will open and the richest colorings result; 
this is also a benefit to the bulb. The flow- 
er-loving public must be educated to a will- 
ingness to cut the spikes when they have 
bloomed a little while in the garden, then 
to finish their development in the house. 
Nothing is more unsightly than a mass of 
ragged, betasseled Gladioli, when it is so 
easy to pick off the withered blooms. 
In cutting the flower spikes, it is ruinous 
to cut the stalk where the flowers end. 
There must be some foliage to lend grace. 
Cut the spikes so as to leave two or three 
leaves on your bulb root, thus giving you a 
flower spike sometimes nearly four feet long, 
leaving plenty of strength for the bulb, and 
beauty for the decoration. 
In shipping cut blooms of the Gladiolus, 
it is absolutely essential that they be 
shipped dry, after standing for a while in 
water. 
A great many varieties do extremely well 
under glass, and any one having a green- 
house should by all means force some of 
those varieties marked with an asterisk, al- 
lowing from twelve to thirteen weeks from 
planting to blooming time, with a tempera- 
ture of about fifty-five degrees, or in carna- 
tion beds. 
Bulbs should be dug as soon as the foliage 
turns brown or is cut down by frosts; cut- 
stalks close to the bulbs. If possible, allow 
to cure in the sun or in a cool, dry place, 
then, removing old conn, store in trays or 
baskets, in a temperature as near forty de- 
grees Farenheit as possible. 
The above illustration shows the bulb as it looks 
when you dig it. The bulb you planted in the spring 
dies away and the new one forms on top, so that it is 
nearer the surface than the original planting. 
20 
