Commencing in the Business.
If one desires to grow the gladiolus commercially, there are several
ways of making a beginning, and it is well to have a clearly defined
plan. The grower can enter upon the work with very little outlay by
commencing with seed. Only choice seed should be used. The first year's
product will average about the size of peas. With extra pains, many of
these could be brought to small blooming size, but it is better to keep
them below that limit. The next year they will all grow to first and
second sizes and the bulbs will be perfect in form and full of energy.
Of these there will be no two alike, and such bulbs are generally in
demand. Some will be of superior merit, and many good. Each purchaser
will find at least a few that he will prize. By sowing seed every year,
the grower will always have fresh stock coming on, and if careful to use
only seed of high grade, he will establish a reputation as a producer of
fine seedlings. He can, in time, make arrangements for growing seed
himself, and thus save the expense of buying, besides enjoying the
satisfaction of knowing its excellence.
Another way of starting is by purchasing small stock. This has the
advantage of making salable bulbs the first year, also quantities of
bulblets, but there is another side to the question, which is less
encouraging. If the stock is simply common mixed, which is about the
only grade offered for sale, the grower is likely to find that a good
part of it is such as he can take no pride in, and he will be under the
necessity of beginning soon to weed out the undesirable varieties. The
same difficulty will re-appear in the crop grown from the bulblets. This
method involves more expense than would appear at first thought, and is
likely to be rather unsatisfactory as to quality in the end. If small
stock of high excellence could be bought, it would be the perfection of
a start for a beginner, but it is very seldom obtainable. Every grower
knows that bulbs the size of peas are far more prolific of bulblets than
those of the same variety two inches in diameter. Accordingly, he sells
the large ones, which bring good prices, but make little increase, and
retains the small ones, which would yield only trifling returns if sold,
but are of great value as multipliers of stock.
Still another and very good way of beginning in the business is to buy
blooming bulbs of fine named sorts, cultivate them separately, and sell
them by name. He who adopts this plan does not need many varieties. It
is better to purchase few, and a larger number of each. If he selects
those that are in good demand, he is pretty sure to find ready sale for
all that he can raise. He is not likely to have too many of the May or
Augusta, nor of those newer and more expensive favorites, America and
Princeps. This last method, and the one first described may be combined
to good advantage.
If one wishes to commence growing flowers for market, he may start with
seed, provided he can afford the time, or he may buy blooming bulbs,
either mixed or named. In the latter case he should look out for a
liberal proportion of light colors, as they are usually more salable
than darker ones, though of late, good reds are rapidly gaining in
popularity. Some growers raise mostly fine white and light varieties,
and their flowers are in demand even when the market is full of common
stock.
Finally, whatever the grower's objects may be in his work, and whatever
methods he may adopt in carrying it on, he will find plenty of room for
the exercise of his own judgment and tact, after he has read and
pondered all that he can find in print in regard to gladiolus culture.
APPENDIX
By
DR. W. VAN FLEET
CHAPTER I.
Garden History of the Gladiolus.
The gladiolus is horticulturally the most important member of the
Iridacae or great Iris family and has long been the most popular of all
summer-flowering bulbous plants, ranking in general usefulness even such
prime favorites as the dahlia, the canna and the lily. Almost one
hundred and fifty species have been from time to time described by
botanists, but only a fraction of the number has thus far proved of
value in breeding and development work. Fourteen or more species are
natives of Southern Europe and Western Asia, but these have always been
of minor importance as garden plants.
The headquarters of the genus is South Africa, centering in Cape Colony
and Natal, though there have been recent finds of value on the mountains
of tropical Africa and in Madagascar. The European and Asiatic species
run to purple and lilac in coloring, though white varieties occur in
cultivation. Flowers and plants are rather small, rendering them most
useful for pot or frame culture and for naturalizing in protected
borders where the deeply planted corns can be kept from the effects of
frost. The most attractive of these northern kinds are _G.
crispiflorus_, _G. atroviolaceus_, _G. Byzantinus_ and _G. communis_.
