THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



degree desiring to be taught how to 

 avoid the preventable losses and fail- 

 ures ! Who is to do it 1 How is it to 

 be done 1 — PaoF. I. P. Roberts, in 

 I' he Journal of the Ainerican Agricul- 

 tural Association. 



THK GLADIOLUS AS A FALL FLOWER. 



The Gladiolus is one of the most 

 beautiful an.l charming of all bulbous 

 flowering plants, and 

 should be far more exten- 

 sively cultivated. As a 

 late autumn flower, there 

 is nothing to siirpass it. 

 They are of the easiest 

 culture, and succeed in 

 almost any variety of soil. 

 I have not tried them in 

 pure sand, but my poorest 

 soil has given me as fine 

 flowers and bulbs as I 

 could desire. I usually 

 plant them four or five 

 inches deep, covering 

 lightly, and after they 

 have grown a few inches, 

 hoe, drawing the earth to 

 them, thus completing the 

 covering. I find planting 

 thus deep is a great aid in 

 Glabiolus. keeping them erect, and 

 enables one to dispense with the use of 

 stakes, and as the new bulbs are formed 

 on top of the old ones, they are suffici- 

 ently below the surface to obtain requi- 

 site moisture and avoid being checked 

 in growth should the surface become 

 dry. 



Many persons fail to get the most 

 satisfaction, by planting too early and 

 all at one time. If planted at intervals 

 of two weeks or so for two or three 

 months, the flowering season is much 

 extended, and the later plantings come 

 into flower when the bulk of other 

 flowers are past. I know of no flower 

 that embraces so wide a range and 



variety of color and shades, from the 

 most intensely brilliant and dazzling to 

 the softest and most delicate tints, with 

 various blendings of the same. The 

 plants will stand quite a servere frost, 

 or several of them, without injury, and 

 after their more tender companions 

 that helped to make up the beauty of 

 the flower garden and lawn have with- 

 ered and faded, the charming Gladiolus 

 still remains to cheer our eyes and 

 gladden our hearts. Even when the 

 weather has become so cold as to freeze 

 the ground, any flower -stalks near the 

 point of blooming, if cut and put in 

 water in the house, will continue to 

 develop and unfold their bloom for two 

 or three weeks, furnishing a source of 

 great admiration to every visitor, and 

 by their cheerful presence a welcome 

 and attractive feature to any household, 

 long after their companions have "with- 

 ered and gone." 



After the plants have ceased flower- 

 ing, and before the ground is frozen 

 deep enough to injure the bulbs, the}' 

 should be taken up, the tops i^moved 

 and the young bulbs put in })aper l)ags, 

 boxes, or something similar, ]al)('](nl if 

 the varieties are named, and kept in a 

 dry cellar. The price of bulbs is now 

 so low that no one need be deterred 

 from engaging in their culture, in a 

 small way at least. It is not necessary 

 to pay fifty cents to one or two dollars 

 for a single bulb ; such prices belong to 

 new and scarce varieties or novelties, 

 and aix3 no index of their beauty. A 

 dozen bulbs of mixed coloi-s can be had 

 for a dollar, and as many choice-named 

 varieties for double the amount, so that 

 for a small investment the owner of the 

 humblest yard or garden may be able 

 to realize, and say with equal truthful- 

 ness, as has been said of the Lily, 



• ' That even Solomon in all his glcry 

 Was not arrayed like one of these." 



E. Williams, in Americari Garden. 



