NEW BEDFORD, MASS. 
5 
Either spade or plough, depending on the size of the garden, the soil deeply, preferably 
in the fall, leaving it rough during the winter. If stable manure is available put it on before 
spading and it will be well rotted by spring. 
If the glads are grown for landscape effect they should be in beds about eight to ten 
inches apart depending upon the variety. If grown for the blooms, as more often is the case, 
they should be in rows and the bulbs can be placed either in single or double rows. I prefer 
double rows in the trench as then they tend to hold each other up on a windy day. The 
rows should be from eighteen inches apart to thirty-six inches depending on whether you in¬ 
tend to cultivate by hand or machine. The wider rows are much easier to handle if culti¬ 
vating machinery is used. Allow about five inches between large bulbs and less as the size of 
the bulbs planted decreases. 
FERTILIZER; many think there is some great magic in the special type, brand, or formula 
of fertilizer that the successful grower uses. I do not think there is. Of course on a large 
planting there is an economic factor but for the average garden grower the saving is not worth 
enough to think much about it. It is hard to know what to suggest for in different localities 
certain fertilizers are available to one that are impossible in another. I believe that the av¬ 
erage garden person would do well to use little, if any, commercial fertilizers depending on 
the dried animal manures and phosphate; if the ordinary rotted barnyard manure is available 
so much the better. One can not do any damage to the plants if too much animal manures 
are used but such is not the case with commercial fertilizers and especially so now that many 
of these are so high test that they should only be used by some experienced person. 
After the trench is dug to the desired depth put in some fertilizer; the amount is hard 
to tell for some hands are bigger than others; if commercial fertilizer, use an average handful 
to about four feet of row. If dry manure, use at least double the amount as it is much more 
bulky. Now be sure the soil is well loosened and the fertilizer is well mixed in the bottom 
of the trench before setting the bulbs. After the bulbs are set, cover in the trench and 
hill it up a bit. When the first weeds appear rake it down level again and that first 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 you 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 any¬ 
thing 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 following 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. Use only wooden, glass, or crockery 
containers as a chemical action, weakening the solution, will take place in an iron or galvanized 
one. I would do it to any bulbs I planted no matter where they came from or whether they 
had been treated with naphthralene flakes, gas, or low temperatures all of which kill all thrip. 
The soaking is too cheap a form of insurance to run the risk. You can do no harm to the 
bulbs with this treatment except to delay blooming about ten days. If you are in a climate 
where the winter temperatures go low enough for the ground to stay frozen a few days, I am 