The latter has been offered in this country as the "hardy" gladiolus,
but it will not endure severe freezing. These species hybridize together
when opportunity presents, but do not readily interbreed with the
African kinds and have rarely developed garden forms superior to the
respective wild types. The blooming time is early spring.
Another series of early-blooming, small-flowered species is represented
by _G. blandus_, flesh colored, _G. Watsonius_, scarlet, _G. alatus_,
yellow and red, and _G. tristis_, pale yellow, sweet scented. All are
native to the Cape of Good Hope and can endure little cold. They are
admirably suited for window and greenhouse culture and are interesting
subjects for interbreeding, though no startling results should be
expected. The winter-blooming varieties grown by florists, such as the
_Bride_, _Delicatissima_, and _Peach Blossom_, belong to the hybrid
section known as _Gladiolus Colvillii_, which is, without doubt, a
hybrid between _G. cardinalis_ and _G. tristis_. The corms of these
early-blooming species are less resistant than those of the
summer-blooming kinds and can rarely be kept over winter in good
condition. The species in this class are many, several are fragrant,
and all are worth growing by the specialist for their individual charm,
but few are likely to attain commercial importance in this country for a
considerable time.
Summer Blooming Species.
Our popular garden and commercial varieties are, with scarcely an
exception, developments of strong-growing and relatively late-blooming
species found wild in South Africa. The chief of these is _G.
psittacinus_, native of Natal, but cultivated in Europe since 1830. It
is a striking and robust species with hooded, narrow, red-and-yellow
flowers, borne in a scattering manner on a tall fleshy scape or spike.
Eleven years later a seedling appeared in the famous Van Houtte
Nurseries, Ghent, Belgium, thought to be a hybrid between _psittacinus_
and _G. cardinalis_, the latter a tall scarlet flowered species or
variety of uncertain origin, known to have been cultivated as early as
1785. The Van Houtte seedling, named _Gandavensis_ in honor of the city
of its origin, was so superior to _psittacinus_ as to cause the latter
to at once go out of cultivation.
_Gandavensis_ made a great sensation in its time and is still the best
representative of the old-time gaudy red-and-yellow garden gladiolus, or
corn flag. It was eagerly welcomed by breeders of the day, among others
the accomplished French hybridizer, Mons. Souchet, of Fontainebleu, who
really laid the foundation of the modern _Gandavensis_ strain, the
basis of all that is best in the summer-blooming section. The
predominating types of the finest _Gandavensis_ varieties, however,
retain few of the characteristics of _psittacinus_. The erect, fleshy
stem, capable of absorbing sufficient water, when the spike is cut, to
develop all blooms, and the strong upright growth have been preserved as
indispensable features, but the flowers have been marvelously improved
in respect to form, color, size, arrangement and finish, as the result
of interbreeding with every procurable species or variety of
sufficiently distinct character, and constant seeding selection. The
most popular varieties of the day, such as May, Augusta, and
Shakespeare, have little resemblance to _psittacinus_ and practically
none to _cardinalis_, but exhibit strongly the main characteristics of
_G. oppositiflorus_, an old white-and-rose, many-flowered species, often
thought to have been the real parent of _Gandavensis_, instead of
_cardinalis_. The writer's experience is that present-day authentic
hybrids of _psittacinus_ and _cardinalis_ do not resemble _Gandavensis_,
while the issue of _psittacinus_ x _oppositiflorus_ closely reproduces
_Gandavensis_ as it is found in old gardens. Varied and beautiful as the
_Gandavensis_ hybrids or "French seedlings" of the last generation
were--and some have never been excelled--intense and pleasing shades of
red were strangely lacking, when the predominance of _psittacinus_ blood
in the strain is considered.
