shots of these arrangements. There is no 
flower having the color range of gladiolus, 
that can surpass them for any modernistic 
design. 
Again this year, we used straw between 
the rows, not only to hold moisture but also 
to keep down weeds. Under this method 
we were able to have named varieties up 
to seven feet in height. The first-year seed- 
lings grew from three to six feet. Some of 
our seedlings were grown in a lath frame, 
which, with special feeding of trace min- 
erals plus fertilizer, went up to seven feet; 
the shortest was three and one-half feet 
tall. 
These seedlings, although shaded by 
lath, were never attacked by thrip. It is 
quite proof to us that a healthy plant 
from healthy soil are not susceptible to 
attack by insect or fungi. (Wish you could 
have seen the shiny, green foliage and 
beautiful flowers of those glads!) 
We believe a healthy soil, having suffi- 
cient plant-growth elements, makes for 
immunity in glads against insect or fungi 
damage. When we speak of plant-growth 
elements, we mean more than _ nitrogen, 
phosphate and potash; yes, we refer to 
fifteen more of necessary minerals; here 
are a few: lime, iron, boron, zinc, silver, 
copper, manganese, magnesium, and molyb- 
denum. 
We would like to have a personal heart- 
to-heart talk with you on healthy soil. As 
this cannot be, we hope to have an article 
on soil health in the N. E.G. S. yearbook. 
We believe you never really will have bulb 
health until you have the soil in the right 
condition. 
As an example in another plant line, we 
were always troubled with tomatoes hav- 
ing cracks in ripening and also the fruit 
were green around the stem. This year we 
planted an early variety having fruit set 
at planting time as a check without the 
needed elements; these were 18 inches 
high. We planted a mid-season variety 
about a week later; these were six inches 
high. They were given the added elements 
and, believe it or not, we had the same 
old trouble with the first planting; the 
small, mid-season variety grew vines up 
to seven feet; they produced three times 
ty 
