The florets are small and they differ from gladiolus in having a fairly long calyx tube. The 
color is white with a reddish purple throat. The feature that is of interest to breeders is the strong 
perfume of the flowers: if you are interested in trying to create a scented glad you may find’ that 
A. Murielae may furnish the key. 
” 
I have some surplus stock and will sell a limited amount of bulbs, ¥%2” and upward, at 50c 
each; also a limited amount of bulblets at 10 for 60c. 
Hints that may help You. 
The time was when the gladiolus was one of the easiest of all flowers to grow, when it had 
apparently no insect foes or fungus diseases to contend with: that situation has changed. With the 
advent of the gladiolus thrips, around 1930, the real troubles of the glad fan began, and to these 
has been added a variety of fungus diseases no less disastrous in their effect, unless extreme care 
is used in fighting them vigorously and intelligently. 
Various insecticides are effective against thrips if properly used. The proper time to begin the 
fight against thrips is during winter storage since it is possible to kill all thrips on bulbs and 
bulblets at that time. The most convenient, and wholly effective, treatment that I have found is the 
use of a rotenone dust - I like it because I know from long experience that such a dust will not cause 
even the slightest injury to the bulbs, no matter how long it remains in contact with the stock; my 
practice is to apply the dust to the bulbs in paper bags which are then closed tightly and not opened 
until planting time. It may be that DDT preparations are equally effective and safe when applied 
immediately after the bulbs have been cleaned, but, not having tried this method I am not qualified 
to comment upon it. The use of naphthalene flakes I discarded years ago since I found that it was 
not adapted for my work where thousands of different lots of bulbs were involved. I might say here 
that, in recent years, the effectiveness of naphthalene as a thrips destroyer has been seriously 
questioned. One thing is certain, the indiscriminate use of naphthalene may cause serious damage 
to bulbs. 
The preparation that I have used for years and found entirely satisfactory is a dust manufactured 
by the Agicide Laboratories, Inc., now located in Racine, Wis. I have had so many request for in- 
formation about this product and the address of its manufacturer that I have asked the Agicide people 
to furnish me with a supply of their leaflet on this product in order that I might be able to enclose 
a copy with this announcement as a service to my customers. The name of the dust that I have been 
using has been changed to Agicide Spray Base. This preparation is packaged and sold in 1 pound, 
5 pound, and 50 pound bags, at $.89 for 1 pound, $2.30 for 5 pounds, and $20.00 for 50. pounds. 
While proper treatment during winter storage will kill all thrips and their eggs on gladiolus 
stock, it will not protect growing glads from thrips infestation during the growing season and suit- 
able measures must be taken to fight thrips at this time. The source of thrips at this time is varied: 
entomologists tell us that thrips cannot winter over in the open in our northern climate - that may 
be true of thrips exposed to our winter weather without protection of any sort, but it is quite well 
established that thrips do winter over in unburned rubbish in the patch, or on bulbs left in the 
ground; furthermore, many small gardeners who may grow only a few glads do not trouble them- 
selves with treating their stock, either during storage or while it is growing in their garden, with 
the result that thrips multiply on their glads and, from them spread to neighboring plantings. It is 
therefore necessary that all gladiolus be treated for thrips during their growing season if damage 
from thrips is to be avoided. Two methods are available for successfully fighting thrips at this stage, 
spraying and dusting - which method is to be used must be determined by each individual grower. 
The important thing is to begin the fight against thrips early enough: the proper time is when the 
plants have reached a height of 6-7”, and from then on once a week until blooming time. Several 
effective insecticides can be used in the form of sprays: rotenone preparations, tartar emetic, or DDT 
preparations, - each is effective when properly and regularly used. Rotenone preparations or DDT 
may also be used in dusts by those who prefer the dusting method. 
If, for any reason, the winter storage treatment has been neglected thrips may still be killed at 
planting time through the use of a suitable dip prior to planting. Lysol, New Improved Ceresan, 
Semesan, calomel preparations, corrosive sublimate, and other agents may be used effectively at this 
time, but great. care must be used to employ these preparations according to directions lest. they in- 
jure or even kill your bulbs and it must be remembered that all of them are more or less poisonous 
(excepting the Rotenone preparations). 
ro) 
Various fungus infections are beginning to be extremely troublesome to glad growers and they 
are rapidly spreading. It is therefore highly important to learn to recognize the signs of fungus 
disease in glads, both while in the active growing stage and the effect upon the bulbs. Plants affected 
