FROM MAINE. Once more (for the third 
year) I am sending to you for Gladiolus 
bulbs. . . . Have always had good luck with 
your bulbs, and found the count very gener¬ 
ous. Mrs. S. V. K. 
PROM lliLINOIS. As I am sending you an 
order for some Glads, thought I would write 
you a few lines, telling you how much I was 
pleased with the Glads bought of you last 
year. Every one grew, and I was delighted 
with them. Thanks a lot for the extras you 
put in. Got more extras from you than from 
any one else. Mrs. H. K. 
Have had quite a number of letters com¬ 
plimenting the Burbank Sweet Corn. 
An Alabama man writes me that he leaves 
his bulbs of Gladiolus in the ground for 
years. In the north you have to dig them 
each fall, as freezing kills them, while freez¬ 
ing is supposed to be beneficial to Tulip 
bulbs. 
A Wisconsin customer writes me she has 
about 150 varieties of separate named Glads, 
and about 100 varieties in a mixture. There 
is some work in keeping 150 kinds sepa¬ 
rate. 
1933 Favorites 
This list is somewhat different from that 
of 1931. Mrs. Sisson has dropped from among 
the first ten to 16th place, and Purple Glory 
is now No. 18. Minuet is No. 1, and Mar¬ 
mora No. 2. Phipps has slipped to third 
place. Betty Nuthall is now No. 4, Picardy 
No. 5, Dr. Bennett No. 6, Mrs. Douglas No. 
7, Pfitzer’s Triumph No. 8, Golden Dream 
No. 9, and Mother Machree No. 10. How did 
Golden Dream get among the first 10? It is 
a fine Glad, and has most of the good qual¬ 
ities, but it lacks size. Aflame is No. 12, 
Commander Koehl No. 14, Veilchenblau No. 
19, Aida No. 20, Ave Maria No. 22, Berty 
Snow No. 25, Jane Addams No. 28, Our Se¬ 
lection No. 30, Longfellow No. 35, Paul Pfitzer 
No. 36, Orange Wonder No. 48, and Pearl of 
California No. 49. Among more than 7,000 
named Gladioli, all in the first one hundred 
should be especially fine. 
Glad Lore 
Whole books are written on the subject 
of growing Glads. All I can do here is to 
give a little condensed information and in¬ 
struction that may help beginners in this 
pleasing pastime. Will tell you how I do 
it, but methods differ somewhat among dif¬ 
ferent growers. Plant in rows twenty inches 
apart, with bulbs 3 or 4 inches apart in the 
row. Some say “Standing room only,” and 
some say “The width of the bulb apart. Any 
good garden soil will be suitable. It will 
be rich enough, if it was well manured with 
stable litter a year before planting. Bone 
meal is recommended, dug in along the row. 
Beware of alkaline soil or soil mixed with 
ashes, or soil newly enriched with stable 
manure. Glads like plenty of moisture, and 
artificial watering will be a benefit in dry 
weather. Keep the weeds out and culti- 
y^-te well. Plant about 3 inches deep. Plant 
large bulbs deeper than small ones, and 
deeper in sandy soil than in a stiff clay soil. 
Gladiolus bulbs are somewhat subject to 
disease, some kinds more than others. 1 
discard those most subject to disease, as there 
are always plenty of hardy ones to take 
their places. Mr. W. H. Phipps and Jane 
Addams are inclined to mummify in storage, 
but they are too fine to discard. We can 
always raise plenty of new bulbs from the 
bulblets. 
Do not wait for tops to ripen or die be¬ 
fore digging. It is better for the bulbs to 
dig while the tops are still green. 
Would advise digging in late September 
or early October. I once pulled up and threw 
away some half-grown bulbs; in August. 
They were mixed with others, and I pulled 
them when they bloomed. They lay in the 
hot sun a few days; then a little girl sal¬ 
vaged them, and sent to her aunt. I heard 
they blossomed nicely the next year. 
In digging, first loosen soil with spading 
fork; then pull and place in piles; then sit 
on a box or stool and cut tops. Usually it 
is safe in fine October weather to leave the 
bulbs out door a few days and nights. Store 
two or three weeks in an airy shed or out¬ 
building, where they will not freeze. If 
bulbs are too deep in the crate, they will 
mould. At the proper time remove the old 
bulb and roots from the bottom of the fresh 
bulb, and store for the winter in a cool 
place where they are in no danger of freez¬ 
ing. You can tell by trying from time to 
time when the proper time has come for 
cleaning. The proper time is when the old 
bulb comes off easily. Do not remove the 
husks. The old bulb that you remove is 
worthless. 
If you wish your stock of bulbs to In¬ 
crease from year to year, save and plant the 
bulblets that grow beneath the bulbs. Some¬ 
times on some varieties more than a hun¬ 
dred bulblets will form on a single bulb. 
Bulblets have hard shells that must be re¬ 
moved or soaked several days to let the 
bulblets grow. Peel bulblets or soak a few 
days before planting them, or crack shells 
and then soak. Sow bulblets thick, less than 
two inches deep at planting time, April or 
May. To prevent disease soak bulbs and 
bulblets seven hours in lye water. Use a 
13-ounce can of lye dissolved in twenty gal¬ 
lons of water, or one-fourth of a can in 
five gallons of water. Bi-chloride or mer¬ 
cury, or Semesan is used sometimes. Do not 
use bi-cliloride of mercury in a metal ves¬ 
sel. 
Now we come to the subject of Thrips. 
They have become a great nuisance to flow¬ 
er growers in recent years. Some think we 
have always had them without knowing it. 
I have never been troubled by them. It is 
said the Semesan or lye treatment will kill 
those that may have wintered in the bulb. 
Napthalene flakes sprinkled in the boxes in 
winter is said to kill Thrips. So we can 
get three whacks at them, one with the 
Napthalene flakes, one in spring with lye, 
and another In summer by spraying with 
Paris green and brown sugar. A rounding 
teaspoon of Paris green to two gallons of 
water should do the business. Spray the so¬ 
lution forcibly on the plants, several times 
during summer. 
If plants are infested at digging time take 
pains while cutting off the tops not to al¬ 
low the tops to be over the bulbs as the bulbs 
may become infested and be a wintering 
place for the pests. 
Plants may be Infested without our know¬ 
ing it if we have never made the acquaint¬ 
ance of the bugs. If plant and flower are 
droopy, look under the top leaves or under 
the bud coverings. You may find little yel¬ 
lowish larvae or slim squirming black ani- 
