1881.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
245 
The Culture of the Gladiolus. 
It is a peculiarity of a journal like this, 
that a subject is never finished. While we 
are obliged to keep on with new things, we 
must continually bring up the rear with 
the old. Take the Gladiolus, for example : 
some 15 or 20 years ago, it first became 
fairly popular ; flower lovers in general had 
found out that it was of the easiest cul¬ 
ture, and dealers offered named sorts at 
moderate prices. In those days we had much 
to say about the Gladiolus and its culture, and 
one would suppose that the subject had been 
disposed of. But we now have a new gen¬ 
eration of flower lovers who are just as 
anxious to know about the Gladiolus and its 
culture as were their predecessors. It will 
not satisfy them to be referred to the back 
volumes, as these are not often at hand. 
Those of us who remember the first intro¬ 
duction of the hybrids of Gladiolus Ganda- 
vensis, and saw these followed yearly by 
newer and more beautiful forms, can hardly 
appreciate the present importance of these 
plants. Let us imagine the Gladiolus stricken 
out of existence, what a void there would be 
in our gardens ! But few plants give us such 
a wealth of floral beauty, and with so little 
trouble, as the Gladiolus. A garden must be 
poor indeed that cannot show a few of its 
spikes, and no garden is so rich in floral 
wealth that it can dispense with it. As to 
varieties we leave those to the catalogues of 
the dealers. One may select self-colored 
varieties for bedding, to form masses of solid 
color, or he may choose those in which the 
colors are variegated and blended, to be planted 
where their individual beauty may be ad¬ 
mired. How beautiful some are ! No costly 
a scarlet gladiolus ( O. Brenchleyensis). 
Orchid can excel in richness of color and 
beauty of shading these comparatively cheap 
flowers. There was on the Centennial 
grounds, at the rear of Horticultural Hall, a 
bed of Gladiolus Brenchleyensis, which, in its 
mass of scarlet, showed what the Gladiolus 
could do as a bedding plant, while not far 
away were beds filled with choice varieties, 
each one of which seemed more beautiful 
than the other. The engraving, though small, 
gives the general habit of G. Brenchleyensis, 
which has a very long and rather loose flower 
spike, and as the flowers are of the brightest 
vermillion scarlet, continuing long in bloom, 
this fine old variety is well adapted for plant¬ 
ing in masses. As to cultivation, those who 
wish to prolong the season as much as pos¬ 
sible, do not put in all their bulbs at once, but 
plant a share as soon as the soil can be 
worked, and continue to plant at intervals of 
two weeks up to the middle of June. In the 
climate of New York, the bulbs may be 
planted as late as the middle of this month, 
and in ordinary seasons give a fine display— 
indeed often better than from the earlier 
plantings. Those who wish to do so have 
yet sufficient time to commence the cultiva¬ 
tion of the Gladiolus, with a fair prospect of 
a goodly show of flowers. A rather fight 
soil, well enriched, is vastly better for the 
Gladiolus than a cold and heavy one ; the 
bulbs should have not less than a foot of 
room each way, and they should be planted 
with their tops not less than four inches be¬ 
low the surface, for the new bulbs are always 
found at the top of the old one. At the time 
of planting, set a rod or stake firmly in the 
ground ; this should be about two and a half 
feet high above the surface, and have the 
label firmly wired to it. When the plant is 
4 to 6 inches high, tie it to the stake with 
bass, or other soft material; when the flower 
spikes appear they are to be properly tied. 
Of course the soil is to be kept properly cul¬ 
tivated. Unless seeds are wanted, cut away 
the spike when its beauty has passed, but let 
the leaves remain until they begin to fade. 
As the plants are nearly hardy, indeed many 
of them entirely so, there need be no hurry 
in lifting the bulbs. On a dry, sunny day in 
autumn, lift each plant very carefully. The 
bulb that was planted in spring will be found 
quite shrunken, while above it are formed 
from one to five new bulbs—with the finer 
varieties rarely more than two—and at the 
base of the old bulb, a greater or less number 
of little bulblets, from the size of a hazle-nut 
down to that of a mustard seed. As these 
little bulbs, no matter how small, will, after 
they are grown for two or three years, make 
flowering plants, true to the kind, they should 
be saved, and great care taken in lifting and 
handling the old ones. Lay out the plants, 
in an airy room to dry, keeping the labels with 
them, and when they seem properly cured, 
remove the leaves, and detach the larger new 
bulbs from the old one, leaving the bulblets 
still attached. The large bulbs will flower 
next year, and are to be put away in paper 
bags, with labels, in a cool dry place, but not 
where thej will freeze. The old bulbs with the 
little ones attached are to be put away in the 
same manner. Next spring the little bulbs 
are to be planted in boxes or pans, and the 
year after may be put in the open ground. 
Some flower in two and others in three years. 
One writer claims that the little bulbs do 
better if kept out of the ground a whole year 
before planting, but this is not the practice of 
those who cultivate the bulbs on a large scale. 
The Gladiolus may be raised readily from 
seeds, and the growing of seedlings is most 
fascinating, as there is a chance of producing 
some very fine varieties. Some spikes of 
choice varieties may be allowed to ripen a 
few pods, and the seeds sown in boxes or 
pans in the early spring ; when the leaves of 
the seedlings die down, let the bulbs remain 
in the earth, which is to be kept dry through 
the winter. The next spring sift out the 
eai'th and plant the bulbs in a bed ; take up 
in the fall and keep the bulbs through the 
winter as above directed; when planted 
the third spring, many of them will flower. 
Chicory—Wild and Cultivated. 
Chicory, like its near relative, the Dande¬ 
lion, presents itself in two very different as¬ 
pects. All know the Dandelion as a weed, 
yet there is no bed in our garden that we- 
THE chicory ( Cichoriurn Intybus). 
more highly value than that filled with the 
cultivated Dandelion. So with Chicory ; in 
New England, and most of the older States ; 
it is a common weed along the road-sides, and 
even makes its way into meadows. The gen¬ 
eral aspect of the plant is given in the en¬ 
graving, of course, much below the natural 
size, as its stem is two feet or more high, and 
its leaves, etc., large in proportion. Flowers' 
of a bright blue are more rare than those of 
any other color, and the peculiar blue of the 
Chicory is especially pleasing. Its flowers 
have such a brightness, as they appear along 
the road-side, that the plant is hardly looked 
upon as a weed. This species, Cichoriurn 
Intybus (both ancient names for the plant), 
is closely related to the Endive, C. Endivia, 
much cultivated as a salad plant, and owes 
its chief importance to the fact that its root 
is largely used for the adulteration of Coffee. 
Besides this, its early and blanched leaves are 
used by Europeans as salad ; in France it is 
cultivated for this purpose, the roots being 
taken up in autumn, and forced by means of 
heating manure to put out thin, blanched 
leaves in the dark; thus treated, it is known as 
Capucin’s Beard ( Barbe de Capucin ), and is a 
regular article in the markets of France. We 
have little sympathy with substitutes for 
anything, and when asked how to grow 
Chicory as a substitute for Coffee, are tempted 
to reply in the language of Punch’s advice 