It was not until 1878 that Victor Lemoine, Nancy, France, produced, by
crossing the finest _Gandavensis_ varieties with _G. purpureo-auratus_,
an important race now widely known as _Lemoinei_, that possessed the
rich and intense shades of red, purple, and yellow so ardently desired
by fanciers. Some of the richest coloring in the floral kingdom is found
among the _Lemoinei_ varieties, now wonderfully developed by consistent
breeding. The hooded form of _purpureo-auratus_ blooms, however, is
often retained, and the stems usually have the wiry texture of the
species rendering the development of the flowers, after cutting, less
perfect than the _Gandavensis_.
The next great improvement in garden gladioli was brought about by Max
Leichtlin, Baden Baden, Germany, who extensively hybridized the best
_Gandavensis_ varieties with _G. Saundersii_, then a newly introduced
species characterized by large widely opened scarlet flowers speckled
with white on the lower divisions. The resulting seedlings, without
doubt the finest strain of modern times, were bought by V. H. Hallock
and Son, Queens, N. Y., then the most extensive American bulb growers,
and for many years the stock was worked up by them in the most
painstaking manner. Before dissemination it was sold to J. L. Childs,
Floral Park, N. Y., who introduced it to general cultivation under the
name of _Childsii_. The true _Leichtlin Saundersii_ hybrids are
characterized by gigantic growth and very large richly colored
well-opened blooms with beautifully spotted and variegated throats.
Shades of red predominated at first, but light colors have since been
developed in a very satisfactory manner. The only just criticism of this
strain is that some kinds lack substance of petal and are not as lasting
as _Gandavensis_ varieties under similar trying conditions.
Lemoine soon afterwards produced a fine large flowered and brilliantly
colored race by crossing _Lemoinei_ hybrids with _Saundersii_. This race
was named _Nanceianus_ and comprises many truly beautiful varieties,
few, however, possessing the vigor of the _Leichtlin_ hybrids.
The next break of importance, also the work of Lemoine, came with the
use of _G. papilio_, pale lilac, blotched and overlaid with dull red. In
many of its hybrids the primitive colors have separated, resulting in an
attractive series of rich purple and heliotrope blues, quite new to the
genus. True bright blues, free from red and purple tones, have not yet
been obtained, but the blue kinds--issue of _Papilio_ and the _Lemoine_
varieties--are unique and desirable acquisitions.
_Gladiolus cruentus_, blood red and white, pollenized with a selected
_Childsii_ variety resulted in the magnificent scarlet hybrid
_Princeps_, acknowledged the first of its color yet produced. The latest
species of importance to be widely used is _G. Primulinus_, recently
found in the Zambesi Valley, South Africa. It is a vigorous species with
narrow blooms, pure bright yellow in color. The hybrids largely partake
of this coloring, and it appears only a matter of time when good
self-yellow varieties, comparable in size and finish to the best red and
pink kinds will be bred.
Minor Species.
A number of hybrids of _G. dracocephalus_, _G. Cooperi_ and _G.
Quartinanus_ have been offered of late years. These species are closely
allied to _Psittacinus_, but yellow, green and purplish shades, oddly
marked and striped, appear in the offspring. Some are curious and
attractive, but possess little value from the standpoint of the
commercial grower. _G. Quartinanus_ is a very late bloomer and may
produce varieties extremely useful for mild climates where the seasons
are sufficiently long to form bulb development. _G. Eckloni_ is a rare
species with small whitish blooms, minutely dotted with black purple.
The hybrids have mostly purple or red ground colors flecked with darker
shades. They are exceedingly attractive, but do not increase with
sufficient rapidity to possess great value. _G. vitatus_, an early
blooming, dwarf species, has yielded some charming porcelain and salmon
colored garden varieties, of rather small size, however. _G.
Leichtlini_, scarlet and yellow, allied to _Saundersii_, when crossed
with _cruentus_, is a striking brilliant crimson hybrid of much vigor,
but when blended with other species entirely loses its individuality.
The list may be extended, but enough has been said to indicate the
great possibilities inherent to the use of wild species as a means of
adding attractive new features to highly developed garden strains.
Summary.
