July 9, 1908. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



Decoration by the Yuess Gardens Co., for a Military Ball at Newbursfh, N. Y. 



or more, a few being natives of Europe 

 and western Asia, a few from the moun- 

 tains of tropical Africa. Most of them, 

 however, are from South Africa (Cape 

 Oolony and Natal). The leading parents 

 of garden sorts are the species psit- 

 tacinus, cardinalis, Saundersii, purpureo- 

 auratus, Papilio, dracocephalus, Cooperii, 

 Adlami and cruentus. But few of them 

 are of value to the garden, and then 

 only as curiosities. In addition to the 

 use of wild species, many domestic spe- 

 cies have been produced which have been 

 of incalculable value in securing new 

 types and colors, as far as the general 

 habits and constitution are concerned. 



History of the Gladiolus. 



The gladiolus is quite an old flower, 

 for we find that as far back as 1596 

 Gladiolus segetum was cultivated, and in 

 1629 Gladiolus Byzantinus was quite 

 popular. Also during the last half of 

 the eighteenth century many species were 

 introduced, causing a great deal of in- 

 terest in this flower. 



At one time Gladiolus segetum and 

 G. communis were highly prized for their 

 medicinal properties, but for what ail- 



_ ment I have been unable to ascertain. 



' The starchy bulbs of some African spe- 

 cies were also used by the natives as 

 food. In 1823 Mr. Colvill, of Chelsea, 

 brought to notice the variety Colvillei, 

 a cross between cardinalis and tristis. 

 and which by later breeding has shown 

 some beautiful hybrids, especially adapt- 

 ed for early forcing, although the flow- 

 er is quite small. 



It seems, however, to have been left 

 to Van Houtte to start the ball rolling, 

 when in 1841 he introduced to the trade 

 the Gandavensis type, said by some au- 

 thorities to be a cross between psitta- 

 cinus and cardinalis, while others claim 

 it is the result of crossing psittacinus 

 and oppositiflorus. I am inclined to the 



former theory, although in some so-called 

 Gandavensis hybrids the blood of oppo- 

 sitiflorus is recognized. Especially is 

 it prominent in that old variety, Ceres. 



The Lemoinei type, a hybrid of pur- 

 pureo-auratus and Gandavensis, was first 

 introduced in 1878 by Victor Lenioine, 

 and the Nanceianus, a hybrid of Le- 

 moinei and Saundersii, was introduced 

 in 1889 by the same hybridizer. About 

 this time, or perhaps a little earlier, a 

 cross between Gandavensis and Saundersii 

 was obtained by Max Leichtlin, of Ger- 

 many, which strain came to America and 

 was named Childsii. 



About the year 1887 I happened to see 

 a small planting of gladioli in the gar- 

 den of a personal friend, which, on com- 

 paring quality, vitality and multiplying 

 functions, were a revelation to me. I 

 found, upon inquiring, that they were hy- 

 brids from the trial ground-i of H. H. 

 Grolf, of Canada, and immediately I 

 made it my business to stock up as rap- 

 idly as possible from that source, so that 

 today I have between 15,000 and 20,000 

 seedlings of exceptional merit, the re- 

 sult of crosses made by that hybrid- 

 izer. 



Culture in the Field. 



The methods employed in the success- 

 ful cultivation of the gladiolus are too 

 well known to all of you for me to go 

 into full details; hence, I will touch 

 lightly upon this subject. One of the 

 principal points is to select proper soil, 

 for although this bulb will bloom in al- 

 most any kind of soil and under ad- 

 verse conditions, still, like most flowers, 

 it has its choice of soils. Sandy loam 

 is preferable, but if this cannot be sup- 

 plied, heavy soil may be much lighten- 

 ed by the application of sand. The soil 

 also should be well drained, for the gladi- 

 olus will not thrive well where there is 

 excessive moisture. 



The soil should be well fertilized in 

 the fall and thoroughly plowed, and 

 again in the spring should be well pul- 

 verized, at which time the lightening 

 {)rGces8 with sand should take place if 

 required. The planting can be made in 

 rows or en masse, according to the uses 

 which are to be made of the flowers. If 

 space is limited the rows may be as close 

 as eighteen inches apart. Such plant- 

 ing, of course, is intended for cut flow- 

 ers. 



Four inches is shallow enough to plant 

 in any soil for the bulb to take strong 

 root and to permit of suflicient space 

 lor the new bulb or bulbs to form on 

 top of the one planted. By planting 

 this depth, and even a little deeper in es- 

 pecially light soil, the spike from the 

 old corm to the top of the ground is a 

 help toward supporting the mass of flow- 

 ers which are sure to follow proper 

 cultivation, and, as a general rule, no 

 stakes are required except under ex- 

 treme conditions, such as continued high 

 winds, sometimes accompanied by driv- 

 ing rains. 



Gladiolus bulbs may be carried through 

 the winter year after year in good con- 

 dition, if stored in a dry place, with as 

 low a temperature as possible above the 

 freezing point. 



Propagation. 



The multiplication of the same vari- 

 ety is accomplished in two ways: First, 

 by division ; the old bulb producing from 

 two to as high as ten new blooming 

 bulbs. Second, by offsets or cormels, 

 which are formed among the roots be- 

 tween the old bulb planted and the new 

 bulb or bulbs, which form on top. A 

 large percentage of these cormels require 

 two years' planting in order to secure 

 blooming bulbs, and the first year may be 

 sowed in rows one inch deep and about 

 twelve inches apart. 



