464 



THE GLADIOLUS OR CORN-FLAG. 



tures, except to a very limited extent ; and 

 the vast stock which he has on hand enables 

 him to supply orders to almost any extent. 

 He has lately sent an agent to this conntry, 

 and I presume will hereafter receive his full 

 share of American patronage. His stock of 

 pear trees seemed to be inexhaustible ; and 

 the extent of his grounds, (200 acres,) re- 

 quires the employment of so many men, 

 that very skilful supervision must be neces- 

 sary to make the employment of so much 

 capital profitable to the proprietor. 



Mr. L. also cultivates great quantities of 

 seedling forest trees, among which the uni- 

 versal poplar is very conspicuous. 



Mr. Goutier, Fontenay Aux Roses. This 

 establishment is principally devoted to the 

 propagation of small plants, such as stocks 

 for the use of nurseries, and seedling forest 

 trees ; but the cultivation of roses and other 

 flowering shrubs, forms a considerable part 



of his business. The proprietor is a man of 

 considerable enterprise, and certainly shows 

 superior skill in his profession. 



These establishments may be taken as 

 favorable specimens of their respective 

 branches of business ; and although con- 

 ducted in a manner hardly practicable here, 

 are each well worthy of a visit from any 

 person who takes the least interest in the 

 subject of horticulture. Their methods of 

 cultivation differ from our own, mainly, in 

 the much greater amount of manual labor 

 which is expended ; they use no horse pow- 

 er either in the preparation or after-culture 

 of the soil, but the results of their efforts are 

 remarkable. More vigorous and healthful 

 trees and shrubs I have never seen, and the 

 prices at which they are sold seem to show 

 that manual labor, where it can be had at 

 low prices, is cheaper than the employment 

 of animals. Yours, J. W. H. 



ON THE GLADIOLUS OR CORN-FLAG. 



BY AN AMATEUR, NEW-YORK. 



I am not a little surprised that this beauti- 

 ful genus of bulbous plants is not more 

 universally known and cultivated in the 

 flower garden. Its varieties produce their 

 long spikes of beautiful flowers, of various 

 shades, from pure white to rich purple, for 

 a long time during the hottest of our mid- 

 summer weather, when there are few things 

 so gay and beautiful in the flower garden. 

 They have the merit, too, of delighting in 

 our mid-summer sun, which injures the 

 colours of so many plants. 



The common Gladiolus or corn-flag, (G. 

 communis,) with purple flowers, is pretty 

 well known in our gardens ; as being per- 

 fectly hardy, it may be left to take care of 



itself among other tenants of the open bor- 

 ders. Many gladioli are from the Cape of 

 Good Hope, and though beautiful, are too 

 delicate, except for the green-house. But 

 there are also many from Turkey, Russia, 

 and the north of Europe, as well as hybrid 

 varieties, raised in European gardens, which 

 may be grown in perfection in the open air, 

 if the beds in which they are planted are suf- 

 ficiently covered in winter to protect them 

 against severe frost. In some parts of the 

 middle states — as at Philadelphia and Bal- 

 timore — three or four inches of tan-bark, 

 laid over the beds in the autumn, will ef- 

 fect this ; and in the more northern dis- 

 tricts, covering the beds at the approach of 



