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Cornell Extension Bulletin io 



time. A bed four feet wide should be laid out and raked smooth. Drills 

 should be made one inch deep and far enough apart to allow for hoeing 

 (six inches). The bulblets should be placed one inch apart, and covered 

 at once with sifted sand about two inches deep, then pressed down to 

 the level of the surface. Sand is preferred to most kinds of soil, because 

 it never bakes and also because it shows where the rows are so that hoeing 



can be done before the 

 plants are up. 



Peeled cormels grow as 

 much in one year as un- 

 peeled ones do in two 

 years ( Falconer , 1 8 9 1 ) , 

 and every cormel grows. 

 M. Crawford's experience 

 is that it is better to peel 

 cormels the same day 

 that they are planted; a 

 nimiber of his corms 

 molded one year. It is 

 essential that great pains 

 be taken not to injure 

 the cormels when peeling 

 them, for any abrasion in 

 the surface offers a place 

 for the entrance of dis- 

 ease. If they are not 

 peeled, they should be 

 soaked for a day before 

 planting. 



The cormels should be 

 planted early so that 

 they may have a long 

 season of growth, in 

 order that they may gain 

 a large size. Although it is advantageous for the same reason to allow 

 them to remain in the soil until late in the fall, commercially they can be 

 much more easily handled if taken up when the tops are somewhat green. 

 This leads to the question of proper storage, which is about the same 

 as for mature corms. Cormels are often stored in soil (Moore) just as 

 removed from the parent corms, in a place where the temperature is 

 approximately from 40° to 45° F. (Wilmore), where they are always 



Fig. 38. GLADIOLUS CORM AND CORMELS 



At the base of the large corm are usually found small corms, or 

 cormels. These are unlike young corms; they are covered with a 

 hard shell, or husk 



