70 MAKING OF A FLOWER GARDEN 



even better spray is clear hot water iat about a hundred 

 and forty degrees, or water at a hundred and thirty 

 degrees may be used in a large vessel and the tips 

 of the branches — ^the most affected parts — dipped in 

 it and held there for one minute. The Green Leaf 

 Hopper is more troublesome owing to its penchant 

 for moving around just when one most wishes it to 

 keep still. It is of all insect pests the most trouble- 

 some to eradicate, but can be handled very early in 

 the morning while the foliage is wet and the insect 

 sluggish, by spraying with the tobacco or soap solu- 

 tion. 



Gladiolas offer as few problems for successful 

 growth as one could reasonably expect of a flower ; a 

 warm, sunny position, well enriched soil, either from 

 a liberal fall application of manure to the bed or a 

 spring dressing of sheep manure or the droppings 

 from the rabbit warrens (which may well be com- 

 posited during winter for this purpose), applied in 

 the spring. The bulbs should be prepared for plant- 

 ing by removing the dried skins and the dead root at 

 the base of the bulb. Large bulbs may be planted 

 from six to eight inches deep, small bulbs more shal- 

 low, but the deep-planted bulbs can go into the 

 ground earlier and remain later, and will require 

 less staking than the shallow-planted ones. If one 

 wishes a succession of bloom successive plantings of 



