DECEMBER IO. f89» 



GARDENERS' MAGAZINE, 



80 1 



WHY IS NOT THE GLADIOLUS POPULAR? 



«BUT is it not popular? " some will ask. " I think it a very handsome 

 flower and am always pleased when I see grand collections of it staged." 

 That may be truly said by a great many, but with all that I aver that it 

 • not popular. There are two ways in which this assertion may be 

 1S ro ved. In the first place, who ever sees a collection of them grown in 

 either private or public gardens ? I have seen a good many gardens, 

 but I cannot call to mind one in this part of England, at any rate, where 

 named varieties are to be found in any quantity, or where any enthusiasm 

 is shown in their growth. How different it is with really popular flowers ! 

 Take for example, the rose and the chrysanthemum. We have national 

 societies which concern themselves only with these flowers; we have 

 special exhibitions of which they are the sole flowers exhibited ; we have 

 affiliated societies dotted all over the country, and nurseries where, if 

 they are not the sole, they are, at any rate, the chief object of culture ; 

 but none of these things can be said of the gladiolus. There is no society 

 especially interested in it, for the very simple reason that there are no 

 cultivators who would support it. 



There is another test of popularity, namely, exhibitions. There have 

 been spasmodic attempts from time to time to galvanise it into life. The 

 Rev. Joshua Dix many years ago got a sum together for the purpose of 

 offering special prizes for it, but the attempt, in the hands of even that 

 genial and popular florist, was a miserable failure, and it was never 

 repeated. During the forty years that I have grown the flower I have 

 never seen, where there was an amateurs' division, more than three or 

 four exhibitors. I need hardly say how different this is to the rose and 

 chrysanthemum, where exhibitors may be counted by hundreds. 

 During that time I have seen many an ardent horticulturist successfully 

 competing. I can remember the fine spikes that Lord Hawke would 

 exhibit, and collections staged by Mr. Herbert Fowler and Mr. E. B. 

 Lindsell ; but I have seen all these and many others "throwing up the 

 sponge " and retiring from the field. The rose grower may get tired 

 after a few years, and you see him no more, but there are always others 

 to take his place, and so with the chrysanthemum grower, we may miss 

 the names which in former years were always attached to the principal 

 prize cards, but then others have taken their places, and so the interest 

 in them never ceases. I do not think these facts can be controverted, 

 and, as I am the only amateur that I know of who during these forty 

 years has held his ground, I think I may be credited with knowing 

 something about gladioli. 



What, then, are the causes which have contributed to this end ? or 

 are there no causes, and must it be attributed to caprice ? To this I 

 reply there seem to be many and sufficient reasons for it. In the first 

 place, it is a troublesome bulb to grow ; the soil most suited for it is a 

 good strong loam, much the same as we find best suited for strawberries 

 and roses, therefore in light soil it is apt to be a failure. But, supposing 

 you have a suitable soil, see what trouble it involves ; you must have 

 each of your spikes staked and tied, that is if you wish to have them 



\\7k'^ t anC * We ^' *° rmec * 5 this tying must be done two or three times. 

