OCTOBER. 293 



"D." has announced that " $ " has given up Auricula growing; 

 and while all who know him, personally or by the pen, will share with 

 me the regret that his health has made this sacrifice advisable, I think 

 I may take the opportunity of expressing a hope that his singular 

 power of discrimination and comparison may aid " D." in his project, 

 if it comes to maturity. I never yet saw his accuracy of eye, both for 

 foliage and flower, at fault, when a variety either unnamed or wrongly 

 named was before him. He has sometimes reminded me of the 

 marvellous but well-attested feat of the late Mr. Capel, by the sense 

 of taste, who correctly named each of a series of samples of tea, sub- 

 mitted to him for examination as if unknown, but which were only 

 selected on purpose to test, without his being conscious of it, his 

 unrivalled powers as a tea taster. I think " $ " has something like a 

 similar power of vision. 



Iota. 



GLADIOLUS FOR AUTUMN DISPLAY. 



Tins class cannot be too strongly recommended to all lovers of gay 

 flowers. Nothing can be more gorgeous than their colours, nothing more 

 easy than their culture ; and their price (excepting with very recently 

 raised kinds), places them within the reach of the many, and, besides, 

 they may very readily be raised from seeds. G. gandavensis hybrids 

 are the most showy and most generally useful. Nothing can well 

 exceed the beauty of many of the varieties, as**Brenchleyensis, amabilis, 

 Comtesse de Bresson, Daphne, and many others ; these may be planted 

 in April and May. Any common sandy soil will suit them, if enriched 

 by digging in a little rotten leaf-soil, but the soil should be moderately 

 deep and open, to allow the roots to descend, and at the same time well 

 drained. We advise the bulbs to be potted soon after Christmas, 

 and plunged under some dry material behind a north wall, so as not 

 to excite them beyond making roots, and in April they may be planted 

 to form the first show of bloom. Bulbs of the same kind planted at 

 the same time, which have not been potted, will bloom a month later, 

 and by selecting the kinds which succeed each other, a succession may 

 be had from July to November. 



When planted in groups by themselves, as they are deficient in 

 foliage, to make a good bottom, they should always be mixed with 

 other things, to fill up. On the Continent, young Asparagus is largely 

 used, but this would hardly be considered dressy enough for a first-rate 

 English parterre. Cineraria maritima and Verbena venosa, mixed, 

 and the bed filled up with hybrid G. gandavensis, produces a mass of 

 colour quite magnificent. The different species of Indian Shot, which 

 are easily propagated, and grow well during the summer in the open 

 ground, form an admirable bottom ; their fine foliage forming a suit- 

 able base for the grand scapes of the Gladiolus, which afe strikingly 

 beautiful, rising above them. Some of the strong growing hardy 

 Ferns, if their culture could be attended to, would be extremely 

 suitable, and the combination would be unique. When Arundinaria 



