124 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ Febmary 18, 1892. 
This seems strange, for if we take a common Thorn and cut it 
down to the bottom, ic will at growing time break out into buds, 
and in most cases very freely. I have had to work hard for the 
piece of land which I have, and I shall be glad if any of your 
correspondents will kindly help me with advice in this matter. 
Planting time being near at hand, any views about what I have 
stated will be welcome.—B. B. 
[We submitted this letter to an experienced cultivator of Osiers, 
who has furnished the following reply, but any further information 
on the subject will be willingly published. 
“ The usual cause of ‘ sets ’ not growing is taking them from 
the top end of the shoots instead of the lower part, the sets being 
about 15 inches long, and inserted half their length in the soil. 
The sets taken from the top of the shoots rarely make good plants, 
collapsing in a year or so, and occasion much need of ‘ mending,’ 
which is done by cutting ofE the largest and best rods in a sloping 
direction at the base, and they are inserted in the ground to the 
depth of 9 inches by the side of the dead stools, the rods being 
inserted whole, and not cut in the form of a set. This is to 
prevent their being smothered by the older stools, and after two 
years they are cut back to the height of the other stools. The 
cause, therefore, of sets failing is unripe wood, and the cause of 
stools dying is severe weather in spring—March and April—the 
chief casualties occurring when the winters are mild and succeeded 
by severe weather, two-thirds of the crop not uncommonly dying, 
and stout shoots are found to make no effort to push. This 
weather is very fatal to Osier plants, and is prevalent in localities 
subject to spring frosts.”] 
FLOWERS FOR CUTTING—GLADIOLUS. 
Foe forcing, the one sort grown to any extent is G. Colvillei 
The Bride. Its cultivation is easy, and where many flowers are 
required this ought undoubtedly to be grown. I have not 
cultivated any in pots for some years past, but hope to take up its 
culture again. Soil which is rather light and open should form 
the compost, and in this finer spikes are produced than can be had 
from a heavy soil. Pots 7 or 8 inches in diameter are better than 
those of a smaller size, and the corms being set in the pots as 
thickly as Crocuses a fine mass of flowers is produced. The plants 
will do^ well if introduced into a low temperature as soon as potted, 
and it is better to allow time for the production of roots before 
exciting top growth. The best spikes are produced in an inter¬ 
mediate house in which the plants have time to mature slowly. 
Out of door culture may be modified to suit circumstances. A 
good^ time to plant is November or December, and if a large quan¬ 
tity is grown the period of cutting will be naturally extended, as 
the plants vary considerably in the time of flowering. To have 
them in quickly a south or west border should be chosen for the 
beds, but they do quite well in the open quarters. In the 
ordinary run of winters no harm accrues from allowing the ground 
to be frozen, but I imagine it is better to protect these along with 
Ixias, and so a slight protection of dried bracken is placed over the 
beds, and a few pea sticks laid on the latter keeps it close in windy 
weather. 
I am of opinion that better results are obtained by yearly lifting 
the corms and replanting on fresh ground. The time to lift is 
when the foliage is becoming yellow. If left too long in the 
ground there is a risk of root-action being excited by heavy rains, 
and as complete rest at this stage is what the plant requires, such 
problematical questions as to whether the bulbs are weakened in 
consequence of excitement at this period is best set at rest by 
putting its possibility beyond dispute. There is a further 
advantage in lifting thus early, and that is the greater speed with 
which the work can be overtaken. A man goes along the rows and 
loosens the plants and the soil with a fork, at the same time 
grasping a handful of foliage and drawing the plants up. If left in 
the open for a few days the corms become perfectly ripened, and 
are harvested in a cool room until required. 
The stage for cutting the flower spike is when the undermost 
flower is open. Nothing is gained by leaving them any longer, as 
the other buds open perfectly with the stalk in water, and the 
flowers so opened are generally pure. 
Other early flowering Gladiolus are generally characterised by 
insipidity in colouring. They require planting in autumn, as if 
left until spring the finer section of gandavensis will be ready for 
cutting as soon as they. Ne Plus Ultra and Queen Victoria are 
perhaps the two best sorts to cultivate. 
