102 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
November 10. 
I long every year. They are nearly all equal in height, 
namely, ten feet each, with branches down to the 
ground. As the seeds of these noble Silver Eirs have 
been imported largely last year, the price will soon be 
more moderate. 
Cryptomeria japonica. —Is here perfectly hardy, and 
has reached nearly thirty feet in height, and is pro¬ 
ducing cones plentifully, so that this useful tree will 
soon he as plentiful and cheap as the common Scotch 
Fir. The variety, G. Lobbii, of a more dense habit, is 
also producing cones. I might extend this list greatly, 
but the above is sufficient to prove how rich this placo 
is in Conifer®; and I must conclude this brief notice of 
this interesting place by observing, that 1 know no 
place so worthy of a visit, so full of interesting objects, 
as Dropmore. T. Appleby. 
THE GLADIOLUS. 
(Continued from page 81.) 
Culture in Pots. —There are few bulbs more worthy 
ot culture in pots than are the new and finer varieties 
of the Gladiolus. They are useful to ornament the 
greenhouse in June, July, and August, when the usual 
inhabitants are enjoying the open air. Their spike-like 
forms diversify the stage, and their higli-coloured flow¬ 
ers render the house gay for several weeks in succession. 
The kinds best adapted for pot culture are Augustus, 
Blmulus, Gardinalis, and its varieties. Brenchleyensis, 
Boiviensis, Colvellii, and its varieties. Formosissimus , 
Insignis, Queen Victoria, Ramosus, Spectabilis, Tri- 
maculatus, and other hybrids of Cape species. 
The soil for them in pots should consist of loam, 
sandy peat, and leaf-mould, in equal parts, with a small 
addition of some thoroughly-decomposed hotbed manure. 
These materials should have been well exposed, and 
frequently turned over, some months previously, to 
sweeten and pulverise them. They may be mixed at 
j the time ot potting, or sometime beforehand, as may be 
convenient. The smaller-growing kinds should be put 
into six-inch pots, three bulbs in a pot; the larger ones 
into eight-inch pots. Drain well, and lill the pots with 
the compost to within one-inch-and-a-half of the top; 
then put in the bulbs, and fill up to the rim, pressing 
and shaking the soil down upon them. 
The time tor this operation depends upon the time of 
flowering. The early bloomers, such as Blandus and 
Trimaculatus, should be potted in October; whilst the 
later-blooming varieties, such as Ramosus, may be put 
in as late as December; but this is a matter of conve¬ 
nience ; they may all be successfully potted in Novem¬ 
ber ; and will answer equally well, only the early ones 
should be brought earlier into the greenhouse. As soon 
as they are potted, plunge them overhead in coal-ashes, 
i or saw-dust, and place some covering over them to keep 
off the heavy rains and snows of winter. If very severe 
frost takes place, a shelter of fern or straw should be 
applied. The best place for them, however, would be a 
frame or cold pit, it such a convenience is at hand for 
them. They could be effectually protected from all 
adverse weather, only the lights should be drawn off 
every line day, as they will not bear, or, at least, will 
not thrive so well, if too much, or any, heat is generated 
in the frame by the sun’s rays. Under these shelters 
they may remain till the leaves appear, and the season 
advances, when they should have air night and day. 
The grand object to be aimed at is to keep them slowly 
growing, any attempt at forcing would, in nine cases out 
of ten, prevent them blooming satisfactorily. When 
! they have made some growth, the pots should be lifted 
up out ot the coal-ashes, and any that may be on the 
surface ot the soil in the pots should be scraped off and 
the pots clean-washed; then, if they are in a frame, 
re-set them in it, and carefully protect them from late 
frosts by coverings of mats, or some other sheltering 
material; if not in frames, then form a shelter with 
hoops over the bed for the same purpose. As soon as 
room can be made for them, place them on the green¬ 
house stage as near the glass as possible, so as to allow 
room for the leaves to attain their full size. As the 
llower-stems advance, lower the pots, and place neat 
sticks, painted green, to each flower-stem. These are 
to keep each flower upright, for without sticks they are 
liable to grow sideways, and then they interfere with 
other plants, as well as being unsightly. Due supplies 
of water must be administered; the quantities to be 
increased as the foliage and flower-stems progress. Just 
before the buds appear, a dose of weak manure-water 
will be useful, both to encourage growth and give a 
higher colour to the bloom. 
In the greenhouse, the Red Spider is frequently trou¬ 
blesome to these and similar plants. 1 have frequently 
seen that splendid plant, the Tritonia aurea, with its 
leaves all turned yellow long before its line blossoms 
were decayed, thus deteriorating its beauty greatly; 
and this is an allied plant to the Gladioli, and they 
suffer equally from this pest if it is not kept under. 
The best remedy is a free use of the syringe in the 
early stuges of growth — thus acting upon the old 
proverb, that prevention is belter than cure. After the 
bloom is ovor, the plants should be set out-of-doors, 
fully exposed to the sun, gradually reducing the supply 
of water; and, when the leaves are quite decayed, lay 
the pots on one side, behind a low hedge or wall, to 
induce a complete rest. Then, when it is convenient, 
turn them out of the pots, cleanse the bulbs of the tops 
and old roots, and place them in drawers, with their 
names attached, until the planting or potting season 
arrives again. 
It is advisable, where possible, to use fresh roots for 
potting every year, becauso the bulbs never attain that 
size in pots that they do in the beds, and for the simple 
yet certain reason, that in pots there is not sufficient 
soil to give nutriment enough to the foliage to cause 
the bulbs to attain their full size. Rut where there are 
no beds to plant them in the succeeding year, then 
choose the finest bulbs, and repot them for flowering, 
and pot the smaller ones to grow on the next year 
without flowering, till they become of sufficient size for 
that purpose. T. Aei’leby. 
{To be continued.) 
MUSHROOMS ON REDS OUT-OF-DOORS. 
Although a building heated by fire applied by the 
aid of flues or circulating hot water commands a more 
certain crop, yet Mushrooms are often produced without 
the use of such an auxilliary; and as many amateurs 
and others, who may be wishful to have this luxury, may 
not he in possession of such a building, the means 
whereby they may be obtained in other places, will, no 
doubt, be interesting to all who have not hitherto tried 
the homely shifts to which we allude, and which are 
within reach of everyone who is possessed of a sufficient 
quantity of horse dung, and a place to pile it on; but 
before entering on the process of making such beds, let 
us glance at the “ Mushroom,” as it presents itself in a 
wild state out-of-doors, and sec if any analogy exists 
between its production there, and in the artificial beds 
we on many occasions have made for it. 
On very line autumns Mushrooms continue to grow 
until a very late period. Some few years ago, many 
provincial papers recorded the fact of Mushrooms being 
gathered as late as Christmas in their various localities, 
even in the northern counties. Now, from this we may 
