6 
FLYING CLOUD FARMS INC. 
crop of weeds is easily killed. Many years ago, when I first started farming, 
a very successful farmer said to me, “remember, a crop well planted is a 
crop half grown and I believe he was 100% right. When the plants are 
up eight or ten inches give them about the same amount of fertilizer vou 
used in the bottom of the trenches; if dry animal manure, put right in among 
them but if commercial fertilizer put it along the sides four or five inches 
away from the plants and work it into the ground. 
Watering will depend entirely on the rainfall, heat and type of soil you 
are using but when you do water, use enough to do a good job. Three 
quarters of an inch of water at least for big bulbs; just set a low straight^ 
sided tin can among them before you start watering and then you can tell 
how much you are getting on. Three quarters of an inch you will find is a 
lot but it pays especially from just as the spikes come out of the sheath 
until they bloom. 
Stirring of the soil is a great factor. Hoeing, scratching, cultivating, 
brooming or anything you call it should be done often. We use lawn brooms 
in the planted rows on our light soil and cultivators in the rows. We plan 
to get over the piece every fourth or fifth day but if it has been very dry, 
once a week is enough. If it rains, or we irrigate we try to do it the follow¬ 
ing day as soon as it dries out. 
I believe if you treat all your bulbs before planting by soaking eight to 
twelve hours in a solution of bichloride of mercury (corrosive sublimate) 
one ounce to seven gallons of warm water, preferable to keep the solution in a 
fairly warm place early in the season, any thrip trouble you may be threatened” 
with is on the way out. I would do it to any bulbs I planted no matter where 
they came from or whether they had been treated with naphthalene flakes, 
gas, or low temperatures all of which kill all thrip. The soaking is too cheap 
a form of insurance to run the risk. If you are in a climate where the winter 
temperatures go low enough for the ground to stay frozen a few days, I am 
convinced that when this soaking procedure is followed, your only chance 
of infestation is from some other planting that has not been properly treated 
and the thrips may come a half mile or more with a strong prevailing wind 
in a short time. It would seem a wise move to play safe and spray them 
when about six inches high even if one does not see any signs of thrip for 
they are hard to see at this stage. Just a few present at this time will make 
enough later on to do serious damage. The best formula still seems to be two 
tablespoonsful of arsenate of lead, two pounds sugar (the cheapest kind 
you can buy) and three gallons of water. Arsenate of lead will not burn 
as easily as Paris Green. I think if one keeps all open spikes cut close there 
will be little damage—the thrip go to blooming spikes—if these are cut and 
removed from the field any thrip present on the spikes, where most of them 
will be, would go out on these spikes. Any tops broken off or worthless 
spikes should also be kept cleaned up and removed from the field and de¬ 
stroyed as you then remove any thrip that may be present on these spikes. 
When they start to bloom it is wise to cut them as soon as a bloom 
or two open and put them in water inside where they will continue to open 
better and safer than in the field. If desired for showing and the show is 
nearby, cut the spikes as above and hold in as cool a place as available until 
the day of the show. If you must ship or carry the blooms some distance 
we suggest you pack them flat in boxes. We use a wooden box that is pic¬ 
tured here and dimensions given as so many have written asking for particu¬ 
lars about it. We line it with newspapers, put the spikes in backs down, 
starting on one side and keep pushing them over rather tightly against each 
other, unless very long spikes, some will go each way, that is, the tip of one 