Among Lemoine’s hardy hybrids some of the most distinct 
flowers for cutting are to be found. Their hardiness has been 
called in question. Of this I cannot speak from experience, as I 
always lift them; but in a brochure, published in 1890 by 
M. Lemoine, are some statements as to this point, which may be 
sufficiently interesting to quote here. One of the parents—viz , 
Gladiolus purpureo-auratus, is stated to be '■'■parfaitement ruatique" — 
quite hardy. Sixteen years ago the first crosses were eflEected with 
the (then) best varieties of gandavensis and Lemoinei, and Marie 
Lemoine was the result. Of these he says, “ They are hardy, and can, 
without the least danger, pass the winter in open ground. Further 
on this interesting statement occurs, “Now experience shows us that 
the more our seedlings approached in their shape, colour, blotches, 
and even in smallness of their corms the old G. Lemoinei the 
more perennial in character they remained {jplm ih restaient 
vivaces) ; whereas those which possessed the greater part of the 
characteristics of the gandavensis endured neither our winters nor 
our soil so well.” And again, “ It is a valuable quality of our 
Gladioli, that of being able to resist any amount of cold in the 
open ground, under the shelter of 1 or 2 inches of straw or of 
leaves. However slight it may be, this covering is always sufficient.” 
Personally, I do not like the later varieties so well as some of 
the earliest raised sorts. As they become like the gandavensis 
section the likeness to these detracts from their usefulness. If 
they were glorified forms of gandavensis the resemblance could be 
submitted to with a good grace, but then they are barely up to the 
best forms of the latter. However, from the raiser’s point of view, 
and on the lines he is working—towards complete hardiness—these 
larger kinds mean a great advance. For cutting purposes no better 
sort has been produced than Lemoinei. It is quaint, striking, and 
beautiful. Corms taken in quantity have decreased in price to a 
somewhat reasonable figure the last two years, and when they fall 
to the rate of brenchleyensis we may hope to see it as much grown 
as that deservedly popular sort. This variety produces seed rather 
freely, and thus another though somewhat risky method of increase 
is in our hands. It is risky in respect to the seedlings varying 
greatly from the parent, many of them being very poor forms. Other 
good sorts for cutting are Andre Chenier, La France, W. E. 
Gumbleton, Sceptre d’Or, Lafayette, and M. Leveque. There are 
other sorts which please, such as Etoile, Alsace, Lamartine, Yesuve, 
John Laing, Bossuet, and others, but for cultivating with cutting 
as the chief purpose in view I find it much better to grow a larger 
number of a few good sorts. The E. Y. Hallock type I do not like 
at all. 
Of the G. nanceianus sorts I have grown only those first dis¬ 
tributed. The one variety which gave me the greatest satisfaction 
was De Candolle. Last year the plants did not succeed, and this 
would go to show that these, like so many of the gandavensis 
section, do best from imported corms. This year I hope to have 
them better, and to hear good accounts from a grower in Ireland, 
to whom a number of small corms were sent for trial. There is 
some uncertainty prevailing as to the section with which the 
veteran hybridist of Nancy effected a cross with G. Saundersi, from 
which the original varieties of nanceianus were produced. G. ganda¬ 
vensis seems to be thought the particular section, and indeed we 
are informed that M. Max Leichtlin was the first to cross-fertilise 
with varieties of gandavensis. But M. Lemoine tells us that 
“ Whereas Leichtlin had employed for his crosses varieties of 
gandavensis, we took care to employ for this work only the most 
characteristic hardy Gladiolus of Lemoine.” These are claimed to 
be equally hardy with the Lemoinei hybrids. G. brenchleyensis 
deserves a note to itself. It is an old English raised hybrid, and 
combines with the greatest usefulness as an autumn flower for 
cutting a fair amount of hardiness. In most seasons the corms can 
be left in the open ground, but the expediency of doing this is 
rather doubtful. It appears to be freely propagated from seed, 
imported corms producing flowers with slight variations. It is, 
moreover, the cheapest Gladiolus worth growing in commerce, so 
that we have, along with its general usefulness, the important 
factors of hardiness and cheapness.—B. 
MUSS.^NDA FRONDOSA. 
I HAVE for some years cultivated Mu.8F®ndas, and they have 
never failed to be admired by those for whom they were provided 
and their many visitors. The plants, which have flowered through¬ 
out the winter and during the early spring months, have afforded a 
fine contrast to the effect produced by the Poinsettias. 
Like the Poinsettias, the Musssendas are not admired for 
their flowers so much as the bracts accompanying them. In the 
former plants these bracts are rich scarlet, in the latter pure 
white. The plants are smaller than the Poinsettias in habit, 
foliage, and flower heads ; yet I have frequently had pure white 
discs of Mussaendas 8 inches in diameter, and when half a dozen 
of these are produced on one plant the effect is something to be 
admired. 
But these plants are not of the easiest culture, and hence it is, 
perhaps, that they are so seldom seen in gardens. They are stove 
