THE GLADIOLUS. 
547 
busily, though silently, engaged in effecting 
still greater changes and improvements. Many 
fine hybrids have also been raised by the 
florists of this country. 
The proper course to follow, in order to 
obtain new and desirable variations, is to select, 
first of all, those kinds in which the qualities 
desired are to be most prominently discovered; 
from the blossoms selected and designed to 
bear the seeds, the anthers, or little thread- 
like pollen-bearing bodies, must be removed as 
soon as the flowers burst open, and before the 
stigma, or seed-producing organ, is in a 
mature condition, such as to be influenced by 
contact with the pollen dust. The flowers should 
then be covered over with gauze, to prevent 
the ingress of insects ; and, as soon as the 
stigma is in fit order, that is, when it spreads 
a little and becomes viscid at the point, the 
pollen of the variety which is selected as the 
other parent, is to be conveyed to it, and the 
Gladiolus recurvus. 
flower again secured by the gauze, until it 
begins to fade : each flower, thus operated on, 
should immediately be labelled with its own 
name, and that of the kind by which it was 
impregnated. When the seed ripens it should 
be gathered and carefully preserved separate 
till the next spring, when it should be sown 
in boxes of rather sandy soil, and started in a 
gentle heat, and gradually inured to a cool 
frame. The first season they may remain in 
these boxes with the ordinary care of watering, 
weeding, &c. ; and in the following spring, 
after receiving a top dressing of leaf-mould, 
they may again make their season's growth in 
these boxes ; the next season they may be 
subjected to the treatment of full-grown bulbs ; 
many of them will flower during the summer, 
and, probably, all in the following one. No 
seedling hybridized flowers of any value ought 
ever to be raised without being thus labelled, 
and kept separate; the extra trouble is nothing 
compared with the information and practical 
lessons which such a course is calculated to 
convey. 
DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF HALF -HARDY GLADIOLI. 
Gladiolus alatus (the wing-flowered 
Corn-flag). — Native of the Cape of Good Hope. 
The leaves are sword-shaped, narrow ; the 
flowers broad and large, with the two-side 
petals larger than the others, like a pair of 
wings, orange-red with yellow on the lower 
petals. Flowers in May ; one foot high. A 
variety of tbis, called Algoensis, has pretty 
dark flesh-coloured flowers. 
Gladiolus angustus (the narrow-leaved 
Corn-flag). — Native of the Cape. The leaves 
narrow and curved; the flowers with a long 
narrow tube, and wide-spreading pale yellow, 
or cream-coloured limb ; the three lower 
petals marked with a large crimson heart- 
shaped outline in the centre of each, with a 
crimson line extending to the base. Flowers 
in June ; two feet high. 
Gladiolus campanulatus (the bell- 
flowered Corn-flag). — Native of the Cape. 
The leaves lance-shaped ; the flowers bell- 
shaped, light purple. Flowers in May; one 
foot and a half high. 
Gladiolus carneus (the flesh-coloured 
Corn-flag). — Native of the Cape. The leaves 
are long and broad ; the flowers large, with a 
slender tube, flesh-coloured, with a broad 
crimson stripe or feather in the centre of the 
lower petals. Flowers in May and June ; 
one foot high. 
Gladiolus cochleatus (the spoon-lipped 
Corn-flag). — Native of the Cape. The leaves 
are linear, long, and rigid ; the flowers white 
and red, the lowermost segment being broad 
and hollowed like a spoon. Flowers in March ; 
one foot and a half high. 
Gladiolus Colvillii (Colville's Corn- 
flag). — An hybrid variety. The leaves are 
sword-shaped, slightly ribbed ; the flowers 
spreading, scarlet and yellow. Flowers in June 
and July ; one foot high. 
Gladiolus cuspidatus (the tall Corn- 
flag). — Native of the Cape. The leaves are very 
broad ; the flowers large, with a slender tube, 
and narrow undulated petals, resembling G. 
carneus in form ; they are creamy wliite, with 
a rich chocolate or purple feather in the centre 
of the lower petals. Flowers in June ; two 
to three feet high. 
Gladiolus debilis (the weak- stemmed 
Corn-flag). — Native of the Cape. The leaves 
are linear and long ; the flowers white, spread- 
ing, on a slender stem ; the two lower inner 
petals have a deep carmine spot near the 
base. Flowers in May ; about one foot high. 
Gladiolus edulis (the eatable Corn-flae). 
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