SUCCESSFULL GLADIOLUS CULTURE 
Gladiolus can be grown easily and in every sec- 
tion of the United States or Canada. Just be sure and 
plant good bulbs, free of disease. Give them a sunny 
exposure and be sure that they have a sufficient 
amount of moisture such as a good soaking once a 
week. 
Large bulbs are necessary to produce exhibition 
blooms but your medium and small bulbs of some 
varieties will bloom and, on the latter two sizes, of 
ccurse your bulblet production is much greater. If you 
have a heavy clay soil, a depth of four inches is suf 
ficient for your bulbs perhaps but a sandy soil neces- 
sitates deeper planting for best results. Plant large 
bulbs about five inches deep and decrease this depth 
according to the size of your bulbs. Light soils will 
usually give more bulblets than heavy soils. 
Your first planting can be about the time farmers 
plant potatoes in your locality and your last planting 
should be about 120 days before the usual first frost. 
We make three plantings, three or four weeks apart, 
to insure a long blooming period, and suggest, in 
southeastern New England: April 6 to 15 — May 10 or 
thereabouts — and June | to 20. 
Either spade or plough (depending on the size of 
the garden) the soil deeply, preferably in the fall, 
leaving it rough during the winter. If stable manure 
is used, put it on befcre spading and it will be well 
rotted by spring. 
We prefer planting double rows in a trench as the 
bulbs tend to support one another. The rows are from 
18 to 36 inches apart, depending on your method of 
cultivaticn, — by hand or machine. Allow about five 
inches between large bulbs and less for small sizes. 
As we previously stated, stable manure, well 
rotted, will give you the finest results, but for larger 
plantings, it is often necessary to resort to a commer- 
cial fertilizer. Here, at Flying Cloud Farms, we have 
found that either Vigoro or Agrico supply the needed 
elements and have given us excellent results. 
To prepare your rows for planting, loosen the soil 
well to at least an inch lower than you intend to plant 
ycur bulbs. Use about four pounds of fertilizer to 100 
feet and work it well into the bottom of the trench, — 
then let it stand a day or two. When the bulbs are set 
in the trench, cover and hill up a bit. As small weeds 
appear, rake down level again and that first crop of 
weeds is killed. Experiments are being carried out 
with the chemical weed killers and doubtless, for 
your very first crop of early weeds, they would be 
successful. However, as your growth continues, there 
apparently is danger of injury so we personally feel 
that we would like to wait until this method has been 
perfected before we can really recommend it. When 
the glads are eight to ten inches high, a surface feed- 
ing is advised at the rate of four pounds to 100.feet 
of row. This should be scattered on both sides of the 
row and worked lightly into the soil. A similar feeding 
should be applied as the buds appear. 
Cultivation is very important. We use lawn brooms 
in the planted rows on light soil and cultivators be- 
tween the rows, but hoeing, scratching, brooming, or 
whatever method of cultivation you use, must be done 
often, about every fifth day. If it rains, or we irrigate, 
we try to cultivate as soon as it dries out. Remember 
that the roots of your glads are not too deep, nor too 
far away from the bulb, so do not cultivate too deep 
to injure them. 
We guarantee our bulbs to be absolutely free of 
thrips or disease when we ship them but advise you to 
dip them nevertheless. Soak your bulbs, as you plant’ 
them, in Bichloride of Mercury (Corrosive Sublimate) 
from 8 to 10 hours in a solution of one ounce to seven 
gallons of warm water. This prescribed time is for 
bulbs with husks on. If you peel the bulbs, six to eight 
hours is sufficient. For this dip, wooden, glass, or crock- 
ery containers must be used as metal causes a chemi- 
cal reaction. The Lysol dip is also very widely used: 
1 tablespoon to 1 gallon of water, soaking the bulbs 
four to eight hours, depending upon whether the bulbs 
are husked or not. We advise planting before the 
bulbs have dried out, when using either of the above 
mentioned dips: 
Another effective dip is the New Improved Cere- 
san: one ounce of this and 3 teaspoons Grasselli 
Spreader Sticker to 3 gallons of water. For large quan- 
tities: 2 lb. N.I. Ceresan and 5 teaspoons Grasselli 
Spreader Sticker to 25 gallons water. With this treat- 
ment the bulbs only have to soak fifteen to thirty 
minutes but the solution should not be allowed to settle. 
The Ceresan treatment is so much shorter it has be- 
come popular but you must plant the dipped bulbs 
the same day. 
As your glads grow, do watch for any signs of 
thrips. It is advisable to dust them when the growth 
is about six inches high as thrips are hard to distin- 
guish and a few at this stage in the growth of your 
glads would multiply enough to make serious damage 
later. Should your thrips persist, dusting every four 
days for three applications would be advisable. Using 
DDT powder 5%, while the leaves are still moist, is 
the most recent suggestion, and we have found it to 
be very satisfactory. Any type of dust application, 
with favorable conditions, is more easily applied. This 
is also advisable in storage. 
Digging may be done any time from four to six 
weeks after a variety has stopped blooming. Be sure 
to cut the tops off close to the bulb and spread the 
bulbs out in low boxes to dry, preferably where air 
can move around them. Your drying conditions will 
determine how soon the bulbs can be cleaned (the 
old bulb should come easily and be destroyed.) Now 
store in a cool dry place. If you use naphthalene flakes, 
we suggest that you put half a handful on a paper in 
each bex, then stack your boxes and cover to keep 
the fumes confined. If this treatment is carried out 
where the temperature is not too cool, the thrips (if 
there are any) will be more active and the naphthalene 
will take effect more quickly and thoroughly. Leave 
them two weeks at least and then uncover, remove 
the naphthalene, and store your bulbs, as suggested 
for the winter. 
