Page 22 
THE GLADIOLUS FANCIER’S 
Probably a hard winter without too much 
snow, will again make the gladiolus the only 
“fool proof” flower to grow. Meanwhile, if 
any glad thrips have reached your locality, 
you need only give your glad bulbs and plants 
their share of the attention you have always 
been devoting to spraying your roses, dahlias, 
asters and vegetables and to caring for the 
wintering of tubers, shrubs and tender per¬ 
ennials. 
There are many kinds of thrips. We have 
always had thrips of one sort or another on 
corn husks, grapes, oats, onions, lilies, 
peonies, iris, field daisies and the like. Some 
of them do occasional consequential damage 
to the plant giving them their common name 
(“oat thrips,” etc.) Others may feed upon 
pollen only and never do noticeable damage. 
A few thrips other than the so called “glad 
thrips” may migrate upon your gladiolus 
with little or no damage. 
The male “glad thrips” is about l-16th 
inch long, female both larger and longer. 
Male has five cream colored bands around 
its body, the female a broader band above but 
none below. End of body of male is rounded, 
that of female a rather pointed, saw-like 
appendage. Main body color of both a black 
brown. Four stages, adult, egg, larva, pupa. 
The young are without wings, considerably 
smaller and lemon yellow. A generation de¬ 
velops in about 20 days at 70 degrees and in 
but 12 days at 80 degrees. Since they secrete 
themselves in the leaf sheath, one has to ex¬ 
amine his plants very carefully or a severe 
infestation may come upon them before he is 
aware. The U. S. Department Entomology 
is profoundly of the belief that, in northern 
climates, at least, there is but a very small 
fraction of over-wintering of the thrips in 
the field, in the ground not at all but almost 
entirely on bulbs in storage. 
Every precaution you can take to keep the 
thrips from falling, blowing, flying or crawl¬ 
ing upon the dug bulb should be taken. We 
can think of nothing worse than bringing 
the bulbs with their tops still on into a warm 
place of storage, if the plants were even but 
lightly infested. 
NAPTHALENE FLAKES. We highly 
recommend this simple and economical treat¬ 
ment. Avoid crude napthalene or camphor 
as they may contain creosote or other injur¬ 
ious chemicals. The best time to use it as 
soon as the roots are considered too dry to 
suck any napthalene into the bulb. Maybe a 
matter of hours or days, depending on drying 
methods. Do not apply to bulbs from which 
the old bulb has just been removed, as the 
severed area is moist for a while and the 
napthalene might soak into the bulb. It is 
safe both to the user and to the bulbs, during 
their dormant period of storage, even when 
an overdosage is used, provided the bulbs are 
fairly well dried. One ounce, sprinkled on 
each 100 large bulbs or equivalent in bulk 
of smaller sizes, is sufficient if bulbs are stored 
in closed bottom container. If screen bottom 
or in onion sacks, double the amount. Will 
kill insects promptly and gases will continue 
for several weeks, killing the larvae as soon 
as hatched. But note they will not hatch 
under 50 degrees. Do not completely cover 
the bulbs as evaporation takes place con¬ 
stantly and to prevent it will make the bulbs 
first damp, then mouldy, then susceptible to 
rot and diseases. Applying the flakes in a 
closed paper bag is safe for a few weeks if 
bulbs be dry, since some moisture can escape. 
If roots and old bulbs are removed several 
weeks after application, any napthalene re¬ 
maining may be removed. If the flakes have 
not entirely evaporated by the time little 
root knobs and eye sprouts emerge, showing 
bulb is no longer dormant, shake out any 
remaining. Do not use any napthalene in 
the trench at planting time since it is safe only 
to the dormant bulb. 
ETHYLENE DICHLORIDE 75% — Car¬ 
bon Tetrachloride 25% mixture. We do not 
recommend this treatment to amateur grow¬ 
ers because it is not easily obtainable or to be 
had from the producers in quantities under 
10 lbs. at about $1.44, f.o.b. and because 
there are certain hazards to the bulbs from 
overdosage. Perhaps this is the most prac¬ 
tical method of gassing large quantities of 
bulbs, where bulb cellars can be made rea¬ 
sonably tight on five sides. Top is not quite 
so important, as the gas settles, like a liquid. 
You would need 1 oz. to 5 cu. ft. or 14 lbs. to 
to 1000 cu. ft. This liquid mixture is non¬ 
explosive, non-inflammable, non-injurious to 
human beings. But kills both the insect and 
the eggs in 24 hrs. at 65 to 70 degrees. Com¬ 
mercial growers write to me for detailed in¬ 
structions (have a few hundred printed) and 
write for prices (10 lb. is tin minimum pur¬ 
chase) to The Carbide & Carbon Chemicals 
Corp., 30 East 42nd St., New York City. 
LYE treatment. Tests by the U. S. Dept. 
Ent. have proven the lye solution, commonly 
advocated in the northwest and elsewhere, 
to be little more effective than plain, cold 
water, not even making a complete kill of 
the insects, let alone the eggs. And you 
understand these thrips just make guinea 
pigs look like 4th rate novices when it comes 
to raising a family. 
Extensive tests by U. S. Dept. Pathology, 
in every instance indicated that untreated 
bulbs were harvested with less scab than those 
treated with lye. If you want scabby bulbs 
use lye. 
HOT WATER treatment. Personally, we 
have some of the same doubts about this as 
respects lye. Maybe the water is more effec¬ 
tive than the heat, as we have seen thrips 
under experiment survive much higher tem¬ 
perature, but dry heat. Anyway, U. S. Dept. 
Ent. advises you can get a 100% kill of insects 
and eggs by merely covering the bulbs with 
hot water at about 118 degrees F. for 20 min¬ 
utes. Might injure the bulbs above 125 de¬ 
grees and ineffective if allowed to go below 
112. Have an accurate thermometer and 
