of the Gladioli become brown, or are damaged by frost, which will usually be the case ahout the latter end of October or in the early part of November, it will be necessary to take the bulbs up, and when they are sufficiently dried, they must be put where they will be moderately cool, but so as to be perfectly protected from injury by damp or frost during the winter. In the spring they must again be divided, and treated in the manner previously directed.

SUCCESSION OF FLOWERS.-By planting the bulbs of the Gladioli at different periods, a succession of flowers may be procured. If some bulbs be planted in pots early in spring, and then put in a frame or pit, where a small degree of artificial heat may be applied, and afterwards be planted out in May, the flowers may be had in bloom from the middle of July to the middle of October, provided means are used to protect them from frost during the latter part of the time. A bed of G. psittacinus, or Parrot Gladiolus, so called because of its curiously-shaped bright orange and scarlet flowers makes a brilliant display when the long compact spikes are covered with expanded bloom.

TREATMENT OF G. CARDINALIS, OR THE SUPERB GLADIOLUS.-This species and hybrids partaking of its nature take rank immediately after G. Natalensis in respect of their beauty, but they are both less hardy and also less vigorous. On these accounts they need to be advanced early in the spring, and to be planted out in the beginning of April, in beds, as directed for G. Natalensis. These beautiful flowers merit all the care ther

need, for when a bed of them is in full beauty the rich scarlet flowers present a most magnificent appearance, the bright colour being agreeably relieved by the white centre of each. Several of the hybrids are exceedingly beautiful, and have been raised from G. cardinalis with G. blandus, the respective colours of each varying in proportion in different plants. Mr. Herbert has produced a very showy one, with large flowers of a brownish-purple, the upper petals being marked slightly with white in their centre: this is named G. pudibundus. Another has scarlet flowers with pale yellow marking, known as G. Colvillii.

There is a difference of opinion as to the hardiness of G. cardinalis. Some of those who have grown it successfully allege that, when allowed to remain in the ground during winter, they are invariably affected by damp to such an extent that their growth is retarded in the spring, and not starting so early as when taken up, they rarely flower so well in the second ycar, thongh they may have been ever so carefully protected; hence that they need to be taken up every autumn. Others declare that hybrids of G. cardinalis do very well in the open border, though entirely unprotected, and bloom finely every year. Mr. Mackenzie says that G. cardinalis is also hardy, and that one year he had, in a bed about twelve feet by seven, not less than five hundred trusses of this magnificent flower at Blair Adam. He adds: "It is generally considered tender; yet it grows here on an elevation of about nine hundred feet above the level of the sea, the subsoil naturally cold and wet, in rather a light soil, with little or no protection. For two winters I gave a covering of leaf-mould,

about two inches deep; but the last two winters they got none whatever, and the result is that they were never seen growing here in such luxuriance and splendour. About the beginning of October, when I wish to propagate them, I take from well-established plants a bulb or cluster of corms, about one or two feet in circumference, from one side of the strongest plants, and plant them in beds two feet wide, and the plants one foot apart, putting a little sand beneath the bulbs; and in the course of two or three years the beds will be covered with the plants: I plant them about two or three inches deep. In 1839 I planted a bed in this manner, and with as little care as I would take in planting any herbaceous plant; yet in both seasons, namely, 1840 and 1841, the bed has been nearly covered with strong trusses of flowers. . . . Single bulbs should be grown in pots, and protected during winter (especially from damp) until they grow into a cluster of bulbs. When they have attained a sufficient size, they may be planted out with safety, and will stand the winter."

SOIL FOR GLADIOLI.-It is a good plan, in order to protect these beautiful plants from the injurious effects of excessive moisture, to prepare the beds by supplying them first with good drainage at the bottom, allowing sufficient space above to receive a quantity of compost one foot thick, so that, when filled in, the top of the bed may be even with the surrounding surface. The soil should be composed of one-half turfy loam, one-fourth leaf-mould, and one-fourth of well-rotted cow-dung and sand. In planting beds thus prepared,

the rows may be marked upon them, and the bulbs laid on the surface, with an envelope of sand round each, to protect them from damp, and then a stratum of soil added, about three inches thick, which will raise the bed a little above the general level of the ground, and cover the bulbs with a sufficient quantity of soil. Some growers are in the habit of covering the beds with a layer of spent bark, or decayed leaf-mould, three inches thick, to shield the bulbs from wet, but this is not considered sufficient if the planting be followed by long-continued rains; in this event, the beds are protected by hoops and matting.

SUMMER TREATMENT.-If the beds have been covered with any light litter, to keep off the rains of spring, this must be removed as the season advances, after which the principal care required will be tying up the stems of the plants, for unless the weather be unusually dry, the beds will not require to be watered. If water be needed, it should he given liberally.

CULTIVATION OF GLADIOLI.-Mr. Duncan, in the Horticultural Society's Journal writes:-" Few plants are more beautiful or better adapted for ornamenting the drawing-room and conservatory for a lengthened period than some of the varieties of the genus Gladiolus. I have for several years cultivated many of the sorts, but more especially the G. insignis, Byzantinus, and cardinalis; and certainly, the brilliant display of flowers they produce will amply compensate for any trouble that may be taken in their cultivation. The last week in September is the time I usually repot

them, using pots of various sizes, from five inches to a foot in diameter, in order the more readily to adapt them to ornamental pots, vases, or stands, as future circumstances may require. The soil I have found best suited to their growth is composed of yellow fibrous loam and turfy peat, of equal quantities, with the addition of a little silver sand and leaf-mould, using it in a tolerably rough condition over a thorough drainage. The number of bulbs placed in each pot is regulated by their size, the largest pots usually producing from fifteen to twenty spikes, of the most fascinating colours; and whether placed in stands amongst the foliage of the conservatory plants, or plunged in vases or baskets of moss and lichen, the effect is gorgeous and pleasing. Liquid manure is frequently administered during the period of growth, and when the plants have done flowering they are removed to the open air, for the purpose of perfecting the process of vegetation. So soon as the foliage shows symptoms of decay water is gradually withheld, and the pots are finally laid on their sides in a shady situation, in order to moderate the action of light and moisture on the roots while in a state of repose."

G. GANDAVENSIS, OR THE GHENT GLADIOLUS.This variety is supposed to have obtained its name from the circumstance of its being imported into England from Ghent. It is an exceedingly desirable addition to our collection. It is doubtless a hybrid, and may probably be entitled to claim G. communis for one of its parents. It bears considerable resemblance to that species; but its flowers appear more like