What happens 1s that in a neglected collection of Glads, the weaker varieties die out 
after a few years while one or two of the strong growing, hardy and free propagating varie- 
ties thrive and multiply until they are the only ones remaining. Thus, if a collection con- 
tains one or two strong yellow varieties in the beginning they will tend to dominate in a 
few years, and the same applies to red, salmon, orange or other colors. 
If Gladiolus are given ordinary care, are lifted each year and properly stored, they never 
have, and never will, change color, except in rare cases of “Sporting” which probably would 
not occur once in hundreds of thousands of bulbs. 
WHY CROOKED SPIKES? 
First we must understand that the Gadiolus makes most of its growth at night. Thus 
when in the process of rapidly making the blooming stem it grows very fast at night and is 
tender in the morning. Then if the day is very hot, the plant wilts and the tender stem 
flops over; then comes the cool of the evening and the spike tries to straighten itself up 
and is usually unable to do so completely, the spike sets in this position and there’s your 
crook, 
This is a sign of stem weakness in a variety but is not altogether undesirable as a few 
crooked and slightly bent stems lend themselves beautifully to basket arrangements and 
home decorations. They are out of the question, of course, if the spike is to be exhibited 
on the show table. 
The easiest way to kill your first crop of weeds is to hill up over the furrows when cover- 
ing, then rake down this ridge as the spikes are breaking ground. 
If done carefully you won’t break off one in a hundred. 
Remember you cannot plant small and medium bulbs and bulblets the same depth as 
large bulbs. Small and medium bulbs (4, 5, 6) about 3 inches and bulblets 2 inches. 
Put the water to the bed immediately after planting if possible. It takes moisture to start 
"em growing. 
Remember Glads love to get suntanned, give them full sunlight all day if possible. 
Do not let your enthusiasm run away with you and plant too early. Bulbs planted two 
weeks later can catch up with and pass bulbs planted in cold, damp ground. 
THRIP 
The adult Gladiolus Thrip is a very small black insect about one-sixteenth of an inch 
long. The injury they do causes bleaching of the foliage and drying up of the buds so they 
do not open. There have been volumes written about Mr. Thrip and it would seem that 
further information was superfluous. 
The facts, however, tend to disprove this. Dozens of the people who visit our gardens 
remark on the absence of any signs of Thrip, then tell me a tale of woe on what the Thrip 
did to their Glads. In nearly every case not a single precaution was taken to guard against 
this pest. 
