POPULAR GARDEN PLANTS. 



445 



Gladiolus. — From this large and diversified 

 genus, which is chiefly South African, three 

 distinct garden races, known as Gandavensis, 

 Lemoinei, and Nancyanus, 

 have been raised. The 

 first-named (fig. 550) is 

 supposed to be the result 

 of crossing G. jpsittacinus 

 and G. cardinalis, Dean 

 Herbert among others 

 having made this cross 

 about seventy years ago. 

 The well-known typical 

 G.Gandavensis,th\is named 

 by Louis Van Houtte, was 

 one of the first of the 

 hybrids thus obtained. 

 Since then numerous 

 crosses and seedlings have 

 been raised by English, 

 French, and Dutch breed- 

 ers, the most successful 

 perhaps being the late 

 Mr. James Kelway, whose 

 nursery at Langport has 

 long been famous for the 

 Gladiolus — new and im- 

 proved seedlings originat- 

 ing there yearly. The 

 "Kelway strain" is re- 

 markable for length and 

 thickness of flower-spike, Fig.550. 

 exceptional size of flower, 



and great range of colour. Mr. Burrell of Cam- 

 bridge is also a successful breeder and exhibitor 

 of this race. The plants ripen seeds freely 

 under cultivation, but the varieties do not come 

 true from seed. To obtain a good strain, the 

 best varieties should be crossed with each other. 

 The seeds should be dried as soon as ripe, and 

 kept dry until April, when they may be sown 

 in boxes in a frame, or in the open on a sunny 

 border — in short, treating them much the same 

 as if they were seeds of Onions. The small 

 bulblets or "spawn" produced about the bases 

 of mature corms should be collected, dried, and 

 sown as recommended for the seeds. Of course 

 the "spawn" will reproduce exactly the char- 

 acters of the parent plant. 



The Lemoinei race (fig. 551) was raised by 

 M. Lemoine, of Nancy, in 1875 from G. pur- 

 pureo-auratus, crossed with good varieties of the 

 Gandavensis race. It is distinguished by its 

 hooded flowers, and by its rarely having more 

 than four to six good flowers open at one time 

 ©n the spike. It is supposed to be hardier than 



-Gladiolus Gandavensis. 



the Gandavensis race, and in some gardens the 

 corms have flourished when left undisturbed in 

 the ground year after year, 



The Nancyanus race (fig. 552) was also raised 

 by M. Lemoine, who in 1883 crossed G. Saundersii 

 with some of the best of the forms of the 

 Lemoinei race. Practically the same cross Mas 

 made about the same time by Max Leichtlin, 

 who raised hybrids between G. Sawidersii and 

 forms of G. Gandavensis; these were distributed 

 under the name of G. Childsii. This race is 

 remarkable for the large size, openness, and rich 

 varied colours of its flowers, and although the 

 spikes are less crowded with flowers and less 

 rigid than those of the Gandavensis race, they 

 are none the less beautiful. 



The cultured requirements of all three sec- 

 tions are essentially the same. The soil should 

 be light and loamy, well drained if of a clayey 

 character, and deeply trenched. In October 

 the bed should be dug over and a layer of rotten 

 manure worked in. On a dry day in March it 

 should be hacked over with a fork or hoe, and 

 drills made 18 inches apart and 3 inches deep. 

 Large corms should be planted a foot apart. 

 If the corms are planted fortnightly from the 



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