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SUCCESSFUL GLADIOLUS CULTURE 
The present day varieties of gladiolus can be very EASILY GROWN to perfection in every 
section of United States or Canada as well as in most all the foreign countries. We hope these 
notes may be of help to our customers in having their gardens filled with better glads this year. 
OPEN YOUR PACKAGE of bulbs as soon as received and allow the air to get at them. If 
there are only a few in each bag, open the top and stand the bag up in a box. If there are many 
bulbs in a bag it is advisable to pour them out, each variety in a separate shallow box. Now they 
can be stored in a cool dry cellar, preferably where the temperature is about 40° fahrenheit and 
it is well to let some fresh air in occasionally. 
You can make YOUR FIRST PLANTING about the time farmers put in their first potatoes and 
this will vary according to location. Your last planting should be at least 120 days before your 
usual first frost but that is hardly long enough if you expect to dig good mature bulbs of the 
midseason varieties. In our locality it would seem best to make about three plantings, three or 
four weeks apart, to insure a long season of bloom; we suggest in southeastern New England— 
April 10-15, May 10 or thereabouts, and June 1-10. 
Glads love the sun so SELECT A SUNNY LOCATION away from trees or shrubs where roots 
might take up the food and moisture you intend the glads to get and also away from the sides 
of houses, walls or fences that might shade them even if only for a part of each day. 
The soil will have considerable bearing on your culture. If a heavy clay soil, you will not 
need to plant more than two thirds as deep as in a light sandy soil. Plant large bulbs about six 
inches deep in light sandy soil; medium bulbs four inches and small bulbs three inches. If you are 
mainly interested in bulblet increase, plant as close to the surface as possible, if blooming size 
bulbs you will probably have to stake them. Light soils will usually give more bulblets than 
heavy soils. 
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 six 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. We prefer double rows 
in the trench as then they tend to hold each other up on windy days. The rows should be from 
eighteen inches apart to thirty-six inches depending on whether you intend to cultivate by hand or 
machine. The wider rows are much easier to handle if cultivating machinery is used. Allow abcut 
five inches between large bulbs and less as the size of the bulbs planted decreases. 
FERTILIZER: This item plays a very important part in successful growing, yet the cost in 
relation to the whole is not a large factor. Well rotted barnyard manure will give the very finest 
results but is usually only available and practical for the smaller gardens. For the larger plantings, 
it pays to use a plant food that supplies not only the so-called major elemenis, but the just-as- 
important mincr elements as well. Research has shown that deficiencies in minor elements will 
cause a very definite retardation if not a complete failure of a crop. 
Here, at Flying Cloud, we have found that either Vigoro or Agrico supply the needed elements 
and have given us excellent satisfaction. A check on bulb growth has revealed superior develop- 
ment to former years, and color has been outstanding. 
General recommendations fcr the use of either Vigoro or Agrico are as follows: After the soil 
is put in good tillable condition, the planting rows should be made an inch or so deeper than you 
want to plant. Said fertilizer should then be put in the bottom of the row at the rate of about four 
pounds per 100 feet of row. Cover the plant food with one and one-half inches of soil and then 
plant the corms. Or, if preferred, it may be worked thoroughly into the soil in the bottom of the 
row instead of just being covered with soil. Wait one or two days before planting. 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. After the glads are eight to ten inches high, 
a surface feeding should be made at the rate of four pounds to 100 feet of row and should be 
spread on both sides of the row and worked lightly into the soil. Another similar feeding should 
be made just as the buds appear. 
