ON THE GLADIOLUS 



My gladiolus colony progressed admirably, and 

 the new forms attained a degree of virility that 

 made it no more difficult to raise them than to 

 raise potatoes; indeed, much less difficult, inas- 

 much as the gladiolus bulbs in California do not 

 require to be dug or stored, but continue their 

 growth throughout the year. The only object in 

 digging them is to divide and separate them for 

 multiplication. 



The forms of the plants, and the manner of 

 bearing, as well as the shape and arrangement of 

 the blossoms, improved year by year, and the new 

 varieties of gladiolus came to be well-known to 

 dealers throughout the country, and were still 

 under process of development when an unexpected 

 complication put an end, for the time being, to 

 my further work with this plant. 



WAR WITH THE GOPHER 



The complication manifested itself in the dis- 

 covery that entire rows of the gladiolus bulbs had 

 been eaten by pocket-gophers, which had tunnelled 

 their way into the grounds, and, boring beneath 

 the gladiolus beds, had feasted on the bulbs, de- 

 stroying large numbers of them (mostly during the 

 dormant season) before I discovered the presence 

 of the marauders. 



The plants do not wither at once even when 

 the bulbs are greatly injured, or in the dormant 



[183] 



