Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VII.djvu/848

 832 GLADIOLUS GLADSTONE from the Levant, which has larger and more showy purple flowers. Among the tender species which are grown in pots in winter, or planted in the open ground in spring, are G. cardinalis, 0. blandus, and G. psittacinus, from the Cape of Good Hope. The most popular and brilliant of these plants are hybrids from these and probably others ; they originated in the garden of the duke of Aremberg, a noted amateur of Ghent; and as their characters are permanent and they are fertile among them- selves, these hybrids have received the garden name of gladiolus Gandavensis. In size, beau- ty of form, and variety of coloring of the flower, these hybrids far excel any of the species, and they are constantly improving in these re- spects; new seedlings of merit are each year raised both in Europe and America, and the catalogues now offer named varieties in hun- dreds. The colors range from pure white through rose to crimson, scarlet, and violet; Common Gladiolus. some have yellow as the predominating color, and there are various intermediate shades of salmon, chamois, and others; besides self-col- ored flowers, there are those variously striped, stained, and shaded in the most brilliant and pleasing combinations. The cultivation is very easy, as they will grow in any light, rich gar- den soil ; the bulbs are planted in spring, and, if a succession of flowers is desired, at intervals from March until May ; they are set 2 or 3 in. deep, and 10 to 12 in. apart each way, and need no other care than to be kept clear of weeds, and to have such stalks as need it tied to sticks. A very effective plan is to plant the bulbs where the flowers will be seen against a back- ground of evergreens; they may also be in- troduced among rhododendrons, azaleas, and other spring-flowering shrubs. In autumn when the stalks are dead the bulbs are taken up, labelled, wrapped in papers, and kept in a dry place, where they will not freeze, until spring. The number of bulbs annually produced varies from one to several, according to the variety. At the base of the bulbs there will usually be found numerous bulblets, the size of a pea or smaller ; planted the next spring, these make flowering bulbs in two years. New varieties are obtained from the seed; these produce flowers the third or fourth year after sowing. GLADSTONE, William Ewart, a British states- man, born in Liverpool, Dec. 29, 1809. He is the fourth son of Sir John Gladstone, a wealthy merchant, who relinquished a small business in Glasgow about 1V85, and removed to Liver- pool, where he acquired a large fortune in the West India trade,- and was created a baronet in 1846. The son was sent to Eton, and while there gave full promise of the special brilliancy which marked his course at Oxford, where he graduated at Christchurch in 1831, as double first class, the highest honor, and one rarely attained, and became a fellow of All Souls'. After travelling for a short period, he entered parliament in December, 1832, as member for Newark, a nomination borough belonging to the duke of Newcastle, which he continued to represent till 1846. In December, 1834, he was appointed by Sir Robert Peel a junior lord of the treasury, and in 1835 under secretary for colonial affairs, which office he filled for only two months, when the ministry was over- thrown. He continued a useful and active as well as brilliant member of the opposition party led by Sir Eobert Peel until that statesman's return to power in 1841, when he was sworn a member of the privy council and appoint- ed vice president of the board of trade and master of the mint. In this position he ex- plained and defended in parliament the com- mercial policy of the government, and the re- vision of the British tariff in 1842 was almost entirely his work. He was a constant con- tributor to the " Quarterly Review," chiefly on literary and ecclesiastical subjects. He also published in 1838 a work on church and state, in which he maintained extreme high-church views, and which was severely criticised by Macaulay in the "Edinburgh Review." In May, 1843, he succeeded Lord Ripon as presi- dent of the board of trade, but in February, 1845, he resigned his offices on the introduc- tion of the measure for the increase of the May- nooth grant, which was directly opposed in principle to the opinions he had expressed in his work on church and state. In November, 1845, Sir Robert Peel resigned, but, on the failure of Lord John Russell to form a govern- ment, he was recalled and reconstructed his cabinet, Mr. Gladstone becoming secretary for the colonies. In the free-trade measure an- nounced by Sir Robert Peel in January, 1846, Mr. Gladstone fully concurred ; but being un- willing to remain under obligations to the duke of Newcastle, he resigned his seat for Newark, and was out of parliament during the debates on this measure. At the general election of 1847 he was chosen to represent the university