CULTIVATING 
Your success depends more on the culti¬ 
vation you give your glads than on most any¬ 
thing else you can do. Do not wait until you 
can see the weeds. A common garden rake 
is perhaps the best cultivator for a small 
planting in the garden if it is used often 
enough to keep the soil loose and fine. You 
will be well repaid for the extra care you give 
your glads during the blooming season. 
If you hill up the rows two or three inches 
when they are a foot or more high, it will 
help to hold the spikes in an upright position 
when in bloom. 
Cultivation should be continued once a 
week until after the blooming season, and 
also as soon after each rain as the soil will 
permit. This destroys the weeds when the 
seeds are germinating and creates a dust 
mulch to conserve the moisture. 
CUTTING 
If the spike is cut when the first flower is 
fully open it will bloom in the vase for a week 
or longer if the weather is cool. Each morn¬ 
ing the water should be changed, the wither¬ 
ed blooms removed, and an inch or more cut 
from the base of the spike. They usually 
bloom better in the vase than in the hot sun 
and wind in the garden. 
Cutting the spike off will not harm the new 
bulb for the next season if you are careful 
to not remove any more of the foliage than 
necessary. The more foliage you can leave 
the better your new bulb and bulblets will 
develop. The formation of seeds retards the 
growth of the bulb. The tops should be cut 
off above the foliage when they are done 
blooming in the garden. We growers who 
pride ourselves on growing high quality bulbs 
cut out many of the tops before blooming. 
