252 SATURDAY IN MY GARDEN 



of the trenches as the digging proceeds, and merely covering them 

 with soil. 



For the purpose of planting in beds it will be found a useful 

 practice to plant in drills rather than in holes made with a dibbler. 

 The drills should be at least six inches in depth and one foot apart. 

 Into the bottom of the drills it will be advisable to place an inch 

 or so of river sand, such as can be purchased at the florist's or 

 corn chandler's. The object of this is to assist good drainage, so 

 as to carry away superfluous moisture from the base of the corm, 

 and thus prevent rotting a calamity that often befalls the 

 gladiolus, unless this precaution be taken. The corms should be 

 planted eight or nine inches apart, and be covered with soil. In 

 doing so use, if possible, fresh soil, from which new stable manure 

 is completely absent. There are few bulbs, and the gladiolus is 

 not one of them, which welcome manure in direct contact with 

 'them. After planting is completed, however, a thin layer of 

 manure may be placed over the bed. Such a mulching will prove 

 most beneficial when the corms get into active growth. 



.No flowers need be expected until July.but^tiiere is no reason 

 why the beds devoted in this way to gladioli should be allowed to 

 remain bare during the early months of summer. Some such 

 dwarf plants as the viola, either creamy white, like A. S. Frater, 

 or yellow (William "Lockwood), or heliotrope (Maggie Mott), may 

 be put in between the rows. If the planting be done early there 

 will be a rich display of bloom from April onwards throughout the 

 summer. 



Where gladioli conns are planted in c'umps in the mixed border 

 they should be deployed at intervals of six or eight niches in the 

 manner depicted in the illustration. 



The gladiolus is not quite hardy, and it is therefore necessary 

 in order to preserve it to lift the bulbs annually at the end of 

 )ber. The corms should be raised from the ground while still 

 led to the stem, and be tied in a bundle preparatory to 

 storing away for the winter. The storehouse should be either 

 a frost -proof shed or cellar from which damp can be entirely 

 excluded. It is a good plan to hang the bunch from a nail on 



