1870. 3 
THE GLADIOLUS IN 1869 . 
63 
The first real British patron of the Dutch mode of forcing was Mr. Labou- 
chere, of Hylands Park, Essex. These gardens are still held by a patron of 
gardening, Arthur Pryor, Esq., brother of my estimable employer; but modern 
appliances have long since taken the place of the olden system. 
There is one fact in connection with the Dutch practice which I must not 
here pass over, inasmuch as it leads us to look at matters in a more practical man¬ 
ner than our present routine methods—of which I find no fault—permit. They 
were wont in the early autumn to take a thriving Peach-tree up by the root, to 
remove it to the forcing-pit, and there fruit it well, and to return it to a place 
beside the wall, to make room for others. So they continued, year after year, 
never, in fact, fruiting the same tree for two years in succession. In fact, by 
carefully separating the roots, after they had performed their summer office, from 
the soil which surrounded them, they knew that they had as good a tree to all 
intents and purposes, as if tons of the old, exhausted soil had been removed with 
it. They did not, as we too frequently do, consider the soil in which the roots 
are imbedded, as part or portion of the tree itself; but, more justly, they looked 
upon the roots as organs capable of performing their functions quite as well in a 
fresh and suitable soil, as in the old. But, be it remembered, they exhumed every 
root and rootlet by removing the soil with the utmost care; not, as is too 
frequently the case now-a-days, by a dig here, and a dig there, in disregard of 
them all, finishing by a strong pull at the main stem. I would earnestly impress 
this simple fact upon the minds of all young gardeners, namely, that—provided 
only the necessary care be given at the taking-up process—a moderate-sized cul¬ 
tivated deciduous plant may be removed with perfect impunity to the extent even 
of at once forcing it into growth, and flowering it, and fruiting it some months 
before its natural season. 
Hero let me pause, to refer to the fact that many gardeners, in advertising, 
speak of being ejfiScient in both late and early forcing. When we consider that 
to force signifies to hasten the maturity of fruits, flowers, &;c., this expression, 
late forcing, grates upon the ear.— William Eaelby, Digswell, Welwyn. 
THE GLADIOLUS IN 1869. 
VISIT just paid to my bulb-room reminds me that my report on the 
Gladiolus is still unfurnished for the year just ended ; and my experience 
as a practical cultivator tells me that, to be of use for the guidance of 
florists for 1870, the sooner it is before the public the better. The year 
1869 was, on the whole, unsatisfactory for the Gladiolus. I planted the bulk of 
my stock in the second week of February, and all before the end of the month, 
in fresh loam enriched with a moderate supply of old cow-dung, and made 
friable by the addition of some river-sand—the soil they seem to like best. Too 
heavy manuring I have found injurious, as it tends greatly to increase the pro¬ 
pensity in the bulbs to rot and melt away. They showed above-ground in due 
