Growing from Seed.
There is great satisfaction in growing the finest gladioli that have
ever been produced in all the world. The consciousness that one has the
best obtainable gives pleasure, but raising seedlings of one's own,
knowing that they are different from any others, that no two are exactly
alike, and that among them may be one or more of the very finest, and
ultimately finding this possibility realized, is one of the greatest
delights in horticulture. One ounce of good seed will produce about
three thousand bulbs, and among them will be found a large number of
fine varieties. If the seed is from choice stock, with no common
varieties near, most of the seedlings will be worth saving. So I advise
every grower to raise seedlings. They will yield both pleasure and
profit. Some years ago I bought all the seed that was offered by the
pound in America and Europe, about thirty pounds, and no one but myself
ever knew the satisfaction that came from that investment. At another
time I was growing a bed of seedlings and the grasshoppers cut them off
at the ground early in the summer. I supposed that they were ruined and
went to plant something else on the bed a week or two later, when, to my
surprise, I found small bulbs, about the size of apple seeds. I saved
them with great care, sixteen thousand in number, and planted them the
next spring. They made a fine growth and nearly all bloomed the year
following. The pleasure they gave, not only to myself, but to my
friends, paid many fold for the time spent on them, and more than made
up for the disappointment I had felt when I thought the grasshoppers had
destroyed them.
The gladiolus opens its first flower in the morning, and the work of
going over a bed containing hundreds that have just bloomed for the
first time, and marking the finest with tags upon which are inscribed a
few characters that mean much to the owner, and almost nothing to anyone
else, will give one an undercurrent of joy for the rest of the day.
Another special pleasure that comes to the grower of choice seedlings is
that of naming one for a friend, and this pleasure has been mine a
number of times. The most notable example of this is the May, and I
fully expect that some of those which have scarcely been heard of as yet
will become equally as popular as that well-known variety.
In growing seedlings, it is best to use land that is nearly or quite
level, so that it cannot wash. The soil should be thoroughly pulverized,
and enriched by the use of some complete commercial fertilizer
scattered over the surface at the rate of six or seven pounds to the
square rod, and well stirred in. Then make drills twelve inches apart,
from one to two inches wide, and half an inch deep. These drills should
be laid out cross-wise of the bed, and may be made by gently pressing a
narrow strip of board into the mellow earth. Sow the seed thick enough
to cover the bottom of the drill, and sprinkle over it fine earth to the
depth of three-fourths of an inch. This should be pressed down with the
foot or a roller, so that it will be only half an inch thick over the
seeds.
Some provision must now be made for keeping the surface of the bed moist
until the seed comes up, which requires two or three weeks under
favorable conditions, and may take much longer. If the surface dries
after the seeds sprout, they are likely to perish. The best way to
prevent this is to furnish shade. For a small bed, a piece of burlap
spread over it, and kept in position by a stone at each corner, is
excellent. I have generally used a light covering of straw, held in
place with strips from the planing mill. Another method of keeping the
straw in place is by stretching binder twine directly over the row. When
the young plants appear, a straight edge is placed just outside of the
row, and the straw is cut through with a sharp knife, first on one side
and then on the other. The part over the row is then removed, and the
rest left for a mulch. There are, however, two objections to the use of
straw as a covering: moles sometimes work under it, heaving up the
ground to the detriment of the crop, and it nearly always contains
objectionable seeds. One of the most extensive growers in my
acquaintance shades his seed beds with the shallow crates in which he
stores bulbs through the winter.
After the seedlings come up they should be kept perfectly free from
weeds, and the surface should be stirred frequently. In an ordinary
season the bulbs will run from one-fourth to one-half inch in diameter,
and with the best possible opportunity they will grow somewhat larger.
Seedlings should be taken up as soon as they show the first sign of
ripening, i. e., when their tops begin to turn yellow. The reasons why
this work should be done early are given under the head of "Digging and
Curing," which also describes in detail the mode of doing it. Most of
the earth falls off in the process of taking up the bulbs and pulling
them from the stems, and the rest is sifted out. The bulbs are then put
into flats, an inch or two deep, and allowed to dry. Sometimes they are
dried with the tops on, and kept in that condition till planting time,
but most growers prefer to take them off when green.