to grow and to make good bulbs. You will have some bulbs you do not care to keep 
another year because the variety should go in the discard. Plant them late, the end 
of June or beginning of July. They will bring flowers late in fall before frost. 
The bulb has no time to ripen and should be left out to freeze. 
TIMING FOR SHOWS 
Bulbs which are set aside for producing flowers for the flower shows must be 
planted so that they arrive just at the right time. You must know the flowering 
season of the bulbs, if early or mid-season or late, and plant accordingly. Our catalog 
gives the blooming dates. Plant enough, as they may come a week earlier or later 
according to season. 
SPACING 
Give your best bulbs which you want to raise for giant size flowers enough 
room to develop, four inches apart in single rows, the rows 15-18 inches apart. 
Common gladiolus plant closer together to save space. 
Double rows 18 inches apart are to be recommended. 
Plant bulblets very thick in wide rows, three inches wide, about 50 bulblets 
to a foot. They grow better if close. Only varieties which are known to produce 
large bulbs the first season should be given more space. 
DEPTH OF PLANTING 
Plant ordinary bulbs four inches deep. Plant deeper in sandy soil and more 
shallow in extra heavy soil. The depth of planting hardly influences the quality 
of the flower-spike, but deep planting prevents the spike from falling over. 
Extra heavy stalks should be tied to a green bamboo stake, which does not reach 
higher than the first flower. Label your plants properly and check them on a piece 
of paper that you may be able to identify the varieties if somebody should move the 
stakes. 
CULTIVATION 
Cultivate deep in the beginning before the roots spread making it gradually 
more shallow as the season advances. After a long rainy season, when cultivating 
was not possible, cultivate only shallow because the roots of the plants are on the 
surface, coming up very fast in moist weather. By fall cultivating should be shallow, 
but frequent, especially after every rain or watering to preserve the moisture and 
to prevent the soil from cracking which would break the roots and give the plants 
a bad setback, from which they never recover, and will therefore produce nothing 
more than an average flower. 
WATERING 
Watering should be infrequent but thorough. If you water by hand, begin at one 
end and water to the other end, come back again and repeat it over at least five times, 
giving your water a chance to soak in, to reach the roots. Cultivate the day after 
the watering to preserve the moisture. 
A thorough watering every two weeks should be sufficient. 
FERTILIZATION 
Fast-growing plants need more plant-food than the bacterial process in the 
ground can supply. Immediately available fertilizers are, therefore, the proper 
thing. They should contain the three elements of Nitrogen, Phosphoric Acid and 
Potassium. Any of the well-known commercial fertilizers contain the right propor¬ 
tion, such as: Vigoro, Loma, Milorganite, Vert, Nitrophoska. The proportion of ap¬ 
plication is figured from the Nitrogen content. One pound of Nitrogen to every 1000 
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