25 
Then, too, the desirability of the location as a home 
must be remembered. Our gardens should not be too 
far from the house for we should give them a daily in¬ 
spection to see that all is going well. 
Not a large acreage is required in any one season. 
Something amazing how the high priced varieties will 
run into real money on a small tract. Vastly more 
money in growing five dollar bulbs than five cent ones, 
with a demand for more of them than can be produced, 
even at a time when the growers may be throwing the 
cheaper ones away. 
In spite of every precaution some bulblets will re¬ 
main in the ground when digging, so we must use new 
soil each year. We can lessen the initial investment by 
renting adjoining land. 
Sandy soil, free from weeds, will lessen the cost of 
production. Then above all, plenty of water must be 
readily available for irrigation. 
PREVIOUS SOIL PREPARATION 
The year before the soil is to be used for gladioli 
it is well to plant it to oats and vetch, or some other 
good growing cover crop which can later be turned 
under. We have planted such a crop in the spring, and 
just when it had reached the point when a farmer 
would cut it for hay, it was plowed under deep. Imme¬ 
diately we planted it again and early the next spring 
plowed this under. 
With such treatment the soil was in fine condition. 
It was amazing how much more easily this soil could 
be worked than soil alongside it which had not been so 
