11 
ficult to determine which of them to take. Several of 
Diener’s new varieties went from 200 to 300 bulblets 
per bulb, in addition to those mentioned. But this state¬ 
ment must not be misunderstood. Not all varieties are 
prolific and it is probable that no methods of propaga¬ 
tion will ever be discovered whereby some of them can 
be made so, but most of them can be made to yield a 
greater number than is ordinarily the case. 
The bulblets are encased in a hard shell and though 
some germinate easily, it seems to be in the nature of 
many to lie dormant for a year before growing. But 
time is an all-important factor and we must make them 
grow the first year if we are to reap the greatest profit. 
Among the fine ones, Purple Glory and Diener’s Ameri¬ 
can Beauty proved poor germinators and gave us only 
40% and 30% respectively, till by use of the methods 
later described herein we have more than doubled this 
percentage of germination. Even with a small stock 
such an increase soon adds many hundreds of dollars 
to the value of the output. 
Although the rapid propagation of the high priced 
gladioli shall be our chief aim, incidentally a few hints 
will be given on the care of the medium and lower 
priced ones and also on certain rotation crops which 
may be used in adding greatly to the pleasure and profit 
of gardening. 
THE SUN - BATH 
The eyes on gladiolus bulbs are new bulbs in minia¬ 
ture. In other words, they are little bulbs set on top 
of the big bulbs. They are the real plants. The old 
bulb is merely a storehouse containing the food supply 
for the new plant, or plants. 
