ON florists' flowers. 



83 



would be i5in., and the lesser 6in. I liked to have the ground 

 prepared not later than October. 



During winter and early spring, when the surface is dry, I 

 lightly fork it over. By the first week in ]\Iarch the ground is 

 usually in good condition to plant out the first lot of corms. 

 Drills as for Peas, i4in. apart, are drawn, and the bulbs, or 

 corms, planted from Sin. to i2in. asunder, according to their size. 

 The base of the bulb is placed about 4in. below the surface of 

 the ground, some dry, clean, river- or silver-sand is put under 

 and over each, and the drill filled in again. The ground is 

 often in a wet condition when the time arrives for planting-out ; 

 if this is the case, I still draw the drills, and use dry sand ; but 

 the drill is filled up with some dry soil, usually siftings from the 

 potting-shed. This gives the corms a good chance to start. 



A fresh lot of corms should be planted every two weeks until 

 the end of May, and this will give a succession of blossom until 

 the end of the season. The plants soon appear above ground if 

 the weather is favourable, and as soon as ever the rows of plants 

 are discernible the Dutch hoe must be run through them to 

 lighten the ground and destroy weeds. I use the hoe even if 

 no weeds are to be seen. When the plants show that the 

 flower-spikes are developing, sticks should be put to them to 

 prevent their toppling over. When dry weather sets in, water 

 must be applied freely, and the surface mulched with well-decayed 

 stable-manure to prevent evaporation. The object is to obtain 

 spikes of the greatest length possible and flowers of the highest 

 quality. 



Gladioli are exceedingly well adapted for cutting to place in 

 rooms, if the spike is cut when the first four or six blossoms have 

 opened : the remainder of the flowers will open in the house. 

 I have cut scores of spikes, and placed them in bottles of 

 water, arranging them in the greenhouse or conservatory. The 

 bottles are kept out of sight, behind plants with green foliage, 

 but which do not happen to be in flower. Gladioli have the 

 best effect if their own foliage is used. 



A few of the very choicest varieties must also be selected to 

 save seed from, and they must be cross-fertilised. This is easily 

 done. The seed-bearing parent must be selected, and before 

 the flowers are half open the anthers pulled oft" with the fingers. 

 When the flowers are fully expanded, the pollen from some 

 superior variety should be taken when the flowers are also fully 

 developed, and the stigma of the seed-bearer touched. This 



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