GLASS CASES. 



121 GLASTONBURY THORN. 



and they are nearly all natives of the 

 Cape of Good Hope. The hulbs, or 

 rather corms, are solid, and do not 

 require taking up if they can be kept 

 dry during winter. The best mode 

 of doing this is by fixing a frame with 

 sashes over them, as this allows of 

 giving them air when fine. When 

 grown in pots, the soil should be very 

 sandy loam, enriched with decayed 

 leaves, and the bulbs should be kept 

 entirely without water, from the time 

 the leaves decay in autumn, till they 

 begin to grow the following spring. 

 Many cultivators take the bulbs out of 

 their pots every September and renew 

 the soil ; but others only take them 

 up every third year. At Spofforth, 

 Yorkshire, where the soil is a rich 

 yellow loam, there are clumps of 

 Gladioli, which have been left undis- 

 turbed in the open ground for more 

 than twenty years, and which flower 

 magnificently every summer. The 

 only protection given, is covering the 

 clump in autumn two or three inches 

 thick with dry leaves, which are swept 

 up from the neighbouring shrubbery, 

 formed into a heap, rising highest in 

 the centre, and sloping down on every 

 side. 



Glass Cases are of two kinds, — 

 those which are intended to cover 

 plants in the open air, and those which 

 are used for covering plants in rooms, 

 or on the outsides of windows, bal- 

 conies, &c. Glass cases for the open 

 air may be made of any convenient 

 size or form, so as to cover the plants 

 to be protected ; and sometimes they 

 are glazed on every side, though at 

 others they are placed against a wall, 

 and only glazed in front and at the 

 ends. The frame- work may be of 

 wood, or of iron or zinc, so contrived 

 as to separate into pieces, and join to- 

 gether in any temporary manner, in 

 order that the gardener may be able 

 to admit air, or to remove the case 

 entirely, at pleasure. A common 



hand-glass mav be designated the 

 smallest description of glass cases, 

 and a portable greenhouse the largest. 

 Glass cases for rooms consist of two 

 parts, a body or box, containing the 

 mould and plants, and a hand-glass, 

 or glazed case, for placing over it. 

 This case, which may be square or 

 oblong, two feet wide and four or 

 five feet long, should fit into a groove 

 in the box containing the plants ; and 

 the plants, when planted and watered, 

 will require no more attention for 

 several weeks, or even months, ac- 

 cording to the kind intended to be 

 grown. Hyacinths planted in such a 

 case in November, and placed in a 

 room, will require no attention, ex- 

 cept perhaps a little water, till they 

 have done flowering in the following 

 March. Ferns and Cacti will require 

 no attention for a year ; but plants 

 which come soon into flower, such as 

 China Roses, or indeed any plants 

 which are coming into flower when 

 planted, require to be removed when 

 they have done flowering, and to be 

 replaced by others. The glazed frames 

 for such cases should be of mahogany 

 or metal, and of neat and accurate 

 workmanship ; and plate or German 

 glass ought to be employed. Excel- 

 lent plans for such cases will be found 

 in the Gardeners' Magazine for 1839 

 and 1840. 



Glasswort. See Salicornia. 



Glastonbury Thorn. — A variety 

 of the common Hawthorn, that blos- 

 soms about Christmas. The legend 

 is, that Joseph of Arimathea having 

 struck his staff into the ground to 

 indicate where Glastonbury Abbey 

 was to be built, prayed, that if he had 

 fixed on the right place, the Holy 

 Virgin would give him a sign of her 

 approval, when instantly the staff 

 (which was a branch of hawthorn) 

 struck root, and shot forth leaves, 

 flowers, and fruit. The original tree 

 of this variety grows near Glaston- 



