Gladiolus Studies — II 205 



make good vegetative growth as well as mature a large corm. Seeds 

 and cormels also need to be planted as early as possible, so that they 

 too may have a long growing season. 



Dombrain (1873) describes a method of planting individual corms for 

 the home garden. With a trowel he digs a hole six or seven inches deep 

 and about five inches across, and fills this hole " with a mixture of sand, 

 powdered charcoal, and light soil in about equal proportions, so that the 

 bulb, when it begins to start and throw out its rootlets, has a light and 

 dry material into which to penetrate, and thus is likely to be saved from 

 rotting, and taking care that the top of the bulb is about four inches 

 beneath the surface." This method, although slow and laborious, might 

 be adaptable in the planting of choice seedlings. Usually, however, for 

 small beds the corms may be planted with a dibber, or the bed may be 

 dug out evenly from a depth of from six to eight inches and the corms 

 put in place and covered evenly. 



The commonest commercial method is to plant in rows, the corms 

 being placed a little more than their own diameter apart ; that is, two-inch 

 corms are placed two and one-half or three inches apart. All bulbs over 

 an inch in diameter are placed right side up; others are merely sown in 

 the row as seed. B. F. White (191 1) recommends setting the corms with 

 the eyes lengthwise of the row. Many of the corms send up two or three 

 flower stems, which will not lean over crosswise of the row as they would 

 if the corms were planted promiscuously, for in the way suggested they 

 help to support one another. 



In large plantings the rows are frequently three feet apart. This allows 

 for horse cultivation. The furrows are made with the plow. The fertilizer 

 may be applied at the bottom of the furrow, which is leveled with a hand 

 hoe. Two or three rows of corms are frequently placed in each furrow 

 by bulb growers, since they do about as well as if planted otherwise, and, 

 as Gage (1914 b) suggests, " it is surely much more economical to plant 

 100,000 bulbs on one acre than the same number using two acres or more." 

 When planted in single rows, however, the blooms usually become larger, 

 so that for cut-flower or exhibition purposes this method is the better. 



SPRING AND SUMMER CULTURE 



While the gladiolus does not require a great deal of care, it responds 

 to good culture by increase in size of both flower and corm. After the 

 corms are planted it is very essential that the soil be stirred frequently, 

 in order to keep do\\Ti weeds and to destroy an}^ crust through which 

 the young shoots cannot burst. Weeds are especially difficult to pull 

 in a rather heavy soil after they have attained any size. By cultivation 

 air is permitted to enter to the roots, making more plant-food available. 



