The Gladiolus is now fully established as one of our most prized autumnal flowers. Its colours, many-hued and glorious, its stately spike of bloom, and the simplicity of its culture, combine to make it a favourite. Year by year its charms are increasing, and year by year the admiration and love of its growers become stronger. A very marked improvement has within a short period been made both in its shape and the combinations of its colours. But its votaries are not always so successful in its cultivation as they would wish to be. From the many complaints we hear every season of the failure of the Gladiolus, it might be concluded that its cultivation is difficult, and the results precarious. I believe, however, that whenever there is more than a very small percentage of failure or disease in a bed, it is the result of carelessness in some part of the management of the bulbs or the soil. Many growers have been misled by the hasty conclusions of some writers in regard to the requirements of the Gladiolus, and by following their advice have, after an immense amount of trouble altogether unnecessary, been repaid only by the loss of their roots.

Having been successful for the last seven years in growing the Gladiolus with a very small percentage of loss (and under the best management there will always be a few diseased bulbs), and also in keeping my bulbs in as good condition as regards bulk and health as when they were imported, I think I may conclude that my simple treatment of them throughout the year suits their habits and constitution. I may mention in passing, that during the last two exceptional, and to many growers fatal, seasons, I have had large beds of Gladioli strong and healthy, with foliage of the deepest green, and the bloom splendid. The first care of the Gladiolus-grower ought to be, of course, the securing of a stock of good healthy bulbs. For this end an early call should be made at the dealers. In selecting bulbs, see that the flesh be plump, firm, and clean, free from black spots anywhere, but particularly about the lower part where the rootlets shoot. Bulbs with black spots will very likely be of no use the second year, and even may tell upon the appearance of the bed before midsummer. Some people invariably choose the largest bulbs, but it does not follow that these are the best; in fact, the ordinary-sized bulbs seem to double themselves most readily.

My own practice is, always to secure any bulbs I need as early in the season as possible, knowing that they are better in my possession than lying exposed in an open shop. This is just one of those little bits of care which too many overlook, and consequently they are left but a small choice.

Some few years ago, when the Gladiolus began to be more extensively cultivated than it had been since its introduction, one could scarcely take up a horticultural magazine without meeting with some absurd theory about its habits and growth, and the soil requisite to grow it in. But the fact is, that the Gladiolus will grow vigorously in any common garden soil of fair quality, which is not too stiff or damp. Both of these latter conditions can be remedied by a little trouble. To keep Gladioli in proper health, I think it is essential that the ground where they are to grow should be manured in autumn, my experience having led me to the conclusion that no fresh manure should come into immediate contact with the roots. Therefore, about the beginning of November, or earlier, dig in about 5 or 6 inches of good strong manure. This is not an extravagant quantity, because the Gladiolus likes generous treatment, and it receives its food in the best condition when it is thoroughly decomposed and incorporated with the soil. As near the first of March as the weather will permit, give the bed a deep and thorough digging, that the roots may get far down for the feast your liberal manuring has provided for them.

The bed being prepared, strip off part of the outer skin from the bulbs, in order to see that the flesh is sound, and to give the rootlets freedom to push, and then plant them in rows 9 inches from each other every way. A greater distance between the bulbs is useless, and a waste of space. The larger bulbs should be planted 4 inches deep, and the smaller 3 inches. It has been proved more than once that a stiff frost after they are planted will not injure them at these depths. Although all are planted at the same time, there will be a fine succession of blooming. A bed, say of a hundred varieties, will every day from the beginning of August to the middle of October be showing new beauties. In order to have an earlier bloom than can be had from those planted in the open ground, it is a common custom to start some bulbs in pots from January onwards, having them well advanced by the beginning of May, when they are planted out. As regards this point, the experience of others may be different from mine, but I have found that pot-planted bulbs were afterwards more liable to disease, and I have almost always lost them the following season. "When the plants are about 2 or 3 inches above the ground, put a neat stake, about 5 feet high, to each, and tie up as soon as they need support.

This is another little bit of attention which careless growers too long neglect, and the consequence is, that the wind does more damage to the unsupported stem than can be remedied for the season. When early and properly tied, the spike grows up as straight as a lance. The roots of Gladioli go so deep into the soil, that in ordinary seasons they do not require watering in our country • but in exceptionally dry times, or in exceptionally dry ground, occasional watering is indispensable. A simple and effectual plan of watering them, as I have over and again proved, is to remove with the point of a trowel a little of the earth from half a dozen of them, near the stem at one side, taking care not to touch the bulb. Fill the holes successively with water several times, and then draw the earth back again. Though it takes a considerable time - which, however, the florist will not grudge - to go over a large bed in this manner, yet it is the best plan I know to make the water reach the roots. As the summer advances, it is certain that rust will manifest itself in a proportion of the plants, greater or less as the grower has been careful or careless in his previous treatment. It is a bad symptom when the foliage gets hard-bound about the stem, and of a dirty brown colour.