6 THE FLORIST. 



HINTS ON THE CULTIVATION OF BULBS. 



The principal danger against which the cultivator of Cape Bulbs 

 has to guard is, excess of wet ; and in the case of Gladioli, this is best 

 effected by choosing a piece of sloping ground, rather than by the 

 use of artificial drainage. I have found that, generally, they do 

 better if the slope is towards the north, though I do not recommend 

 this invariably. Even the July rains are, in some cases, more than 

 they can bear. With the exception of G. cardinalis (which I have 

 grown better in peat than any other soil), I have observed that these 

 bulbs, either in pots or the open ground, do better in pure loam 

 than in a mixture of loam and peat, whether in the unctuous 

 oolitic loam of the vale of Cheltenham, the limestone soil of the 

 Durdham Down Nursery, or the rich sandy loam overlying a bed of 

 gravel in my own garden, using in the latter case a layer of rotten 

 cow-manure, placed at some little depth below the bulbs, and into 

 which the roots can readily go for nourishment. Latterly I have 

 found charcoal very useful in preserving the bulbs from decay, and 

 aiding their growth. 



On the approach of severe weather, generally in December, I 

 cover my beds of Gladioli a few inches deep with partially rotten 

 leaves. 



Ixias have been grown in the nursery here to a large extent, 

 for about fifteen years, in the open ground, well drained with brick 

 or stone rubble, and of late without any protection from frost : they 

 also do well in a mixture of light loam and peat ; for which latter, 

 leaf-mould, may, I think, be substituted without disadvantage. I 

 am quite inclined to believe there is an increasing taste for these 

 charming little flowers, and that we shall see them obtain that 

 place in the flower-garden which they richly deserve. The nomen- 

 clature of this family is involved in much confusion, partly from the 

 difficulty of clearing the ground of the roots of one sort before 

 another is planted, and partly from seedling varieties getting mixed 

 with named sorts. About fourteen years since, Harry Dobree, jun. 

 Esq., of Beau Sejour, Guernsey, did me the favour of submitting to 

 me for correction a hst of thirty-six varieties of Ixia, which had been 

 cultivated by him, and which he afterwards published in the Gar- 

 doners Gazette, with explanatoiy observations, with a view " to 

 establish something like uniformity of nomenclature ;" but I fear 

 the object was not attained. I earnestly wish some lover of this 

 interesting family would again take up the subject ; and if I might 

 be allowed to mention a name, I should say I know of no one so 

 well qualified as John Rogers, Esq. of Streatham, who, about the 

 time above referred to, most kindly furnished me with descriptive 

 lists of several sections of the family, which fully bear me out in the 

 opinion I have given of his qualification for the work. 



The hst of Ixias to which I have referred, if deemed worthy of 

 insertion in the Florist, I shall have pleasure in sending you. 