 " here amateurs grow for exhibition they must use shades or wooden 

 cases, which are placed over the flowers; these latter are expensive 

 and difficult to manage. Then, when the bulbs are matured, they have 

 to be taken up and placed in an unheated greenhouse, or some such 

 place free from frost, and when sufficiently dried the earth and old roots 

 nave to be taken away and the bulb cleaned and put into its winter 

 quarters. All the smaller bulbs, if it is wished to continue a collection, 

 ~ust be taken off from the base of the old bulb, and placed in paper bags 

 °r small boxes, there to remain until the spring, when they are to be 

 sown in drills like onions ; they will probably come (most of them) into 

 Woom in the second year. The flowering bulbs must be kept separate, 

 tttner in an open trellis case, in bags, or on the shelves. I do not think 

 V/\ are Ver ^ desirable, as they are apt to stimulate root formation, 

 *uich is bad. If gladiolus are troublesome to grow, they are equally 

 roublesome to exhibit. Many plans have been devised, and I myself 



tb VC v?^ 1 * k Qt k ti me an d money in providing cases to take them to 

 e exhibition. The best plan, however, I think, is to place them stand- 

 $ upright in cases covered with tiffany or light canvas, and then when 

 JJj set into the place of exhibition you have to take them out of the cases 



th - i aCe t ^ lern J n stands with tubes especially prepared for them, so that 

 leve ^at this is one of the chief causes why there are hardly any 



; c an stand upright, and not fall about upon one another, and I 



mateur exhibitors. I have for many years exhibited at the Crystal 

 ace, and I can speak from sad experience of the trouble that it is to 

 j- e * ven a stand of twelve and place them on the exhibition stage in 

 c e for tlle judges. The happy exhibitor of chrysanthemums or dahlias 

 wh a r an £ e . his flowers in the trays in which they are exhibited, and 

 and 1 arrives at the P lac e of exhibition has only to draw out his trays 

 trouhl them on the sta £ e - Even the rose exhibitor has not so much 

 sevc 1 He P laces his flowers in the tubes in the boxes. Doubtless 

 sonJ ,°[. them ma Y have to be removed, and their place supplied by 



j ne °*hlS t{ snarw» Knt fV,,* c tW at all eniial tn thf* trnnhle which 



similar to that which sometimes affects the crocus plantations in Holland, 

 and occasions severe losses. For this disease I have tried various pre- 

 yentives, but I have never found one of them to be of the least avail, for 

 if when you lift the bulbs you see the least speck on their smooth surface 

 it is most probable that when you put them by in their winter quarters 

 you will find that this spot has spread, and the whole bulb is destroyed, 

 btill more curious is the fact that a bulb will sometimes throw up two 

 shoots, one of which will produce a sound bulb and the other a diseased 

 one ; of course, when you give half a guinea or a guinea for a bulb, this 

 is very disheartening, and cannot long go on. I have known growers for 

 sale who have spent considerable sums in endeavouring to get up a col- 

 lection, but who have been obliged to abandon the attempt. 



It may be said that all these facts are very discouraging, and so they 

 are, but there are two ways of meeting the difficulty 5 one is that to which I 

 have already alluded, viz., saving the young bulbs and growing them on 

 from year to year ; the other is that of purchasing unnamed seedlings, 

 which can now be had of excellent quality. Formerly, when growers 

 sowed their seed without any attempt at cross fertilisation, mixed seed- 

 ling bulbs were a failure, but now that English growers have been care- 

 fully hybridising their flowers the case is entirely different. If anyone had 

 noticed the fine stands of flowers shown by Messrs. Barrell and Co., ot 

 Cambridge, and Messrs. Harkness and Son, of Hitchin, at the Aquarium 

 not long since, he would have seen what a large number there were 

 without any names attached to them, and many of these I venture to say 

 were quite equal to the French varieties sent out of late years, and then 

 a hundred of these can be obtained for the price of one bulb of a new 

 variety sent out by the French firms. 



I have been sometimes asked why I put these unpalatable facts 

 before the public ; my reply is simply that I do what I think is for the 

 best interests of horticulture. Nothing is gained by trying to live in a 

 fool's paradise, and assuredly -he does so who thinks that growing a 

 collection of gladiolus involves neither trouble nor disappointment. 



H. H. D. 



Raspberries on North Borders. 



By various methods and with the newer varieties it is now an easy 

 matter to prolong the strawberry season, but with raspberries the case is 

 different, though where autumn-fruiting varieties are grown fruits may 

 be had well into the autumn. This year we have gathered good fruits 

 of Superlative from young shoots much later than on other kinds ; 

 indeed, this variety appears to be an excellent late fruiter, and if planted 

 on north borders it gives a large quantity of later fruits. All may not 

 be able to devote a north border to raspberries, but they may plant a few 

 under trees, though the results are not always then satisfactory, especially 



One often sees all the raspberries in the same 

 position, and the crop then matures almost all at once. This may suit 

 market growers, but in gardens where fruits are needed in quantity 

 over as long a period as possible there is a great gain in having later 

 quarters and varieties, and in such cases the advantage of a north border 

 is great. No matter what position they are grown in, raspberries 

 succeed best in a good loamy soil. 



in a wet season. 



