seeds you will plant, the same as you do when you prepare greenhouse, hot bed or cold 
frame seed beds. If you do not have the right soil or conditions, you make or build them. 
You compost or make a soil that will approach, as near as possible, to your ideal, 100% 
seed bed conditions. 
I know one well known grower who grows all his new seedlings under almost 100% 
seed bed conditions. Everything is as near 100% perfect as he can make them. His soil 
is just the right type and texture of well drained, sandy loam; a soil that under ordinary 
conditions has been proven the most satisfactory for Gladiolus culture. He has improved 
the mechanical conditions of his soil, and added all the humus a soil should have. His 
irrigation system I consider as near perfect as we can make them, and in addition, he main¬ 
tains an almost perfect artificial soil mulch. Added to that, almost perfect fertilization, 
and you have conditions almost as ideal as you create them in the greenhouse. This is 
what I mean by 100% seed beds. 
A short time ago, a nationally known glad fan, said to me, in commenting on the 
above almost perfect seed bed, “I called at Mr. Blank’s garden, and Blank was away on a 
vacation. I noticed a wonderful glad, and when I looked at the label found it to be 
Minuet. Now I have grown Minuet for years and thought I produced fine quality flowers, 
but never yet have I seen such a spike, and knowing the variety so well, I did not recog¬ 
nize it in this almost perfect specimen.” 
But how high do you think the average seed bed will rate in comparison? I do not 
think over 50% and many not over 25%. So you see the importance of very careful prepa¬ 
ration of the land you intend to use to grow your exhibition bloom. A 25% or 50% seed 
bed can only give you 25% or 50% flowers; while the near 100% bed will give you near 
100% flowers. I have proven this so many times in my twenty years experience as to leave 
not even the shadow of a doubt as to results. In nearly all the big shows today bloom 
from seed beds rating from 25% up to 100% compete on an equal footing. It must be 
clear to you, that to compete with the vast amount of 100% seed bed stock that is now 
shown, you must produce growing conditions to equal theirs. And last but not least, the 
so-called “weak or eccentric” varieties can be shown to advantage (only) when grown 
under nearly 100% seed bed conditions. Some can not stand a check in growth. 
A few years ago, I gave a relative a collection of the more common varieties, such as 
Mary Pickford, K’s Marshal Foch and others. These were planted in an old celery seed 
bed where seed bed conditions were nearly 100% perfect. They were given ample water¬ 
ing. Never before or since have I seen such “Pickfords” and “M. Fochs” and others; they 
were simply beyond ordinary description, and it was sometime before I recognized the 
varieties. At another time, the first year I bought Golden Measure bulblets, I prepared 
such a seed bed, and kept it irrigated. I planted 60 peeled bulblets; 57 plants grew, and 
when dug, something like 35 or 40 were *1-2-3 and the balance nearly all *4—and I had in 
addition over 1700 bulblets; grown in New York state. All of you who have ever grown 
Golden Measure know what a record this is. I am sure you see the object of ideal seed 
bed conditions. This does not mean that good glads cannot be grown on poorer soils; 
any soil that will produce good vegetable crops will as a rule produce good glads, but on 
the poorer soils plant the more hardy and reliable growers. On all soils, drainage is im¬ 
portant and even more so on heavy soils. 
You can grow good, satisfactory flowers on quite ordinary soil, that is soil that would 
not likely rate over 50% as a seed bed for glads, but do not expect to grow top notch exhi¬ 
bition stock under such conditions. Elsewhere we print directions for growing glads, in 
particular for the amateur. 
To produce a good crop of bulbs, you should use a light, well drained soil, and yet it 
should have enough humus or such material that will absorb and retain moisture like a 
sponge. To accomplish this purpose, well rotted manure, alfalfa, clover or other green 
crops are plowed under from time to time. The land should have perfect drainage and 
yet have the mechanical ability to hold or retain moisture. This is ideal soil for bulb pro¬ 
duction. For that reason most growers use well drained, sandy loam, gravel or sandy soil. 
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