A Word About GLADIOLUS Bulb Sizes 
By H. E. MORROW, Winthrop, lowa 
Grower of Tall Corn Glads 
I have come to the conclusion that a great many people do not know 
the method of grading and sizing gladiolus bulbs employed by growers. 
Therefore, I am making this statement which I trust will be helpful to all 
who purchase bulbs. 
Gladiolus Bulbs are graded into at least seven sizes: 
Jumbos—More than 1# inches in diameter 
No. 1——F rom 13 to 1? inches in diameter 
No. 2——F rom 1 to 14 inches in diameter 
No. 3——From 1 to 1# inches in diameter 
No. 4——-F rom ? to 1 inch in diameter 
No. 5——F rom é to ? inch in diameter 
No. 6——F rom j to 4 inch in diameter 
No. 7——Less than # inch in diameter 



Most catalogues list retail bulbs as Large, Medium and Small. Large 
includes sizes i and 2, Medium size includes No. 3 and 4, Small includes 
sizes No. 5 and 6. 
I have inserted in the above listing of sizes plain lines showing the 
minimum length of diameter of each size. It is interesting to take a rule 
and measure the bulbs you receive and see how small a bulb is for its 
size. Most growers put in much larger bulbs for Large size than is re- 
quired by the standard measurements. Sometimes a customer is disap- 
pointed in the appearance of bulb sizes because they are looking for 
bulbs which rate as Jumbos. A No. 1 is not very large when it is of the 
exact size of a No.1. Growers cannot give all Jumbo bulbs for No. 1 or 
Large sizes, as very few bulbs of those sizes are produced in first year of 
growth. Most of the bulbs produced from planting stock are size 3 and 
less. It might be well to state that planting stock is the bulb crop grown 
from bulblets. These are planted by growers the following year to secure 
the bulbs for retail trade the next season, and are called Yearling bulbs. 
In filling my orders I sometimes find myself short of Large size bulbs. 
I therefore substitute with size 3. Once in a while I have taken the lib- 
erty to substitute with size 4. However, in every such instance, I more 
than equal the value of the Large size bulbs ordered. Don’t be disappoint- 
ed with these 3’s and 4’s as they are very strong growers and producers, 
and in many varieties will produce magnificent spikes and grand bulbs for 
the following year. Fact is, the large gladiolus growers prefer to plant 
No. 3, and down to sixes. I trust you will not be disappointed when I find 
it necessary to substitute with the smaller sizes. If not satisfactory, I 
would appreciate it if you would let me know and I will correct the mat- 
ter by refund. 
Wishing you a fine Gladiolus year, I am, 
Sincerely yours, 
H. E. MORROW. 
