Greetings and I hanks 
We cannot start a new catalogue out without a word of greeting to 
the many customers who have patronized us in years past. To those hun- 
dreds of good folks we say thank you—and we hope we will hear from all 
of you again this year. If you have a complaint—or a compliment—let us 
hear about it. We are always happy to adjust any complaint; and we all like 
to hear something nice about ourselves—don’t we? Our growing season 
was a little on the dry side, although we did manage to irrigate a good 
portion of our better glads—and September rains brought the bulbs along 
in very good shape. We try to always be generous if filling orders, and to 
supply extra things without charge in the hope that folks will find a new 
thrill in a new flower, just like we do. We like to have letters from our cus- 
- tomers about glads—and enjoy answering them. If we can help anyone to 
grow better flowers, we feel that it is time well spent. 
Our Nursery is located 114 miles north-east of Sioux City on Highway 
No. 75, and visitors are always welcome. We will have several thousand 
seedlings blooming in late August and September, and maybe you can help 
us pick out a winner! Drive out and see us. 
aaa Ves 
Read This Before Buying Your Bulbs 
Growing good gladiolus blooms is not exactly an easy task. They 
appreciate and require good culture and care. In the first place, if you pur- 
chase bulbs before planting time, they should be stored in a dry place, as 
cool as possible above freezing temperatures. About the time the trees get 
their leaves they should be planted, but before planting they should be 
dipped in an antiseptic solution to insure them against disease and thrip; 
the latter is a destructive insect. We dip ours in Lysol, one ounce to three 
gallons of water, allowing them to soak over night just before planting. 
‘When the plants are six to eight inches high we spray them with a spray 
of Tartar Emetic, one ounce to three gallons of water with half a pound of 
brown sugar to the three-gallon mixture. This sweetens it and causes the 
spray to adhere to the plants. If they are sprayed once a week you are 
sure to have good blooms. We sometimes spray three times, four days apart, 
just before blooming starts, and that usually wipes them out as their life 
cycle is about ten days. Six weeks after blooming your bulbs may be dug 
and stored as above directed. We try to keep our storage’ house at about 40 
degrees for about six or eight weeks during the winter, which is supposed 
to destroy any thrip or their eggs. We have not seen any living thrip in our 
storage house. 
