THE TUBEROSE AND GLADIOLUS 243 



of the bulb. Cut off close to the solid portions. They 

 will start a great deal sooner if you do this, and be 

 much surer to make fine plants. If this is not done 

 quite often the old roots decay and communicate 

 disease to the bulb. Most persons are familiar with 

 this flower from having seen it in cut flower work from 

 the florists, who raise it extensively. Its blossoms are 

 thick and waxy in texture, ivory white in color, and 

 exquisitely fragrant. The flowers are double, and are 

 produced in spikes about a foot in length, on stalks 

 about three feet tall. The best variety is the Pearl, a 

 spike of which is seen in Fig 62. 



The Gladiolus 



This is the best of all the summer-flowering bulbs, 

 all things considered. It is to the amateur's garden 

 what the Geranium is to his window. It is a flower 

 anybody can grow, and it is lovely enough to satisfy 

 the most exacting. You can have it in the most 

 delicate colors if your taste runs in that direction, and 

 you can have it in colors of extreme brilliancy if such 

 colors are your preference. It is something you can 

 depend on to do well if you give it half a chance. But 

 the better you care for it the better it will do, and it 

 pays to give it liberal treatment. 



Of late much attention has been given this flower 

 by the florists, and great improvement has resulted. 

 The size of the flower has been increased, its colors 

 intensified, and new markings and combinations of 

 colors of wonderful beauty have rewarded the skillful 

 hybridizer. It deserves a place in every collection. 



It likes a soil that is light, mellow and rich. Any 

 soil in which Corn will grow well suits it. And it 

 likes to be planted in the open ground about the time 

 Corn is planted. That is early enough. If you have 

 bulbs enousrh to warrant you in doing so, hold back 



