according to
foregoing directions, the bulbs may usually be ripened off in March,
cured in sand in a dry warm place and planted out in May, thus securing
a few blooms the following Autumn, one year after gathering the seed.
Most of the bulbs thus treated should attain blooming size by the end of
the first season. If only a few seeds of a rare variety are obtainable,
very porous compost in five-inch pots or shallower boxes, the seeds sown
near the edges, will give best results. The seedling gladiolus the first
year is so slender and with such a small root system that considerable
attention is needed to avoid excess moisture unless closely planted.

A useful modification of the above method is to replace the bottom of a
box of convenient size with wire netting of one-half-inch mesh or less,
sink it to within an inch of the top in the soil in a convenient sunny
place in garden, fill with prepared compost, sow seeds and proceed in
the described manner except that less attention will be required in
watering than if entirely exposed to the air. Box and soil can be lifted
out when the bulbs mature, the soil dried and sifted to secure every
minute bulb. If a considerable quantity of seed is to be sown a board
frame eight inches deep, with bottom lined with one-half-inch mesh
netting, and sunk in the ground, will give complete security from moles
and similar vermin. If ordinary poultry netting is stretched over the
top, additional security against surface marauders is given. Hand
hybridized seeds are too precious to risk in ordinary unprotected soil.
Five thousand seedling bulbs may be grown in a frame 4x6 feet, if seeds
are thickly enough sown.

CHAPTER IV.

Gladiolus Species.

The following list includes the most important Gladiolus species, as
recognized by modern botanists. Many species formerly included in the
genus _Gladiolus_ are now correctly assigned to _Acidanthera_,
_Antholyza_, _Babiana_, _Freesia_, _Montbretia_, _Tritona_ and
_Watsonia_. Most true Gladiolus species will hybridize together, under
favorable opportunity, but all attempts to breed the above genera with
Gladiolus, thus far, appear to have failed. The most important garden
hybrids of Gladiolus, useful in breeding work, have been described in
preceding chapters. An attempt is here made to note the height of each
species, the season of bloom in the northern hemisphere, the native
locality where known, and the approximate date of introduction to