With good culture they will thrive 



on gravel, but they need more food, moisture, and general attention. 

 In good holding soil I have had most of the canes as thick as stout 

 walking-sticks when grown on a north border in the northern part of 

 the country, and, owing to their success, we had no need to grow autumn 

 fruiting varieties, for by pruning them hard they bore grand fruits well 

 into September. At the time named the newer Superlative was not in 

 existence, and 1 feel sure this variety will be one of the best for ihe 

 north border. The varieties we formerly grew were Northumberland 

 Fillbasket for dessert, and Semper Fidelis for cooking, the latter pro- 

 ducing a splendid fruit somewhat more acid than others, and having a 

 rich bright scarlet colour. It is in free fruiting and one of the most con- 

 tinuous croppers anyone could grow. 



The newer Superlative is superior, as regards cropping qualities, to 

 the Northumberland Fillbasket, but, of course, there i* quite a different 

 soil to deal with here, as it is very light, resting on a gravel subsoil, yet 

 Superlative makes a much better growth than any other variety. 

 Semper Fidelis is a good grower, but not equal to Superlative, whi:h is 

 good even in adverse seasons. ■ * 



In previous issues of the GARDENERS 1 Mac.aziNE I have pointed out 

 the importance of good cultivation, and, what in some gardens is often 

 overlooked, the advantages of occasionally planting a new quarter to 

 replace old w3rn-out plantations. A certain amount of pride is per- 

 missible in a grower who can point to a quarter that has been continuously 

 rrooDed for a quarter of a century, but in many such cases it would have 

 been more profitable to have created new quarters of young plants, and 

 secured heavier crops. The raspberry soon impoverishes the soil, and 

 we find it much the best to make new quarters previous to the middle of 

 December - if the weather is open, I prefer early in November, if pos- 

 iible Ample manuring is a necessity, and more so if the land is poor ; 

 indeed with poor soil it well repays the cultivator to add some new 



devLi S s P ar es," but this is not at all equal to the trouble which md f e V'lmovine a trood portion of the poor, inert soil, and getting the 

 Solves on the gladiolus exhibitor. . . ? a ^.!^S!!! g J^iitit time in advance of planting. Canes for 



on ut the most formidable obstacle to the growth of the gladiolus is 

 ^erv eStl0nably the fact that a considerable number of the bulbs perish 

 maim • ear * anc * ^ rom w ^ at cause has been a matter of controversy. Some 

 cu | t ; ai . n th *t it is from exhaustion, that the bulbs have been so long in 

 h*l , 0n tlla * their vigour is gone. I do not believe this, for you may 

 other en bu'bs of a variety, two or three of which perish, while the 

 JJ2 rerr "ain sound ; and, again, I have received bulbs this year of new 

 th ese not yet sent out, from the raisers at Fontainbleau, and some of 

 t IOn r a £ e &°ne off in the same way. Others speak of it as the degenera- 

 te the bulbs. This comes to very much the same thing, and for the 

 mass nf aS ° n 1 do not think Jt is tenable. The bulbs become simply a 

 bulbs t rottenness and decay, and some years ago I submitted some 

 ^tion » °J 1C ° f our most eminent mycologists, who, after careful exami- 



unoer the microscope, described the attack as a fungoid one, very 



earlv in the autumn, and secure strong plants. . 

 fives to fall, but endeavour to obtain a good mass of fibrous root 

 t Vt leason we gave a trial to one of the yellow vanet.es, « 



New 



r wi a snlendid form, that recently received an award from the Royal 

 HoSuiral Society ; it is well worth growing for dessert. % was raised 



?°^ tlC qnnerlative, and like it is a free, strong grower, having large 

 from 3U Pv. dsomc fruits. Iam sure more white raspberries could 



foliage and ■ b ^J^ "gardens, but of late years they have" not received 

 ucl^notice Magnum Iionum is also a good variety in our li^ht sod. 

 Syon Gardens. 



(i. WYTHK 



