Soil 
Fertil- 
izer 
Depth 
to 
Plant 
and 
Dis= 
tance 
Apart 
ASASAAS 

Testing the Soil 



If soil: taken from 6 inches be- 
neath surface crumbles under pres- 
sure of hand, plot is ready for 
spading. If not, it should be al- 
lowed more time fo drys 

is 5 inches high = and done once a week regularly and 
religiously until the buds start to show color when 
all spraying can be discontinued. 
If you do this you will have no thrips and no thrip 
trouble. However IF you ever find thrips on your plants 
spray every day for three days and you can kill them - 
or, better still, spray every other day three times. 
Thrips can be seen as little black insects 1/16 inch 
long after 4 p.m. in the afternoon near the leaf sheafs, 
They hide during the day and come out to feed after 
4:00 P.M. They have tiny white suspenders on - so 
you can't mistake theme 
Soil good enough to grow tomatoes or cabbages is 
good soil for glads. Glads are big flowers and natural- 
ly big feeders so we advise having your soil tested by 
your state agricultural department and adding the fer= 
tilizer they say your soil needs, Glads like a pH(de- 
gree of acidity) of between 5.0 and 6.5 = as the glad 
does best in slightly acid soil. If your soil is not 
that acid have your agricultural department tell you 
what to add to change it. Be sure to plant glads in 
as sun and away from the roots of all shrubbery and 
Teebe 
My own method is to have 3 to 4 inches of very old 
cow manure = one, two or more years old - spread on in 
the fall after your bulbs are dug - and then plowed ine 
In spring on frozen growmd spread your fertilizer - 
whatever it is your soil needs, When the weather soft- 
ens up and your soil is dry enough so it will crumple 
up when you squeeze a fist full disc well and then as 
soon as the soil is dry you can start to plant. Plant 
as early as the soil dryness and weather will permit so 
as not to be caught by a wet spring. 
Glads can be planted in single or double rows, 
Plant each bulb 5 to 7 inches apart for exhibition 
blooms = 1 inch apart for commercial cut-flowers. I 
have seen fine glads grown 4 inches apart but feel that 
is not far enough to permit tiny side roots to spread 
out. Dig your rows 6 inches to 7 inches deep if you 
have sandy loam and 5 inches if you have fairly stiff 
clay. In bottom of trench I put on 1/4 inch of Canadi- 
an peat moss. On top of this I put a sprinking of dried 
weedless sheep manure - 2/if 3/4 or cow manure 1-1-13. 
Then I mix the manure and peat moss with dirt in bottom 
of trench with hoe and set the bulb firmly down into 
this loose mixture. Cover with dirt 2 inches over top 
of bulb = leaving rest of trench unfilled. Walk on the 
rows to firm down good, When glads are up 6 inches 
pull rest of dirt into trench to level off, Water when 
you first plant but do nofwater thereafter until glads 
are up 5 inches unless you have been without rain for 
a whole week. Glads like to start growing on the “dry 
‘side" but after they start to show their third leaf . 
they like lots of water, Soak the water to them if you 
have good drainage and don't be afraid of giving too 
much, Be sure to give them a good soaking when the 
third leaf first appears and see that they get 1 inch 
of rain or water per week after that. 
ESOS OG SSO DO DODO SD OOSO>OOOSOOOEOODGOGNCDGOGDOO G06 0) 
I want to congratulate you on your catalog. Some time ago 
you wrote me your catalog would be different from any others. 
and its a fact. Your write ups and comments are as tantalizing 
as a luscious frog to a hungry basse 
E. He Lins, Cologne, Minn. 
Culti- 
vation needed for a plant that is a big eater before you 
Digging 
Note that my system gives the glads all the food 
plent. It is not necessary to side dress later on or 
to add any more fertilizer, Keep the bloom spikes 
picked off and do not allow old withered flowers in 
the field. I clean my field of bloomed spikes every 
Monday - regularly = and you should do the samee 
From planting time until glads are 2 feet high 
cultivate between rows to keep the weeds out. Keep 
out all weeds and have a garden free from weeds, It 
gives you more pleasure in your garden if this is dons, 
When glads are 24 inches high you can stop all culti- 
vating and just pull up weeds for rest of seasone The 
cultivating/dlways done shallow - not over ls inches = 
to allow air to get into ground and to provide a soft 
mulch surface to retain moisture better in hot sune 
Every fall glad bulbs must be dug and stored in the 
basement as they will not live through temperature be= 
low 32 degrees. When you dig be careful to keep all 
the little bulblets as that is the way you increase 
your stock, Cut the spike off close to the bulb = do 
not leave over + inch of spike on the bulb. Spread 
bulbs so they will dry out. When thoroughly dry - two 
to three weeks does it = then "clean" the bulb which 
means snap off the old dried up worn out bulb and 
roots. If you have sprayed regularly you should have 
no thrips. If you have no thrips that is all you have 
to do. If you don't see any you are safe until next 
spring when you must dip your glads in corrosive sub= 
limate = formula: 1 ounce of corrosive sublimate to 7 
gallons of water = let them soak 12 to 17 hours. Do 
not get your hands in this highly poisonous mixture 
and use a stone crock as it eats metal. 
Any special problems you may have we will be glad 
to answer, We aim to answer all personal letters on 
any subject about glad growinge 
GSSSTSASTATATATA ASAT AA IAA 
1943 VARIETY RATINGS ON GLADIOLUS 
BY J.Re HOPKINS 
In 1944 we hope to have our variety ratings the work of 
both of us. 
For comments and desoription of each variety marked with 
an asterisk(*) in front of the name, see our price list des- 
cription, In our comments after each color class ratings we 
talk only about varieties not listed in our price list. 
The list of those our ratings show are the "best" in each 
color class comes first and no gladiolus variety makes this 
list unless it secures a rating of 80 or better. Our rating 
figures appear to be 5-6 points lower than those elsewhere in 
use. We show 161 varieties rated 80 or better in our "best" 
list. 
We also show another and highly important group where we 
are not decided fully as to whether they belong in the best 
list or should be discarded. Gladiolus do not all grow to 
perfection every year so some allowance has to be made for 
either a poor year - due to weather or our ow growing. On 
most of these we are holding our judgment in abeyance until 
we havé had a chance to look at another year's growinge 
We do not show Picardy in our lists of “best" but still 
regard a well grown show speciment of Picardy as the finest 
and highest rated gladiolus we have ever seen. Our highest 
rated glad this year is Merion Pearl with a rating of 85, 
Only 3 are rated 84 and only 16 more are rated 83, 
Our annual ratings and the list of best varieties that 
results is a survival of the fittest. Glads discarded are not 
dicarded because they are not beautiful but simply because 
the newer glads appear better and our aim is to list the best 
The biggest variable seems to be color = for no two people 
have the same receptivity to color. However when you see 
eight or so shows per year you get a far better idea of the 
color than you do by simply observing the glads in your own 
garden. So here it iso ‘ 
WHITES 
BEST 
Wlargearet Beaton 84 *Lilla 81 White Chieftan 80 
*Myrna 83 Edelweis 80 North Pole 80 
*Nana 83 Materhorn 80 Krytberg 80 
*Mary Kathleen 83 *September White 80 *Schoonard 80 
*Snow Princess 80 *Vredenberg 80 Star of Beth- 
lehem 80 

