There are some comments we could make “outside the color classes”. Some glads 
impressed us as being very useful, even though they might not be champions of a show, 
ever. We think Lavender & Gold is a great little glad because its the first bouquet we 
have in the season, and 20 or 25 spikes make a lovely vase. We like small spikes of 
Wedgewood from small bulbs in the late season to make exquisite arrangements. The 
same applies to the short spikes of Buckeye Queen when it blooms from bulblets. It 
takes us back to healthy Picardy days. So much resemblance. We can appreciate a 
vase of the short-headed Autumn Gold in late September with a couple of small Burma 
spikes mixed in to give it “striking power”. We get nice tall spikes of Beauty’s Blush 
in late September from fives and sixes, that are grand for the office vase or the home 
and what a color! One of Fischer’s great introductions. We grow Mayling for the same 
reason, late sparkling bloom. 25 or 30 spikes of Rose Charm make up a tremendous 
basket. What a propagator that one is too. That bright new scarlet-red, Nancy, also 
produces 250 bulblets per large bulb. You laugh when you dig them. It is a grand 
bloom too. 
Wiscisés of Bulbs. 
Eight or ten years ago, this grower Was not seriously concerned if a few Gladiolus 
bulbs were dug in the fall, with some black spots on them, or a dry-rot seemed to 
appear around the root section. We recall noticing it in young bulbs of Picardy grown 
from bulblets, and especially the larger young bulbs. We recall, further, that we did 
not see signs of this virus disease in White Gold, Marg. Beaton or Margaret Fulton 
and a few other disease-resisting varieties. Some of those sturdy sorts are still healthy 
and provide perfect bulbs. We do become alarmed, however, when we purchase a 
supply of some new introduction, and find diseased bulbs in our first crop. 
What causes this disease to make its appearance? Why is White Gold, for example 
—free from it in our garden? These new introductions sometimes show the tell-tale 
“cancerous” sores at the seams of the husks the first year we grow the bulblets. This 
has convinced me (on more than one occasion) that some element in our soil injures 
the bulbs or weakens them to a point where the cell tissues break down. Perhaps an 
element or mineral is lacking, or over-abundant, in the soil. 
University professors and agricultural colleges have given us _ high-sounding 
tongue-twisting names for these so-called leaf diseases; and in many cases intimate 
that the “leaf-disease’’ causes bulb failure. Is it not quite possible that bulb disease 
causes “leaf-failure’ ? We surely would like to be of some help, but after several years 
of studying the problem religiously, we are still at sea as as to the cause. We know 
from experience that most of the “dips” recommended as pre-planting aids have had 
very little effect here. Dusting in storage, or at planting time seemed equally useless. 
Iowa State College recommended our soil as very Well suited to the growing of glad- 
iolus bulbs. Many varieties thrive here too. But a great many fail a-borning. 
Yes, we are thinking of Burma, Stoplight, Florence Nightingale, Wings of Song 
and a few other favorites we would like to grow by the million, and harvest healthy 
bulbs we can recommend to our trade. Our Burma bulb crop looks wonderful right 
now, probably 125,000 bulbs, but I lay awake nights hoping those fine looking bulbs 
do not break down at the husk seams. Yes, they cleaned up perfectly. If a root-section 
does not slip off perfectly, the bulb is promptly discarded. That does not insure, how- 
ever, that the virus will not start its deadly attack in February or March, three or four 
months hence. I believe it can happen to you, for it has happened to me. Must we grow 
only disease-resistant sorts? 
Dr. Magie, Florida State College, Bradenton, has been trying to help us. Can 
some of you old-time growers answer any of my questions? It is almost impossible to 
pull out every plant, on 30 acres, that might have a dis-colored leaf. Any other solution? 
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