446 



THE GARDENER'S ASSISTANT. 



from now onwards weak liquid manure may 

 be given. Should the weather be dry, a mulch 

 of light manure preserves the corms and roots 

 against heat and drought. The corms should 

 be lifted as soon as convenient after the flowers 

 have faded and before the leaves decay. When 



Fig. 552.— Gladiolus Nancyanus. 



dried, the stems should be taken off the corms, 

 and the latter stored in a dry shed or fruit- 

 room. 



For ordinary flower-garden decoration — such 

 as the embellishment of borders, for filling up 

 spaces in beds — groups of three or more corms, 

 either of one or different varieties, can be 

 planted. Good soil is essential if a fine decor- 

 ative effect be desired. 



Pot Culture, — Though this is a practice not 

 much followed, yet by cultivating in this way 

 a fine effect can be had in the conservatory. 

 A 24-sized pot will be large enough for a 

 strong bulb, and the compost recommended by 

 Mr. Kelway is one part decomposed hot -bed 

 manure and three parts rich loam, with a little 

 river or silver sand under each bulb. Potting 

 can be done at any time during March and 

 April, and the pots need to be plunged in rich 

 soil in an open situation, and have liberal sup- 

 plies of water in dry weather. As soon as the 

 flower-stems begin to lengthen they should be 

 tied to stakes to protect them against danger 

 from wind. If the corms be planted later, for 



succession, some can be had in flower when 

 there are but few greenhouse plants in bloom. 

 They may be planted as late as June to flower 

 in November. 



The following lists comprise some of the best 

 forms in each section : — 



Gandavensis Varieties. 



Prince Ranjitsinghi. 



Flying Fox. 



Peter Drummond. 



Richard Milner. 



Richard Martin. 



Lady Montague. 



Burne-Jones. 



Turner. 



Arthur Toms. 



Eugene Sandow. 



Miss Munro. 



Metastasio. 



Oppius. 



Felicite. 



Martel. 



Stasilius. 



Brice. 



Eclipse. 



Agraulis. 



Kenneth Kelway. 



Wellington. 



Shahzada. 



Leonard Kelway. 



F. Field. 



Paladore. 



Ben Alder. 



Lady Llangattock. 



Menabrea. 



Molesworth. 



Sir H. D. Wolff. 



Nancyanus Varieties 



Antoine Rivoire. 

 Antoinette Thiry. 



Canrobert. 

 Edouard Andre*. 

 Henri Vauthier. 

 James Veitch. 

 Jean Dybowski. 

 Julien Gerardin. 

 Le Grand Carnot. 

 Le Geant. 



Max Cornu. 



President Faure. 



President Carnot. 



Roland. 



Sir Trevor Lawrence. 



Surprise. 



Soliman. 



Titien. 



Volontaire. 



Walter Scott. 



Lcmoinei Varieties. 



Adelina Patti, 

 Amiral Gervais. 

 Avant-Garde. 

 Armenian. 

 Baron Hulot. 

 Charles Ellis. 

 Comedie. 

 Charles Rabot. 

 Edouard Foa. 

 Eldorado. 



Ethiopie. 



Lady H. de Walden. 



Madame Valmore. 



Muscovite. 



M. Meline. 



Rev. W. Wilks. 



Roi de Siam. 



Senateur Volland. 



Stamboul. 



Vesuvius. 



Gloxinia (speciosa) — see Plate. — Although 

 represented in gardens by several distinct races 

 or types, yet there does not appear to be any 

 proof that any species has been concerned in 

 the development of Gloxinias other than G. 

 speciosa, now referred to Sinningia, and which 

 was introduced into England from Brazil in 

 1817. A larger form of it was obtained from 

 the Organ Mountains by Messrs. Veitch in 

 1842, and several other named varieties have 

 at different times been imported from Brazil. 

 They all have nodding flowers with narrow 

 tubes, and their colour is either purple or white. 

 The bright - scarlet, blue, pink, and mottled 

 forms with erect flowers are of garden origin. 



