1869.] THE KITCHEN-GARDEN. 545 



When Gladioli are to be competed witli, the spikes must be cut and 

 kept in the house in bottles for at least three days before the show. 

 This keeps the lower blooms fresh while more of the upper ones come 

 out, and the spike thus becomes of more value. By keeping them 

 too long in-doors, however, the blooms lose their characteristic colour 

 and their shape. 



In conclusion, I would impress upon the growers, and of course the 

 lovers, of Gladioli who wish to keep their stock healthy, to be careful 

 not to grow them two consecutive years in one place, and to take them 

 up at the right time as each grows ready. It is my firm belief that 

 one great cause of the failures complained of is their being taken up 

 too soon (as many of them must inevitably be if taken up in a batch), 

 and not being kept in a proper place during the v/inter. Damp is 

 fatal to them. If the practice recommended in the present paper has 

 proved so successful for years with me, there is no reason why it 

 should not do equally well with others. There is nothing in the cir- 

 cumstances of my locality more favourable for their grow^th than in 

 those of others. John Morkis. 



Mains, near Dundee. 



THE KITCHE]^3"-GAIlDE]Sr. 



NO. VII. 

 {Continued from 'page 491.) 



THE PARSNIP. 



The Parsnip is a native of Britain, and is most frequently to be found 

 in its wild state growing in loamy soils by the w^aysides in England. 

 In its wild state the roots are generally small, forked, tough, and have 

 a rank taste. It has been cultivated in British gardens for a long time, 

 but not so extensively as in the Channel Islands and in France, where 

 there are soils peculiarly well adapted for its grow^th. In these places 

 it sometimes attains an enormous size — 3 feet in length and 4 to 5 

 inches in diameter. 



The soil most congenial to its growth is a moderately light loam, 

 deeply trenched, with the soil principally near the bottom of the trenches. 

 In working the ground, it should be thoroughly pulverised, and all 

 large stones removed where they abound. When a piece of light 

 suitable soil is awanting, it is a good plan to make deep holes into the 

 soil with a large dibble, in lines 2 feet apart, and 8 inches between 

 the holes. Some light rich compost filled into the holes, and a few 



