JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
February 1, 18S3. ] 
97 
beiog hardier is a fallacy. I may, while on this very dishearten¬ 
ing view of the situation, mention that my frien l Mr. Banks of 
Sbolden, who was the largest amateur grower in England, and 
who for many years had fought manfully a losing battle, has at 
last been obliged to confess himself beaten, and after having lost 
fifty thousand plants in two years has finally given them up. Nor 
can I look forward very hopefully to the coming season. The 
heavy and continuous rain in the autumn months has made the 
difficulty greater. I have no doubt that the corms are not suffi¬ 
ciently ripened ; indeed in a letter from my friend M. Souil- 
liard of Fontainebleau he says they have had a great difficulty in 
securing their bulbs. It must be remembered that size is no proof 
of soundness. I remember once lifting four corms of Madame 
Desportes, each of which weighed a quarter of a pound, and every 
one of them failed when planted. y~ 
I have again tested the plan of cutting the corms in halves, 
securing an eye to each section, and am quite satisfied that it i3 
the best plan to adopt where they are of sufficient size, for it 
secures a better bloom, and you are just as likely to lift good-sized 
corms as where they are left whole. It may be asked, What 
about the other beds in which the Gladioli were planted in the 
usual way without having been grown in pots ? There was but 
little difference, the upshot of all being that, although I planted 
four hundred bulbs, I did not lift more than two hundred sound 
exclusive of seedlings. Nothing is to be learned from the 
success of these. The vigour with which they start, like that of 
the young man, lasts them for awhile, but after a year or two they 
fall into the same bad way and perish. Here again one traces a 
similarity to the Potato. How many varieties are advertised as 
disease-proof 1 and so they may be for a year or two ; but they 
