80 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
November 3. 
tbo leaves would be growing into shoots, to have their 
blooms in succession. By this means we have had 
succession of bloom on the same plant from June to 
October. 
In treating the plant as above, in a moderate hotbed, 
it will be advisable to move the pot out of bottom-heat 
when the shoots are above six inches in length, giving 
the plant more air, and gradually using it to a colder 
and more airy atmosphere. The young cuttings, potted 
off when struck, plunged in a little bottom-heat again, 
stopped, and thus encouraged to grow, will make nice 1 
shrubby plants for the greenhouse by the middle of j 
July, and these are generally better than older ones for j 
keeping, or for a following year. The soil I have gene- , 
rally used is a compost of heath-mould and loam, with 
a free allowance of charcoal, as drainage, and mixed 
with the compost, and surface-dressings of cow-dung 
when the flower-buds appeared. Treated as a stove- 
plant, it is very subject to the red spider; but treated 
in this intermediate way, giving extra heat only in the 
first stages of its growth, it is seldom that anything i 
interferes with it. 
TEOFCEOLUM LOBBIANUM 
(Var. Triomphe de Gand). 
The preceding have but little cheering about them ! 
just noiv, inasmuch, as those, with little more glass than a 
greenhouse, will merely have to be thinking where they 
can keep the objects at the warmest end, and yet out of j 
sight, not to interfere with objects more beautiful. This \ 
latter plant is, however, an exception, being in its highest 
beauty during the winter months. Our chief reason for 
noticing it here is on account of two queries re- i 
specting it. 1st. “ Mv plant is getting very unsightly; \ 
the large leaves are getting yellow and falling; and from 
their axils, small, spindly shoots are coming: what shall | 
I do?” Pick off the old leaves as they change colour; 
top-dress, or give manure-water to the plants, as it is 
these young side-shoots, in this species, that produce 
bloom so freely. Hence, the reason why it is so well 
fitted for winter blooming. It blooms on the lateral 
instead of the main shoots; and, as a general rule, the 
better the first shoots are grown, the better will the 
plant bo supplied with these secondary flowering shoots. 
Hence, I never did much good with the species in 
summer. 2ndly. “ I saw this Triomphe highly com¬ 
mended for size, &c., but I do not like it so well as 
the smaller flowered species?” Neither do I. I took 
the newspapers and magazines as my guide. The bloom 
is too large, and too like the common red variety of 
Tropccolum majus, to save it in some peoples estima¬ 
tion from being vulgar. It would require good spec¬ 
tacles, taking the blooms alone, to detect this Triomphe 
among a bank of Majus; but then 'Triomphe will bloom 
better in winter, and novelty must at times be paid for. 
R. Fish. 
THE GLADIOLUS. 
The characteristics of a Florist’s-flower are “one that 
has been improved by cross-breeding or hybridization,” 
the wind, if they are fully exposed to it, is apt to twist 
them off. Then, again, the situation should, if possible, 
be dry; for if the soil is heavy and wet the bulbs will 
decay, and the tops perish just at the time when ex¬ 
pectation is on the eve of being gratified. To prevent 
this grievous disappointment, wherever there is the 
least fear of excessive moisture at the root, very effective 
drainage must be enforced. These points of a sheltered 
situation, and a dry subsoil being present, the trouble 
of forming the bed is considerably reduced. In that 
case, a slight drainage of a few inches will be sufficient; 
but in case of the situation being low, a.nd the subsoil, 
in consequence, wet, then effective drainage must be 
insisted on. To form the bed, proceed as follows:— 
Stretch a line on one side of the bed, press a spade 
downwards with the foot, rather slanting inward, then 
remove the line to the other side of the bed, and cut the 
soil with the spade on that side likewise, and then cut 
both ends; commence at one end, and throw out the 
soil one-half to one side, and the other half to the 
opposite side. In a dry situation, from fifteen to 
eighteen inches will be sufficient, but in a low, wet one, 
throw it out eighteen inches deep; then, in the dry 
ground, place at the bottom of the bed about three 
inches of rough gravel or brick-rubbish. All the finer 
gravel, or lime, that may be among the brick-rubble, 
should be sifted out, so that the drainage shall be 
effectual. In damp, low situations, the gravel or brick- 
rubble should be at least six inches thick, with an 
outlet for the water into a regular drain. If the water 
cannot be drained off, then the bed must be raised from 
four to six inches above the general level of the garden, 
for the Gladiolus is extremely impatient of moisture. 
Should the natural soil be heavy and wet, on account of 
its having a large proportion 'of clay in it, then it 
will be necessary to form or make an artificial soil for 
them. 
This leads me to describe the Soil the Gladiolus thrives 
best in, and that is the sometimes-abused term compost 
(as if every garden soil was not a compost). My practice 
has always been to form acompostfor this bulb with the 
following materials, and in the following proportions;— 
three barrows of good sound loam, such as we meet with 
in dry pastures; one barrow of leaf mould ; one barrow 
of heath mould, and a liberal mixture of river sand, 
adding about balf-a-barrow of thoroughly decomposed 
cow-dung or hotbed manure. For a large bed, the 
operator may substitute cart loads for barrow loads, only 
let him use the same proportions. If the natural 
soil is good loam, then add the other ingredients 
to form the compost, and there is no doubt the 
bed will then be filled with that soil or compost 
which will suit the plants admirably. Fill the bed 
with the compost sufficiently to raise it, in dry situa¬ 
tions, two or three inches above the walks; but in 
low, wet situations, raise it full six inches above the 
walk. In the latter case, it will be desirable to have 
some kind of edging to keep the soil up, and I know 
none better than Mr. Llogg’s tiles, such as he advertises. 
These are much better than any other kind of edging I 
have seen. Living edgings, such as Box or Thrift, are 
very objectionable indeed; in the first place, they liar 
and thereby improving its form, colour, and size. The hour slugs, and other creeping vermin ; and, secondly, 
Gladiolus has been so altered; witness the great number 
of improved varieties now in cultivation, and these are 
annually increasing; claiming it, then, as one of the 
flowers that I write about, I purpose devoting a few 
columns to its culture as a Florist’s flower, and, as it is 
now the season for planting the bulbs, I shall commence 
with the formation of the bed, the soil, and planting. 
The Bed. —The situation of the bed should be in an 
open part of the garden, sheltered at a distance by either 
a tall hedge or a wall. This shelter is necessary, because 
the flower-stems of many varieties grow rather tall, and 
they impoverish the soil greatly near the edge of the 
bed. This preparative, or forming of the bed, and filling 
in the compost, would be much better if done long 
before this. The middle of September would be a 
proper and suitable season; but if delayed till this 
mouth (October), the only thing then to attend to will 
be to raise the bed an inch or two higher to allow 
for settling. 
Planting .—The right season for this (important for 
all bulbs) operation, is the latter end of October, or the 
first week in November, though the late-flowering species 
