NO W-E7TAyG AIR D ENS 
WHEN RECEIVED. Open package of bulbs at once to admit air and store in a cool dry 
cellar. A vegetable or canned fruit cellar is about right but they should be aired out once in 
a while if the storage place is damp. Temperature should not be over forty or fifty 
degrees fahrenheit if possible, or lower as long as they do not freeze. 
WHEN TO PLANT. Plant when the trees native to your locality are leafing out. Do 
not plant too early. The ground should be warmed up somewhat. If planted while the 
ground is still cold they will not bloom any sooner than if planted two or three weeks 
later, but in a protected place can be planted earlier than out in the open. Here in 
Minnesota—we start planting our early cut flowers about April 15th, bulblets the latter 
part of April and our late cut flowers up to July 1st. For maximum results early planting 
is recommended, the first two weeks in May in this locality. 
WHERE TO PLANT. The ideal place to plant is in a garden in which there are no 
trees, shrubs or anything to shade them or take the moisture from the ground. If you plant 
in the border or beds on the lawn be careful not to put them too close to other strong 
growing plants. Plant in your vegetable garden. 
DEPTH TO PLANT. Plant large bulbs 5 inches deep, medium bulbs 4, small bulbs 3, 
and bulblets 2. If soil is extremely sandy, plant somewhat deeper. If very heavy, some- 
what more shallow. 
DISTANCE APART. For best bloom production, set bulbs apart in row roughly 
about 4 times their diameter. Sow bulblets thickly, like peas. Distance between rows 
may be as little as will permit for your particular method of cultivating, weeding, etc. 
Bulblets may be planted 100 or more to the foot. 
HOW TO PLANT. Dig a trench about 8 inches deep using the full depth and width 
of spading fork or shovel. Allow loose soil to fall back in trench, rake bottom of trench 
smooth, pulverizing lumps and your trench is about the proper depth for large bulbs. 
Rake in more ground for small bulbs and bulblets. Place the bulbs in the trench the 
proper distance apart and cover with about 2 inches of soil. At this time I sprinkle 
a handful of commercial fertilizer to about 10 feet of row. Fill in the rest of soil. Tramp 
down a bit with foot or hoe, especially if soil is dry. This aids capillary action in the soil. 
MARKERS. I go to my local lumber yard and buy a bundle of ordinary lath. I have 
these planed on both sides and then saw them in 3 equal lengths. Then sharpen one end 
and paint the whole thing, tip and all with a flat outdoor paint. Ordinary soft lead pencils 
have proven the most satisfactory for printing the names on the stakes. 
KIND OF SOIL. Glads will grow in most any kind of soil from light sand to heavy 
clay, but a sandy loam is the best. Be sure there is good drainage. Glads like lots 
of water, but will not stand wet feet. They do not like fresh lime. It has been found that 
gladiolus prefer a somewhat acid soil. Silt and sand in the composition of your soil is 
valuable. Avoid lime unless needed to cure a superacid condition (expressed pH 1 to pH 4). 
Likewise avoid, more importantly, super alkaline soils (pH 8 to pH 14). Neutral is pH 7, 
but pH 5 to pH 6 is what you should strive to obtain. Your nearest State Agricultural 
Experiment Station will test samples (a pound or two) of your soil for acidity rating. 
A well drained soil will have much to do with your cropping disease free bulbs, parti- 
cularly if dug after a wet fall. 
PREPARATION OF THE SOIL BEFORE PLANTING. The soil should be plowed or 
spaded thoroughly before planting. Thorough disking, harrowing and pulverizing of the 
soil is mandatory. A loose pliable seed bed is one of the big factors for successful gladiolus 
cultur and prize blooms. 
DISINFECTING—Disinfecting of bulbs is done for two reasons. 
Ist. To kill thrips. Tho no reliable grower intentionally sends out bulbs with thrips 
on them, there is a possibility that in spite of all precautions there might be thrips eggs 
on the bulbs. 
2nd. To kill any possible disease on the bulbs. As above, no reliable grower inten- 
tionally sends out diseased bulbs. A bulb may look perfectly all right, but when the husk 
is taken off there may be very small specks of incipient disease. Of course bulbs that are 
badly spotted should be destroyed. 
Personally I would disinfect every bulb, no matter where it was bought, or even if 
it were of my own growing. 
HOW TO LABEL BULBS FOR DISINFECTING. Put the bulbs in a cloth sack 
that will conveniently hold the variety you are treating. Then I write my stake that is to 
be my permanent marker and place it in the sack point down. Next I tie the top of 
ho 

| 
| 
