shaped, and widening upwards, and by the segments equalling or exceeding the tube in length. About ninety species are described, of which number upwards of fifty are from the Cape, and the rest from tropical Africa, the central and southern regions of Europe, Persia, the Caucasus, and the Levant. One species, G. illg/ricus, is found apparently wild in England, in the New Forest, Hampshire. Some of the species have been cultivated for a long period in our flower-gardens, where both the introduced species and the modern varieties bred from them are very ornamental and popular. 6'. seget-um has been cultivated since 1596, and (I. byzantinus since 1629, while many additional species were introduced during the latter half of the 18th century. One of the earlier of the hybrids originated in gardens was the beautiful 6'. Colvillii, raised in the nursery of Mr Culvill of Chelsea in 1823 from G. concolor fertilized by G'. cm-a’z'lmlis. In the first decade of the century, however, the Hun. and Rev. W. Herbert had successfully crossed the showy (I. car/(inalis with the smaller but more f rec—flowering (1'. blmulns, and the result was the production of a race of great beauty and fertility. Other crosses were made with G. (rims, G. oppositiflorus, G. l1i7'87111l8, G. alatus, and G. natalensis ; but it was not till after the production of G. gandavmsis about 1843, by the crossing of G'. natalensis with G. opposing/torus (sometimes erroneously attributed to nalalensis and cardinalis), that the gladiolus may be said to have become a general favourite in gardens. Since that time the varieties have been greatly multiplied in number, and improved in size and quality, as well as marvelloust varied in colour and marking, so that they have now become exceedingly popular. A few years since large numbers of novel varieties were annually introduced by the French florists, but the English~raised varieties are now in great measure superseding them. One cultivator, Mr Kelway of Langport, devotes a space of not less than 8 acres to gladioli, and cultivates annually from 10,000 to 60,000 each of some of the more popular kinds, while seedlings are raised to the extent of half a million a year. The seeds are sown in the open ground about April, glass culture with so large a num- her being out of the question ; and in the first season the young plants make bulbs averaging the size of peas. The time occupied from the sowing of the seed until the plant attains its full strength is from three to four years. The approved sorts, which are identified by name, are multiplied by means of bulblets or offsets which form around the principal bulb or corm ; but in this they vary greatly, some kinds furnishing abundant increase and soon becoming plentiful, while others persistently refuse to yield offsets. The stately habit and rich glowing colours of the modern gladioli render them exceedingly valuable as decorative plants during the late summer months. They are, moreover, very desirable and useful flowers for cutting for the purpose of room decoration, for while the blossoms themselves last fresh for some days, the undeveloped buds open in succes- sion, if the stalks are kept in water, so that a cut spike
will go on blooming for a considerable period.GLAMORGAN (Welsh, Gu'lad Jlforgan), a maritime county of South Wales, bounded on the N. by Breck- nock and Carmarthen, on the W. by Carmarthen and its bay, on the S. by the Bristol Channel, and on the E. by Monmouth, the boundary line of which is the Rhymncy. Its greatest length from E. to 1V. is about 53 miles, its : greatest breadth from N. to S. about 29 ; its coast-line is about 60 miles, and its area 547,070 acres.
Glamorgan, with the exception of some flat tracts on the borders of the Bristol Channel, consists of a succession of hills and valleys, the country inland growing more and more mountainous, after abroad tract of plain on the south coast, until on the borders of Brecknock its surface is a sea of hills. None of the mountains rise to a great height, the most lofty, Mynydd Llangeinor, being but 1859 feet, and the escarpment of Craig y Llyn about the same height or a little higher. Yet their bold forms add grandeur to the scenery of the county, and their lower slopes are clothed with picturesque though not large timber.
The valleys of Glamorgan have been long famous for great beauty of scenery. The vale of Glamorgan, some 8 miles in breadth, has been truly called the “Garden of “Tales,” and its climate is so mild that myrtles and other tender plants flourish in the open air. The vale of Neath is known to tourists as the waterfall district of South Wales, the finest falls being betwixt Hirwain and Neath, near the Vale of Neath Railway, viz. Cilhepste fall, the three Clwngwyns, the falls of the Pyrddin, Scwd-Einon Gain, Scwd-Gladys, and Scwd Hen Rhydd on the Llech, with Melincourt and Abergarwedd still nearer Neath. The highest of these falls are above 80 feet. Swansea valley has also fine scenery. Other valleys are those of the Rhymney, the Taff, the Rhondda, and the Llwchwr, the first two giving their names to important railways.
The rivers of Glamorgan are not large. The chief are the Rhymney, forming the county’s eastern boundary 5 the ngr or Ogmore, which flows into the Bristol Channel near Porth-Cawl harbour; the Taff, which rises in the Brecon Beacon, flows southward through the county, and forms the important harbour of Cardiff ; the Neath and Tawe, flowing south into Swansea Bay ; and the Llwchwr, which is the boundary of the county on the west. and, falling into Car- marthen Bay, forms the estuary of the Burry river.
The chief geological feature of Glamorgan is the Coal- measures, which are of the greatest thickness near Neath, but extend nearly over the whole county, and are bounded by a narrow band of Millstone Grit and Mountain Lime- stone, nearly coincident with the county boundary on the north. In the extreme south and south-west the Devonian, Magnesian Limestone, and the Lias show themselves.
The climate is mild, and the plains on the coast as well as inland are very fertile. The soil is a deep rich loam, improved by lime. Agriculture is as yet not so forward as it might be with such a Soil and climate; but the farms are seldom large, and the buildings are not suited to high farm- ing. The crops chiefly raised are wheat, beans, pease oats, barley, vetches, turnips, and potatoes. The cattle are of good useful breeds; and good sheep and ponies are reared in the hill-country. Acc0rding to the agricultural statistics for 1878, the extent under the different crops (the total area being 547,070 acres), and the numbers of live—stock, were as follows :—
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Corn crops (two-thirds wheat and oats, and nearly
one-third barley) .. .. . ................................... .. 37,139 acres Green crops (two-thirds turnips and swedes) .......... .. 15,054 ,, Grass under rotation...... ................................ .. 26,468 ,, Permanent pasture .......................................... ..186,697 ,, Bare, fallow, and uncropped arable land, .............. .. 33,359 ,, Total under crops, bare fallow, and grass ............. ..268,707 ,,
Live Stock :—H01'ses, including ponies ......................... .. 13,727
Cattle ................................................. .. 46,545
Sheep ................................................. ..283,389
Pigs ................................................... .. 15,572
73, the county was divided among 8126 proprietors, holding 428,386 acres, with a gross estimated annual rental of £1,609,379. The estimated amount of commons and waste lands was 47,018 acres. Of the owners, 788 per cent. possessed less than one acre, and the average value per acre was £3, 1s. Sid. There were 16 proprie- tors owning 5000 acres and upwards, viz., C. R. M. Talbot 33,920; Earl of Dunraven, 23,706; Marquis of Bute, 2l,402 ; Lord Windsor, 12,016; Earl of Jersey,
7110; Edward Rees Wingfield, 6463;YLord él‘redegar,