April, 1919 
Z31k ^flower Grower 
33 
How I Grow Gladioli. 
( If ' ritltn expressly for 1 he Flower Grower. J 
By Willis E. Fryer. 
I BELIEVE it is best to begin with 
the first work in the field in the 
spring, and planting bulblets is the 
first. These are planted as soon as 
the ground is in condition in April. 
Last season we began planting them 
on April 6th, and this is the earliest we 
have ever planted them. In planting 
them we make a shallow trench about 
three inches deep, and the width of a 
medium sized hoe. We use a hoe that 
is better in my estimation than any 
hoe on the market today. The upper 
rounding corners are cut off so that it 
is V shaped, and then it is sharpened 
so that it will cut as well on the sides 
as on the bottom. When you cut them 
do not cut off too much or it will not 
do as good work. Just try one and 
see how good they are. We are very 
particular about having the trench 
smooth and level on the bottom. If 
the trench is not this way the bulblets 
will roll to the center as they are sown, 
and you will not have an even stand. 
The bulblets are sown quite thickly. 
They seem to germinate much better 
when sown thickly, and have grown 
No. 1 bulbs from bulblets, while bulbs 
1 to lg inch in diameter were quite 
plentiful. They are then covered about 
an inch deep with mellow soil, and 
then it is firmed well with the foot, 
and the balance of the soil is left loose, 
and raked to a sharp ridge over the 
row with an iron garden rake. This 
ridge serves two purposes; if we 
should have severe freezing weather 
after they are planted it protects them 
from freezing, and it can also be raked 
down as the weeds start and there will 
be very little weeding to do afterwards. 
The way we rake the rows is thus : 
As soon as the weeds begin to sprout 
it is raked lightly lengthwise of the 
row. At the third raking the rows are 
about level, the weeds are killed, and 
the little fellows are beginning to come 
up. We have raked bulblets when they 
were a few inches high with good suc- 
cess. 
As soon as the bulblets are planted 
the smaller sizes of the bulbs are 
planted. These are planted in the 
same kind of a trench, but it must be 
deeper. Bulbs under f inch are gener- 
ally sown. If they are too thick in 
places they can soon be placed at the 
right distance. 
If a large bulb is planted early in 
April, and one of the same size and 
variety is planted the middle of June 
there will not be so much difference in 
the time of blooming as you naturally 
imagine there would. When planted 
early the bulbs may lay dormant for 
nearly a month should the weather be 
cool, but if planted in June they start 
into growth at once. Last season we 
thought our early planted bulbs would 
never start, but on examination we 
found them in about the same condi- 
tion as when planted. When one has 
a large amount to plant it is necessary 
to begin early, but I do not believe one 
will get much earlier blooms by doing 
so. Small bulbs are last to bloom and 
this gives one a succession of blooms. 
Last season we tried a new scheme 
to rid the small stock from weeds, and 
it worked very well. When the sprouts 
are up a few inches they are so thick 
that itis impossible to work among them 
with a hoe, and we use a sharp stick to 
work among them to kill the weeds. 
If this is done after a rain, and when 
the ground is in the right condition 
nearly every weed is destroyed, and it 
is much faster than pulling them by 
hand later on. 
We use a horse for cultivating, and 
use seeder teeth pointed at both ends 
for the shovels generally used on culti- 
vators. By being pointed at both ends 
they do not leave the ground in ridges 
after cultivating, but it is smooth and 
mellow. We cultivate after every rain 
as soon as the soil is in condition, and 
if we have a dry spell we cultivate 
often to form a dust blanket to con- 
serve the moisture. 
I will describe the crates we use for 
they are used in digging, curing and 
storing the bulbs. These are made of 
strips |x4 inches, and these are nailed 
into a frame 18 x 30 inches. Then gal- 
vanized sand screen of different meshes 
is securely fastened on with small 
staples. If staples, the same as are 
generally used to fasten chicken wire 
are used, they are liable to cut the wire 
for they have a round head. We use 
a small staple with a square head. 
When the screen is nailed on, a lath is 
ripped in two, and nailed all around 
the crate over the screen. These strips 
cover up the ends of the screen, and 
the crate will last longer and be much 
better to handle. 
Bulblet grown stock is dug first, and 
we never begin to dig these later than 
the middle of September. The tops are 
then green and the bulbs will not drop 
off in digging. We dig them thus : A 
four tined spading fork is pressed down 
as deep as the bulbs grow, and then 
worked under the row. Another party 
gathers up the tops of the bulbs that 
are loosened, and as he lifts up on the 
tops the fork is also raised up with the 
dirt and bulbs. They are then shaken 
lightly to loosen the dirt, and then 
placed in the crate. Care should be taken 
in placing them in the crate for the bulbs 
are much easier removed if they are 
placed evenly. When the crates are 
full the bulbs are removed by taking 
a small handful in one hand, and strip- 
ping them off with the other hand. 
Occasionally a bulb is hard to remove, 
and these are snapped off with the 
thumb and forefinger. It is not an 
easy matter to tell just how it is done, 
and there are many little knacks one 
will learn in doing it. 
Larger bulbs are handled in the same 
way, and the tops are removed with 
eight inch French pruning shears. The 
six inch size is also used. These are 
the very best shears on the market to- 
day, and the eight inch cost about $1.50 
each. We have used sheep shears, but 
these soon get so that it is very hard 
work to cut the tops with them. The 
tops are cut close to the bulb at dig- 
ging, and if a bulb is matured I can- 
not see what benefit it is to the bulbs 
to leave it on. 
We dig the bulblet grown stock first, 
and then the smaller stock of the bulbs, 
and then the earlier varieties of the 
larger bulbs. By doing this way we 
can generally dig continually from the 
time we start until they are finished. 
When the entire amount of a variety 
is dug they are run over a larger 
meshed screen and the bulblets sep- 
arated from the bulbs. The bulblets are 
then placed in nail kegs, boxes or barrels 
according to the amount. In early 
winter moist sand is worked all among 
the bulblets so that they will not be- 
come dry during the winter. If they 
should become dry they should be 
soaked two or three days before plant- 
ing. We do not separate the sand 
from the bulblets when we plant them, 
but where there is considerable sand in 
the soil it would probably be best to 
do so. 
One grower who was here last sum- 
mer said that he did not separate the 
bulblets from the bulbs until they were 
cleaned, for it was his idea that they 
grew better than if separated at once 
after digging. By the stand of bulblet 
grown stock we had last season it seems 
to me that it disapproves his theory. 
If you wish to keep your bulbs true 
it is necessary to be very careful about 
marking them. We use pieces of thin 
veneer for marking them as dug, and 
a marker is put in each end of the 
crate. It is not merely tossed into the 
crate, but pushed down at the end be- 
tween the bulbs and end. If always 
put in the same place you know just 
where to look for them. These mark- 
ers are left in the crate until they are 
cleaned, and then a tag is tacked on 
the end of the crate with the name of 
the variety, grade and number it con- 
tains. 
In the bulb cellar we have it arranged 
with racks to hold the crates. They 
can also be stacked up one above the 
other if every other one is reversed. 
When there are only a few of a variety 
they are put into good quality paper 
bags as dug and the name of the va- 
riety marked on the bag. 
Weather conditions so far this spring 
have been favorable, but according to 
the law of averages, it will be strange in- 
deed should we not get severe weather, 
considering the time of the year, to 
balance up for all the mild weather 
we have had during the past winter. 
Gladiolus growers usually get stock in 
the ground just as early as they can 
and take chances on its being frozen 
after it appears above ground. 
