THE GLADIOLUS. 



578 



the drills, covering in with a hoe. As I remarked when speaking 

 of growing for exhibition, nothing more is required until the 

 blooms commence to show, except frequent hoeing to keep the 

 weeds down ; but for water we have to look to the clouds, and 

 they are not usually backward in supplying us. 



As soon as blooming commences the rows are gone over daily 

 in order to correct any mistakes in sorts that may have occurred. 

 This " rogueing " is also carried out before planting, for by taking 

 off the outer skin we can tell by the colour of the corm under- 

 neath whether it is true to its kind. The men employed in this 

 become very expert in correctly separating the true variety from 

 the " rogue." Every spike, except those specially selected for seed- 

 bearing, is cut. This is done for two reasons : for the sale of the 

 blooms, which is extremely large ; and also to prevent exhaustion 

 in the corms. Of course, the quantity of spikes cut from twenty-five 

 acres of Gladioli is enormous, averaging 15,000 weekly ; they 

 are sent to every part of the country, and give constant employ- 

 ment throughout the season to ten or fifteen hands in cutting and 

 packing. 



It is about the first week in September that I commence to 

 take up and store. All Gladioli should be lifted before the foliage 

 has died down, for if they be taken up as soon as the leaves turn 

 yellow they retain more vitality than if allowed to remain in the 

 ground until late in the season. 



After lifting the smaller corms or bulblets, to which I referred 

 in the first part of my article, and which we always plant and 

 lift before the larger, we do the same with the latter, commencing 

 with those which were planted early in the season, as they 

 naturally ripen off before those planted late. In doing this we 

 are careful to take first those that show most signs of ripeness, 

 never allowing any to really die down, as the best bulbs are 

 always found to be those which were lifted early, even though 

 the leaves were still green, and, besides this, these bulbs will 

 vegetate more freely than those taken up after the foliage has 

 died down. 



The majority of corms left in the ground until very late 

 invariably show some signs of decay, but if a contrary treatment 

 be pursued they will probably be found quite sound, with a 

 perfect outer covering and devoid of spot upon the inside. It is 

 of very great importance to see that all corms, as soon as taken 



