cultivate well and frequently. This will compensate for dry weather conditions to 
some extent. Gladiolus require considerable water, especially at blooming time, but 
if you water, soak the ground thoroughly. Otherwise, it is more harmful than 
beneficial. 
Commercial fertilizer may be used to advantage. An application of 1,000 to 1,500 
pounds per acre of 3-10-6 or 4-12-4 broadcast and disked in before planting is 
sufficient for commercial plantings. Any high grade potato fertilizer will do very 
well. The application recommended is equivalent to about one to one and one-half 
pounds to a bed four by ten feet. We find Vigoro excellent and it is more readily 
obtainable in small quantities than ordinary commercial fertilizer. If used at planting 
time, four pounds (2 quarts) per 100 square feet is recommended. If used for top 
dressing, apply two pounds (1 quart) per 100 square feet or two pounds for each 
100 feet of row, if planted in rows, raking it into soil at once. We have had excellent 
results from the application of 2 pounds per 100 feet of row just at the time spikes 
begin to show. 
Liquid fertilizer or prepared sheep manure may be applied to the soil near the 
rows, care being exercised not to make the application too strong. Nitrate of soda 
(a tablespoonful to two gallons of water for each dozen plants) applied to soil near 
the rows once each week or ten days after buds begin to show color, is very beneficial. 
Or you can sprinkle the pulverized nitrate of soda over soil, rake in and water. We 
prefer not to use stable manure in any form. 
Fine gladiolus are grown in thousands of gardens each year without special atten¬ 
tion of any kind. However, any plant grows better if given special culture and we 
present the foregoing suggestions for the benefit of those who wish to grow finer 
flowers. The greatest thrill of gardening is to be able to grow something better than 
the ordinary. 
INSECT PESTS AND BULB DISEASES 
Unfortunately gladiolus have their pests and diseases as do all other flowers and 
plants, although they have about as little trouble in this respect as anything you 
might grow. During the past few years, some sections of the country have ex¬ 
perienced considerable trouble from a minute black insect known as thrip which 
sucks the juices from the buds so that the flowers do not open properly. If you have 
had this trouble, do not be discouraged, because control of thrip is now very definite¬ 
ly a matter of record. 
We have had no thrip whatever in our fields during the past two seasons. Our 
stock is grown in isolated plantings and by treatment with corrosive sublimate 
(mercuric chloride) at planting time, we have been able to eradicate this trouble¬ 
some pest. This gives the bulb a coating that wards off various bulb diseases and 
fungus attacks. Your glads may become infested from neighboring plantings, and 
we recommend preventative spraying to insure undamaged blooms unless your gar¬ 
den is well isolated from other plantings. 
The recommended spray formula is as follows: 
1 tablespoon Paris Green 
2 lbs. brown sugar 
3 gallons water. 
Page Ttventy-nine 
"I^ichglafi (garden 
