injure
them. When you apply the cord or wire to the stakes, run it lengthwise
of the bed, and then across it in order to furnish a sufficient support
without obliging the stalks to lean from the perpendicular to get the
benefit of it.

For several seasons past, I have made use of a coarse-meshed wire
netting, placed over the bed, and fastened to stakes about eighteen
inches high. The stalks find no difficulty in making their way through
the large meshes of the netting, and with a support of this kind they
dispose themselves in a natural manner that is far more satisfactory
than tying them to stakes, as we often see done. Some kind of a support
must be given if we would guard against injury caused by strong winds.
When the flower-stalk is once prostrated it is a difficult matter to get
it back in place without breaking it.

If netting is used it need not be placed over the bed before the middle
of July. By that time most of the weeds which require attention during
the early part of the season will have been disposed of. Putting on the
netting at an earlier period would greatly interfere with the proper
cultivation of the bed. The soil should be kept light and open until the
flower-stalks begin to show their buds.

The flowering-period covers several weeks, beginning in August, and
lasting all through September.

The Gladiolus is extremely effective for interior decorative work. It
lasts for days after being cut. Indeed, if cut when the first flowers at
the base of the spike open, it will continue to develop the buds above
until all have become flowers, if the water in which the stalks are
placed is changed daily, and a bit of the end of the stalk is cut off
each time. For church use no flower excels it except the Lily, and that
we can have for only a short time, and quite often not at all.

In late October the plants should be lifted, and spread out in the
sunshine to ripen. Do not cut the stalks away until you are ready to
store the corms. Then cut off each stalk about two inches from its
junction with the corm. When the roots seem well dried out, put them in
paper bags containing perfectly dry sawdust or buckwheat shells, and
hang them in a dry place where the frost will not get at them. I would
not advise storing them in the cellar, as they generally mould or mildew
there.

Most varieties increase quite rapidly. You will find several new corms
in fall, taking the place of the old one planted in spring. Often th