58 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



These both bloom late in the summer and the bulbs must be taken 

 up and stored before freezing. They are very useful for planting 

 in the borders. 



Discussion. 



In reply to a question as to how long it takes for a bulblet to 

 flower the Lecturer said that it would be two or three years before 

 you could count on much bloom. 



Another asked if seven or eight inches was too deep to plant 

 gladiolus bulbs. The Lecturer said that seven or eight inches was 

 too great a depth for them where the soil was not sandy. He 

 found that in field culture about five inches was a good depth for 

 large bulbs. When they have been planted about ten days he 

 went over them with a harrow to destroy the weeds , which took off 

 about an inch of the ground covering. The smaller bulbs are 

 covered only about an inch. 



In planting dahlia tubers, if the soil is very heavy, three inches 

 is the right depth to plant, but if the soil is sandy and you are plant- 

 ing a bull) which will produce a heavy flower, they should be planted 

 about two inches deeper. A heavy flower cannot stand in shallow 

 ground. 



( oocerning the planting of bulbs in grass the Lecturer said that 

 it was all right for spring bulbs but not for summer bulbs. Sum- 

 mer bulbs need cultivation and would be choked out in grass. 



An inquiry was made as to the cause of the disappearance of some 

 lilies a year or two after planting, to which the Lecturer replied 

 that one reason was that the bulbs became diseased, as is the case 

 with Lilium auratum, and that there was great danger of losing this 

 handsome lily. Also that mice were destructive to some bulbs, 

 especially those of Tigridia, of which they were particularly fond, 

 and would pick them out of a fifty acre field. 



< loncerning the method of obtaining new varieties he stated that 

 by planting the seed you would be sure to get something different 

 and new. In gladiolus we depend on the seed. Select seeds from 

 the best varieties and sow them and you get variation. He had 

 not done any hand crossing but by selecting the seeds from the 

 best formed and best colored varieties and sowing them the best 



