TlIE CANADIAN HOUTIOULTUUIST. 175 



I cap of sods in alternate layers \vith cow-dung, and when the sods 

 liiive become rotten, mixing the heap thoroughly together. It is well 

 to spade a good dressing of this into the l>ed intended for the Gladiolus 

 In the fall, leaving the surface rough during winter, and then spading 

 it again in the spring just before planting them out. In this way the 

 manure becomes thorougldy mingled with the soil. 



After the weather has become settled and danger of severe frost is 

 past, the corms may be safely planted out, say ten inches apa*rt each 

 way, and four or five inches deep. Our seasons are often very dry^ 

 and when planted deep the Gladolias do not suffer from the drouth as 

 much as if set more, shallow. If it is desired to keep up a succession 

 of bloom, plantings may be made every fortnight until the middle of 

 June. As soon as the plants appear above ground they will require to 

 be carefully hoed and the ground loosened and stiiTed. This sliould 

 1)6 done occasionally during the growing season, in order to keep down 

 the weeds and the ground loose, so that air and moisture may pene- 

 trate. Unless the plants are actually dying from drouth it is not 

 desirable to water them. 



As soon as tlie stalks and leaves turn yellow in the fall, or the 

 frost has killed them, the corms should be taken up, spread in the sun 

 and dried rapidly. The stalks should be cut off about an inch from 

 the crown, the corms separated, the larger packed in a box with dry 

 sand and stored in some cool dry place that is perfectly free from frost, 

 and if it is desirable to multiply them as fast as possible, the little 

 tiny bulblets that will be found at the base of the large ones may l)e 

 saved, j)ut up in paper bags and stored away where they will keep 

 safely not only through the winter ])ut also through the summer and 

 the succeeding winter until another spring. If these httle things are 

 planted out the first spring, hardly one in a hundred will grow, hut if 

 they are kept over until the second spring not one in a thousand will 

 fail to grow and form corms that will bloom the following summer. 



Our climate is much better suited to the cultivation of the Gladiolus 

 than that of Europe. The seedlings that are raised in America are 

 much finer than theirs, and if our amateurs would turn their attention 

 to the selection and hybridization of this flower, we would soon have 

 a much better race than any that can be imported. If the seed be 

 gathered and sown as soon as ripe it grows readily, and if one has a 

 greenhouse may be kept growing, with siiort intervals of rest, and 



