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CASSELL'S POPULAR GARDENING. 



The propagation of these Gladioli may he easily- 

 carried out hy means of seeds and offsets, or hulblets, 

 which are produced plentifully ; seedlings may be 

 raised and flowered in the third season if the seeds 

 are sown as soon as ripe, so that the seedlings 

 develop strength before the winter. The same plan 

 of sowing may be followed as that recommended 

 under the head of the Gandavensis group. The 

 offsets from the parent bulbs should be detached at 

 each lifting time, and after separating them into lots 

 of two or three sizes, should be planted in October in 

 beds by themselves. These will make flowering 

 bulbs during the second and third seasons. 



Varieties. — As in the Gandavensis group, the 

 varieties of the Nanus and Ramosus groups are so 

 numerous that it is difficult to make a short list of 

 the best, but the following dozen may be relied on as 

 being beautiful and distinct. Of the Ramosus section 

 are Queen Victoria, fiery scarlet, blotched with white, 

 as in the original G. cardinalis ; Delicatissimus, rose- 

 pink and white ; Formosissimus, brilliant scarlet ; 

 insignis, vivid crimson, blotched with purple, one of 

 the finest; La Ville de Versailles, pure white, with 

 crimson blotches ; Van Speyk, scarlet and white ; 

 Lord Peel, crimson-red, blotched with white ; Ne 

 Plus Ultra, deep rose ; Prince Albert, scarlet and 

 white ; Rosa Mundi, deep scarlet, flaked with white ; 

 Lord Auckland, bright crimson and white ; Princess 

 Marianne, pale rose and crimson-blotched; Princess 

 Mathilde, purple-rose, red-blotched. 



Late-flowering Section. 

 The Gandavensis race is undoubtedly the most 

 popular, as it is the most important of hybrid 

 Gladioli, though it is only within the past twenty- 

 five years that any great advance was made in the 

 improvement of the typical Gandavensis, the fore- 

 runner of the race. This class of the Gladiolus 

 has long been classed among florists' flowers, and 

 a certain set of points has been laid down by 

 florists, to which they consider a good variety 

 should conform. A good Gladiolus, therefore, 

 must have a tall, massive spike, firm enough 

 to hold itself erect on an exhibition stand. The 

 flowers should be large and well formed, that is, 

 the six petals should be of rounded outline, thick in 

 texture, and with the three upper petals sym- 

 metrical in size and form, and ths lowermost petal, 

 or lip, should be of the same size as the two on either 

 side of it. There are no prescribed rules as to 

 colour, except that the self-colour's should be pure, 

 and in the case of high colours brilliant, and when 

 blotched, flaked, or marked, these colours should be 

 well and distinctly defined; a good spike should 

 carry not less than a dozen blooms, half of which 

 should be expanded. It is difficult to see in what 



way this group can be further improved, except it be 

 in regard to colour, for as yet there are scarcely any 

 pure whites, and no yellows, though every shade of 

 crimson, scarlet, red, rose, and pink has been ob- 

 tained. 



As cut flowers for room adornment there are no 

 better flowers than these Gladioli, as they endure so 

 long in good condition. If a spike is cut when it 

 has but about half a dozen blooms expanded, the 

 buds will expand in succession, till the spike is 

 exhausted, although the last-expanded buds will lose 

 somewhat in size and colour. 



Culture. — In some localities, and even in some 

 gardens in the same locality, the Gandavensis Gladioli 

 are very capricious. In some they will grow and 

 flower to perfection, while in others they refuse to 

 grow. The reputation, therefore, that they possess 

 of being difficult to manage is not unfounded. 

 There can be no doubt that they are somewhat 

 delicate, and require nicely adjusted conditions of 

 treatment, and even when all prescribed rules are 

 followed failures will occur. They succeed best in a 

 moderately light and deep soil, well manured, and 

 all the better if the position is sheltered from high 

 winds, which are apt to injure the weighty spikes. 

 But the spot must be exposed to the sun, as they are 

 essentially sun-lovers, and will not thrive in shade. 

 Like most plants of the Iris family, the Gladiolus 

 likes plenty of moisture, so that the finest spikes 

 are produced in gardens having what is termed a 

 cool bottom. In preparing a Gladiolus bed the 

 ground should be trenched, mixing at the same time 

 with the soil a good dressing of decayed stable and 

 cow manure. This should be done in autumn, say 

 about October, or a little later, and during the 

 winter it is advisable to fork the ground over once 

 or twice in order to get it well mixed and suitable 

 for planting, which should be begun about the 

 second week in March. The best plan to follow in 

 planting the bulbs is to draw drills about six inches 

 deep. In these drills throw in a layer of sand, an 

 inch or two in thickness, and on this place the bulbs 

 about a foot apart. On the top of the bulbs place 

 another layer of sand, and then fill in the drill with 

 the soil, so that the bulbs remain about four inches 

 below the surface. The rows may range from one 

 foot to two feet apart, according to the space at 

 command. Some plant in beds about four feet in 

 width, planting four rows in each bed. Others 

 again, instead of planting in drills, make holes with 

 a trowel, and drop in the sand and bulb. Growers 

 for exhibition are very particular about planting, 

 and some even fill in the drill with fresh loam 

 instead of the soil of the bed, so that the new root- 

 lets of the bulbs have some good material to root 

 into, and so gain vigour. If two or three plantings of 



