GLADIOLUS 



GLADIOLUS 



647 



In the first method all that is necessary is to separate 

 the corms growing from the original, either when clean- 

 ing in the fall or before planting in th'e spring. 



When seeds are sown, the seedlings should all pro- 

 duce corms of flowering size in 3 years. Seed should be 

 planted very early in the open ground on rich, sandy 

 soil and not allowed to suffer in the least for lack of 



912. Gladiolus corm growing above the old one. 

 Also shows cormels. 



moisture. At the end of the first season's growth the 

 corms of the seedlings will be the size of peas, and can 

 be stored under the same conditions as large corms. 

 The second season plant the corms as if they were gar- 

 den peas. Some will bloom the second year, and all 

 should bloom the next. 



Increasing stock by the small corms or bulblets is the 

 most common method, and the one by which a variety 

 is perpetuated. The small corm is but a cutting or eye, 

 and can be stored in bags, boxes or other suitable re- 

 ceptacles and kept from frost. It is a help to sprouting 

 if the corms are not allowed to dry out during the pe- 

 riod of rest. They should be planted like 1-year seed- 

 lings, making blooming bulbs the first and second year. 



E. H. CUSHMAN. 



From the American hybridizer'* 



of view. 



The garden evolution of Gladioli in general is ex- 

 plained at length below. The writer has been asked to 

 present the American share in this interesting history. 

 Some ten years ago, when the writer began, under the 

 inspiration of Luther Burbank, his own work in hy- 

 bridization, the best American-grown stock available 

 was the Hallock collection of some 400 named varieties 

 of Gandavensis and about 100 of the earlier Lemoine 

 hybrids, all of European origin. After trial, the writer 

 placed them all in mixtures. 



About this time Luther Burbank began to offer a few 

 named varieties, but shortly afterwards sold his whole 

 stock, the collection being now in the writer's hands. 

 This collection, in the opinion of the writer, is the best 

 strain of Gandavensis. The varieties were largely of 

 variegated types, with many of unique markings and 

 peculiar form. Burbank had given particular attention 

 to varieties calculated to withstand the hot, dry winds 

 of California, and had originated several with specially 

 stiff petals, quite distinct from the ordinary types. The 

 peculiarity of the flowers blooming around the spike 

 like the hyacinth was also his contribution. All of his 

 varieties are now grown in mixture by the writer with 

 the exception of a white variety, which promises to be 

 distinct and valuable for some time to come. However, 

 the vitality of Burbank 's strain is remarkable, and in 

 the opinion of the writer it is greater than that of all 

 the other strains of so-called American hybrids which 

 constitute the principal stocks of commerce on this 

 continent. 



The latter strains have probably been largely pro- 

 duced from self-fertilized seed of European and Ameri- 

 can varieties, themselves the product of natural selec- 

 tion, thus carrying to their progeny the objection of a, 

 weak and degenerate parentage. 



The work of Dr. Van Fleet, of New Jersey, was car- 

 ried on more for scientific than commercial results, and 

 reaped a deserved success. However, the writer has 

 found that the offspring of a pure species is less stable 

 than that of well-balanced cross-bred varieties, the 

 former system handing down few varieties of perma- 

 nent commercial value, though they are in themselves 

 valuable as parents for the foundation of new strains. 



The best work of a semi-prof essional character, in the 

 opinion of the writer, has been done by T. S. Moore, of 

 Indiana, who has spared no trouble or expense in pro- 

 curing choice material upon which to build, and with 

 satisfactory results. As to G. cruentus (a strain of 

 reds), the writer thinks that little is to be gained by its 

 use, as we have too many reds already. Its roots tend 

 in this climate to early and rapid degeneration. 



The writer believes that the beauty of the individual 

 flower is the highest ideal, though vigor of plant and 

 vitality of variety are also necessary. He regards the 

 Gladiolus as a cut-flower rather than a garden plant, and 

 believes higher satisfaction is gotten from cutting the 

 spike when the first bud opens than from leaving the 

 flowers to open outdoors. 



A new strain of great interest is composed of the hy- 

 brids of the G. Papilio, var. major, a most interesting 

 species in which the under color, a unique shade of blue, 

 is overlaid with dull terra-cotta. In seedlings raised by 

 the writer these colors have separated, producing the 

 most beautiful heliotrope and clematis blues and rich 

 velvety purples, colors quite unknown in the older sec- 

 tions. 



Another strain likely to be presented soon is the prod- 

 uct of the old species G. dracocephalus . The flowers 

 of the hybrids are covered with minute dots similar to 

 those of the species. The species and its hybrids have 

 exceptional vigor and vitality. 



Gladioli are most adaptable to all soils, providing 

 reasonable assistance is given. Clean, sandy loam ia 

 preferable, fertilized at least every other autumn with 

 well-rotted manure, which is carefully covered below the 

 depth of planting. Before spading or plowing the 

 ground it is well to dress freely with fresh, hardwood 

 ashes. On heavy clay use leached ashes freely, and 

 cover deeply all the green vegetable refuse and leaves 

 that have been partially rotted under the manure pile 

 since the previous autumn. Also fill in the trenches 

 with sand or loam. In swamp muck and vegetable de- 

 posit, a mixture of sand added yearly is all that is 

 needed, the trenches being filled with sand at planting. 

 Cold, springy swamp lands with the water half filling 

 the trenches at planting, have given perfect satisfaction 

 with blooming bulbs, that have been developed on the 

 other soils. Water should be freely used during the 

 season of active growth ; moderately with blooming 

 stock before budding in order to ripen the plant; then 

 again freely before the buds show color and until after 

 blooming. Full exposure to the sun and air is necessary 

 for the best results. H H 



II. THE KINDS OF GLADIOLI. 



Other Latin names are in the trade, but they are 

 mostly or wholly garden forms. 



I. Species. Few of the original species of Gladioli 

 are in cultivation in their pure form. When grown at 



