THE GLADIOLUS. 61 



but can be forced in a bed of earth, and can be left in the green- 

 house year after 3'ear. Forcing G. Colvillii alhus or The Bride has 

 not been successful, but a neighbor of the speaker has been giving 

 them strong bottom heat from the beginning and his are looking 

 well.* G. nanus should not be forced to flower too early — May or 

 June is early enough. Mr. Charles A. Putnam has been success- 

 ful with this species by planting in raised beds, in the autumn, — the 

 flowers appearing in June. G. carneus succeeds under the same 

 treatment. 



Edward L. Beard said that his experience with G. Colvillii has 

 been the same as Mr. Putnam's, who has grown it as a hardy bulb ; 

 it is not satisfactory to force, but succeeds in the open ground if 

 lifted after flowering and before making a second growth. The same 

 treatment is applicable to Ixias and other Cape bulbs, which require 

 a period of rest. They sometimes grow a foot high before frost, 

 and this is the critical period ; to prevent this they shuld be dug 

 up as soon as the foliage begins to decay and kept dry and planted 

 again before the ground freezes, thus giving a season of enforced 

 rest, which is what this class of bulbs wants. The speaker has 

 from five to seven hundred bulbs of Gladiolus Colvillii in a heavy 

 soil. Mr. Putnam's soil is light and he has wintered Ixias and 

 similar bulbs successfully. 



Gladioli will not succeed permanentlj' in heavy soils ; they 

 will lack vigor and will not perpetuate themselves ; they like a light 

 soil well cultivated. The large English growers alternate them 

 with potatoes. He approved the essayist's plan of ploughing ; and 

 would let the ground rest in winter. G. X)urpureo-auratus repro- 

 duces itself freely and is very ornamental in the open ground. 

 They multiply freely by bulblets, — sometimes twenty-five from one 

 bulb, and should be grown in quantity instead of pelargoniums, 

 coleuses, etc. Man}' English varieties are very uncertain in our 

 climate, being feeble and lacking in vigor. He would like a list 

 based on the vigor, strength, and freedom of multiplication of the 

 varieties. 



Such varieties as Colvillii if ready for planting when received 

 would be injured l)y keeping out of the ground. They will make 

 shoots an inch or two in length in winter. He covers all his bulbs 

 with about six inches of well rotted manure in winter. The best 

 protection is that which will shed water, which is very destructive ; 



* These all failed to flower. 



