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. 
Clip off any withered blooms, so as to force 
strength back into the bulb. 
A great many varieties do extremely well 
under glass, and any one having a greenhouse 
should by all means force some of those varieties 
marked with an asterisk, allowing from twelve 
to thirteen weeks from planting to blooming 
time, with a temperature of about fifty-five 
degrees, or in carnation 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 corm, store in trays or baskets, in a tempera- 
ture as near forty degrees Farenheit as possible. 
Florists' Prize Mixture 
