STATE HORTICULrURAL SOCIETY. 27& 



grandest and richest of all summer flowering bulbs, — the gladiolus. 

 There is nothing in the garden which requires less care than gladioli. 

 They are raised easier than potatoes, and nothing will attract the eye of 

 the passer-by so quickly. When the bulbs are once in the ground 

 you have nothing to do but keep the weeds out and cut the flowers 

 when they come. It is true that the bulbs are somewhat expensive 

 at the outset, but they multiply rapidly, and if a person will save the 

 the little bulblets which form at the base of the large bulb each year, 

 and plant them in separate drills, he will soon have a great abund' 

 ance. I procured about a hundred bulbs of the named varieties three 

 years ago, and I now have in my cellar about three bushels of bulba 

 for this spring's planting. If a person does not want to go to expense 

 of buying bulbs let hira buy a package of seeds, and many of them 

 will blossom the second year, and from that time onward if he saves 

 the bulbs and bulblets he will have plenty. 



But I fear I am trespassing too much upon your patience, and with 

 a brief statement of how I handle cut worms I will close. Of course 

 if a person goes into the garden in the early morning and sees a plant 

 has been cut by the worm at night he can usually find the worm 

 within an inch or so of the plant and destroy it. This is a safe and 

 sure way. But a couple of seasons ago I chanced to leave a small pile 

 of grass which had been cut by the lawn mower in the garden. The 

 next morning in removing it I found several cut worms under it. 

 Whether attracted by the oder of the fresh grass, or not, I will not 

 undertake to say, but they were there, and so now I regularly set this 

 trap for them each spring and generally get a quantity each morning. 

 Somehow the freshly cut grass draws them together. 



I thank you for your kind attention to this hastily prepared paper, 

 and in closing I submit whether there is any diversion more produc- 

 tive of health or cultivating to the taste, or where a person can get 

 nearer to nature than by cultivating those flowers which God gives to 

 all as a common blessing? Here nature smiles equally upon the hum- 

 ble and the wealthy, and a litle industry is rewarded with gifts which 

 decorate any home. 



