AND GENERAL HOETICULTUKE. 



167 



GLA 



them will flower. If the precaution is taken 

 , to sow the seed in a hot-bed, close the same 

 upon the approach of a heavy rain, which they 

 dislike exceedingly. Very nearly all the bulbs 

 will be large enough to give their most perfect 

 flowers the second year. The fact that the 

 best rarely flower first, will tend to create in 

 the amateur a warm and lively interest. A perti- 

 nent question is, how to obtain the best seed. 

 Commence by making a careful selection of 

 the best varieties in cultivation, keeping in 

 view those of the best form, largest size, and 

 of the most intense and positive colors; 

 wherever they are marked or variegated, have 

 the markings bold and distinct. Plant all in 

 a bed so that they will not be more than one 

 foot apart each way. Without further care 

 you win get some good seed ; but a better 

 quality and much larger quantity will be 

 obtained by crossing them in all sorts of 

 ways, which is the most effectually done on 

 a dry day, when there is but little air stirring. 

 It is not necessary to cross-fertilize for good 

 varieties, though it is a more certain way; yet 

 very many of our best seedlings were acci- 

 dentals. The Gladioli dislikes a stiff, clayey 

 soil, but will thrive well in almost any other, 

 its preference being for one of a moist, sandy 

 nature, or light loam. They do best on what 

 is termed sod-ground, with but little manure, 

 and that well rotted. Successive plantings in 

 the same ground should be avoided. Change 

 the locality of the bed every yeaf, so as not 

 to return to the same spot for at least three 

 years. It is much the best plan to make the 

 ground very rich this year, and put on some 

 light crop ; then it will be in perfect order for 

 the Gladioli next. Increase of desirable sorts 

 is effected by the small bulbs or bulblets that 

 form at the base of the new bulb, which are 

 produced in greater or less quantities. Some 

 varieties will have on an average a hundred 

 in a year ; others will produce scarcely any. 

 This will, in a great measure, account for the 

 marked difference in prices of, the named 

 sorts ; it will also account for the rapid in- 

 crease in the more common sorts, and the 

 sudden disappearance of those greatly prized. 

 Choice sorts are but short-lived, unless they 

 are increased by bulblets. In many of our 

 named sorts, old bulbs will not produce good 

 flowers, if, inde^'d, they produce any ; conse- 

 quently tjfie bulblets from all favorite sorts 

 should be planted every spring, or at least a 

 sufficient number of them for a required stock. 

 The bulblets should be planted in spring in 

 any convenient out-of-the-way place in the 

 garden, and given the same treatment as is 

 recommended for the seed. If in rich, light 

 soil, very nearly all will flower the second 

 year. They require but little room the first 

 year. Prepare the rows about the width of 

 the common garden hoe, and sow the bulblets 

 (or seeds) so clo^e thatthey will nearly touch 

 each other, and they will do much better than 

 if more scattered. During winter the bulbs, 

 without regard to size or age, are best kept 

 in a dry, cool cellar. Plantings should be 

 made as early in spring as the ground can be 

 got in order, no matter if there should be hard 

 frosts after ; it will not penetrate the ground 

 sufficiently to injure them. For late flowering 

 some of the stronger bulbs may be kept until 

 the first of July, which will keep them back 

 until about the first of October. It is now 



GLA 



also a common practice with florists to reserve 

 Gladiolus bulbs until August, which are then 

 planted in boxes, four or five inches deep, in 

 rich soil. The boxes are kept out of doors 

 until frost, when they are placed in a cool 

 green-house, where they flower from Novem- 

 ber to December, at a time when they com- 

 mand good prices. A number of the early 

 flowering sorts, such as John Bull, white ; 

 La Candeur, white, striped with violet ; Shakes- 

 peare, white, suffused with carmine ; Isaac 

 Buchanan, yellow ; Martha Washington, light 

 yellow ; Eugene Scribe, rose, marked with 

 red, Brenchleyensis, scarlet, etc., are also 

 forced, during the spring months, for their 

 flowers, many florists finding them a paying 

 crop between the rows of young roses, etc., as 

 they take up but little room, and are removed 

 before the roses require the space. Notwith- 

 standing that most of the original species have 

 long since been superseded by the numerous 

 and beautiful hybrids now in cultivation, 

 many of them are worthy of being retained 

 for the mixed flower border. O. natalensia, 

 O. cardinaUa, G. Jloribundvs, G. tristis, etc., 

 the parents of the early hybrids G. Gcmda- 

 vensis, G. Colvillei, etc., are still largely culti- 

 vated. The latter species, with its beautiful 

 pure white variety, G. C. Alba, better known 

 in cultivation as "The Bride," are amongst 

 the most beautiful for pot culture. They suc- 

 ceed admirably, and may be had in full beauty 

 by January, if gently forced. The two latter 

 are, moreover, perfectly hardy, and, blooming 

 naturally about the first of June, are welcome 

 additions to our hardy border plants. It 

 is advisable, however, to protect them during 

 winter with a mulching of leaves or some 

 such material, all bulbs succeeding better 

 when not exposed to too much frost. G. 

 purpureo-auratua, another hardy species, the 

 perianth limb of which is golden-yellow, with 

 a large purple blotch on the two lower seg- 

 ments, is the parent of an entirely new section, 

 happily called the "Butterfly Gladioli." They 

 are of all shades of color, beautifully marked 

 and shaded with large, distinct blotches of 

 purple, maroon, or rosy-purple, on the lower 

 petals, similar to the markings on the Fancy 

 Pelargoniums. G. Saunderaoni, introduced 

 about the same time as the foregoing (1872), 

 has very showy crimson flowers, spotted with 

 white, and is likely to prove valuable for 

 hybridizing purposes. 

 Gladvsryn, or Gladden. The common name for 



Glands. Wart-like swellings found on the sur- 

 face of plants, or at one end of their hairs, 

 serving the purpose of secreting organs. They 

 are extremely various in form. 



Glandular. Covered with hairs, bearing glands 

 upon their tips. 



Glass and Glazing. If for winter forcing of 

 either fruit or flowers, the glass should be not 

 less than ten by twelve inches in size, laid in 

 the twelve way, and if twelve by twenty all the 

 better. Even with the greatest care, some 

 flaws in the glass will escape detection, and 

 more or less burn the leaves after the sun 

 becomes strong, to counteract which a slight 

 shading had better be used on the glass from 

 April to September. We use naphtha, with 

 just enough white lead mixed in it to give it 

 the appearance of thin milk. This we put on 



