DEPENDABLE GLADS 
23 
may properly be worked, because late spring frosts will do no damage. If you plant 
large bulbs early, they will bloom before the hot days of August arrive, and if you 
plant them the latter part of June, they will bloom in the cool days of September. 
For a succession of blooms you may plant your bulbs at intervals of, about ten days. 
Another way to have a continuous blooming season is to plant different sizes all at 
the same time, because the blooming period of a bulb varies inversely according to 
its size, the larger bulbs first and the smaller ones later. For the flower markets 
growers plant early varieties very early, and late varieties late, in order to avoid as 
much as possible the low prices of the mid-season glut. 
In order to keep your bulbs young, and to have a continuous supply of all the 
different sizes for a long blooming season, I would advise saving your bulblets at 
digging time. Then when you plant your bulbs next spring, no special effort is re¬ 
quired to scatter these bulblets in the trench along with the bulbs. Many of them will 
grow, and you will have a crop of assorted sizes when you dig, a good share of them 
vigorous high-crowned young bulbs. You will have better luck growing Glads if you 
will keep your stock young and vigorous. 
WHERE TO PLANT 
If you can raise fairly decent vegetables on a piece of ground, then you can 
raise Glads there, and this applies to the far corners of the earth as well as here in 
Iowa. If your growing season is short, early varieties are best. Glads will do well 
in most any kind of soil, provided it is well drained. 
I think too much of Glads to see you planting them in borders, against buildings 
or fences, or in among other plants and bushes. They seem to have a hurt look in 
such places. You know your sweet corn would look spindly, and your tomatoes would 
be puny, if you tried to raise them there. Plant your Glads out in your vegetable 
garden, or in a place of similar location, where they can have elbow room and the 
free open air all around them. Glads enjoy the sunshine the whole day. 
HOW TO PLANT 
Much may be said in favor of planting Glads to a depth of five or six inches. The 
roots thus stand a better chance of being kept moist and cool in the heat of the sum¬ 
mer, and the plants are less likely to fall over at blooming time in the wind and rain. 
At blooming time most plants send out an expansive network of fine rootsi as a spe¬ 
cial set of feeders for the flowers. These roots reach towards the upper levels of the 
soil. Scrape the surface of the ground in a cornfield at tasseling time, and you will 
find myriads of them. If the bulb is planted at the six inch depth, these roots will 
have more room in which to expand, and a larger feeding area. The result will be 
a finer flower. 
It is the original set of roots that grow the foliage, which in turn grows the new 
bulb. So those who grow for the bulb and bulblet increase do not concern themselves 
about the flower, and hence need not plant at the greater depths. They also have an¬ 
other good reason for the more shallow depth in the fact that it is much more eco¬ 
nomical. The depth to use for commercial plantings depends on the nature of the 
soil, a loose sandy soil requiring more depth than a clay loam, for example. My field 
plantings are about three inches deep. Some growers claim a better bulblet increase 
from the more shallow plantings. 
For the best flowers, do not plant closer than three or four inches apart in the 
row. If you plant single file, you can cultivate close up to the plants on both sides 
of the row. The distance between rows depends on your means of cultivating, and 
also on the amount of walking you are likely to do between the rows along about 
blooming time. Large bulbs should be set upright, but the other sizes need not be. 
For commercial growers an even distribution of planting stock in the row, and not 
too thick, will result in a larger percentage of top size bulbs. 
CULTIVATING 
One reason we cultivate is in order to destroy weeds. The best time to get the 
weeds is when they are small, because they quickly die when exposed to the sun, or 
are easily covered up, and are much less likely to take root again than they are when 
they become larger. Large weeds rob the soil of moisture and plant food, so do not 
let weeds get large in order to pull them for the exercise. Another reason we culti¬ 
vate is to break the soil crust. The soil must have air for the important soil bacteria 
