least, gumming or canker, 

 or perhaps both, will be the consequence. 



James M'Millan. 

 {To be continued.) 



THE GLADIOLUS. 



The Gladiolus is now fully established as one of our most prized 

 autumnal flowers. Its colours, many-hued and glorious, its stately 

 spike of bloom, and the simplicity of its culture, combine to make it a 

 favourite. Year by year its charms are increasing, and year by year 

 the admiration and love of its growers become stronger. A very 

 marked improvement has within a short period been made both in its 

 shape and the combinations of its colours. But its votaries are not 

 always so successful in its cultivation as they would wish to be. From 

 the many complaints we hear every season of the failure of the Gladi- 

 olus, it might be concluded that its cultivation is difficult, and the re- 

 sults precarious. I believe, however, that whenever there is more 

 than a very small percentage of failure or disease in a bed, it is the 

 result of carelessness in some part of the management of the bulbs or 

 the soil. Many growers have been misled by the hasty conclusions of 

 some writers in regard to the requirements of the Gladiolus, and by 

 following their advice have, after an immense amount of trouble 

 altogether unnecessary, been repaid only by the loss of their roots. 

 Having been successful for the last seven years in growing the Gladi- 

 olus with a very small percentage of loss (and under the best manage- 

 ment there will always be a few diseased bulbs), and also in keeping 

 my bulbs in as good condition as regards bulk and health as when 

 they were imported, I think I may conclude that my simple treatment 

 of them throughout the year suits their habits and constitution. I 

 may mention in passing, that during the last two exceptional, and to 

 many growers fatal, seasons, I have had large beds of Gladioli strong 

 and healthy, with foliage of the deepest green, and the bloom splendid. 

 The first care of the Gladiolus-grower ought to be, of course, the 

 securing of a stock of good healthy bulbs. For this end an early call 

 should be made at the dealers. In selecting bulbs, see that the flesh 

 be plump, firm, and clean, free from black spots anywhere, but parti- 

 cularly about the lower part where the rootlets shoot. Bulbs with 

 black spots will very likely be of no use the second year, and even 



