BULBS FOR SPRING PLANTING 265 



an African plant is used, and, this being so, it may 

 often be a mistake to attempt to reproduce as many 

 of those conditions as possible. The inevitable want 

 of one condition can perhaps only be supplied by a 

 change in other conditions. Only experiment can 

 determine how far this is the case, and, therefore, 

 when a bulb from a hot country fails to flower in Eng- 

 land it is always worth while to try a richer diet upon 

 it. But manure when it is given to bulbs should al- 

 ways be placed well below them so that they may 

 not suffer from contact with it, and it should also be 

 well rotted. 



Many of the bulbs which are best planted for the 

 first time in spring can be left in the ground after- 

 wards if they are in warm sheltered places, as, for 

 instance, close to a south wall. Such bulbs, however, 

 should be planted deep, and in hard winters protected 

 with litter, which should be removed as soon as mild 

 weather comes. But if these bulbs refuse to flower 

 with this treatment, they should be lifted in the au- 

 tumn. 



The best-known bulbs for spring planting are, as 

 we have said, the Gladioli, but of these only the later 

 flowering kinds should be planted in spring. The 

 beautiful early flowering ones, of which there are 

 now many varieties, start into growth in the winter 

 and should be planted in late autumn, and protected, 

 at least, for the first winter. Of the later flowering 

 Gladioli there are now several groups and an infinite 

 number of varieties. The groups also are tending, 



