likely to require support at blooming time. Early planting before 
May 15 must be shallow. Large bulbs should be planted six or eight 
inches apart in rows, and small bulbs two or three inches apart. Rows 
may be from 18 to 30 inches apart. If bulbs have sprouted in storage, 
care should be taken to avoid injury to sprouts and rootlets. 
4, Fertilizing — Never plant gladiolus bulbsin contact with manure. 
Well-rotted manure, turned under in the fall, is beneficial and will not 
damage bulbs planted next spring. Manure also can 
be used to advantage as a top dressing after bulbs have 
been planted. Most gladiolus are grown with mixed 
fertilizers. Some formulas used are 4-8-5, 5-8-7 and 
412-4, applied at rates between 1,500 and 2,000 
§ pounds per acre; roughly equivalent to from three 
pounds to four pounds per 100 feet of row. If only one 
application is made, it should be applied at planting 
time. After bulbs have been set in trench and the trench then filled 
with soil, spread fertilizer uniformly in row and cover with remaining 
soil. Some leave trench partly open to heat ground quicker. Most 
growers prefer to apply half the fertilizer at planting time and the 
remainder as a top dressing about six weeks later. This 
later application should be made close to row, without 
allowing fertilizer to touch plants; water well to let 
fertilizer reach roots in solution. 
5. Cultivate your gladiolus frequently enough to 
keep soil loose and free of weeds. Cultivate soil after 
each rain or watering to keep surface from baking. 
Don’t cultivate too deeply; two inches is deep enough and will not 
disturb roots. 

6. Watering — For best performance, gladiolus re- 
quire plenty of water, especially during the four or 
five weeks before they bloom or after fourth or fifth 
B leaf shows, and stem begins to thicken. From then 
until blooming time ground should be kept moist to 
secure the finest and most luxuriant blooms. If rain- 
fall is insufficient give them a thorough watering every 
week or ten days. This means at least an inch of 
water over the entire garden. Side dress with fertilizer now. 
7. Spraying should have been started early when your plants were 
six inches high and should be repeated weekly during blooming season 
to control thrips (adults are small black insects about one-sixteenth 
inch long). U.S. Dept. Agric. recommends a proven spray, Tartar 
emetic — brown sugar solution, which does not burn gladiolus foliage; 
formula: with three gallons of water is ten teaspoonsful of brown 
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