The gladiolus, in its European species at least, has been in garden
cultivation for quite 400 years.
The African forms first found their way to Europe about 1745 and new
ones have since been constantly added. The genus now numbers almost 150
species.
_The first_ marked improvement, from the garden standpoint, came with
the introduction from Holland, about 1785, of _G. cardinalis_, one of
the reputed parents of _G. Gandavensis_. The true origin of _Cardinalis_
has never been ascertained.
In 1840 _G. Gandavensis_ was raised in Belgium from seed of _G.
psittacinus_, an African species supposed to be pollinated with
_Cardinalis_, but more, likely with _G. oppositiflorus_, which the
progeny of _Gandavensis_ more closely resembles.
From 1845 until 1880 _Gandavensis_ seedlings or "French Hybrids" held
full sway in gardens. More than 400 varieties have been named,
comprising some of the most highly prized of all garden kinds.
Lemoine introduced in 1878 his justly celebrated hybrids between
Gandavensis and _G. purpureo-auratus_, known as _Lemoinei_.
The _Nanceianus_ strain, crosses between _Lemoinei_ and _G. Saundersii_,
was introduced in 1889.
_Childsii_, originated by Max Leichtlin, Germany, was first disseminated
in 1893. It consists of hybrids of _G. Saundersii_ pollinated with the
finest Gandavensis varieties.
Lemoine's New Blue was first exhibited at the Chicago Exposition 1893
and placed on sale the following year.
_Gladiolus Princeps_, _Childsii x G. cruentus_, the finest scarlet
variety ever raised, was introduced in 1903.
_Gladiolus primulinus_ and hybrids were first publicly offered in 1909.
[Illustration: PRINCEPS]
CHAPTER II.
Hybridizing Gladiolus.
The gladiolus, owing to the large size of the blooms and its open
character, is one of the easiest plants to pollinate artificially.
Healthy vigorous plants should be selected for seed bearers, and the
bloom spike supported with a firm stake. The blooms should be visited in
early morning as they open, and the anthers removed before they have
shed pollen, with the fingers, or better with slender forceps, taking
care not to injure the style or the three-parted stigma, which will be
ready to receive pollen about midday in bright weather or late in the
afternoon, or even next day if cloudy or dull.
The blooms should, immediately after the anthers have been removed, be
covered with thin cheesecloth, or "bobinet," firmly tied or pinned in
such a manner as effectually to keep out bees and visiting insects.
Ordinary mosquito netting will not serve after it has been wet with dew
or rain, as the mesh becomes so loose that energetic little pollen
carrying bees force their way through, often entirely spoiling results.
The pollen-bearing blooms should be carefully selected to open the same
day and should be as well protected with muslin or fine netting as
possible to prevent robbery of pollen.
About noon, when the anthers are covered with dry-dust-like pollen they
can be pinched out with forceps and carried to the seed-bearing spikes
in a covered dish to protect from wind. The anthers may be taken
separately in the fingers, or with forceps, and lightly brushed over the
stigmas, which should be erect and open if they have reached the
receptive stage. One anther will usually suffice for a seed bloom if
pollen is abundant, but in some of the lighter-colored varieties it is
scantily produced and several may be needed. Occasionally the anther
valves do not open freely enough to permit the escape of pollen, which
may then be taken out with a narrow-bladed penknife, or better with a
little instrument made of a flattened pin fixed in a wooden handle.
The pollinated blooms should immediately be covered with the netting,
which should remain until they fade. If conveniences are at hand the
work may be rapidly accomplished--several hundred pollinations being
made in a single day by an active worker. Pollen can also be used from
cut blooms, the spikes being kept in water in a light room, free from
flies or bees, but it gradually loses power when the upper blooms open
under such artificial conditions. If the work is carefully done the
resulting seeds will produce hybrids or cross breeds as the case may be,
and it is always possible that the ideal sought for may appear among
the number. Pollen may be kept a week or more by drying in the shade and
wrapping in paraffin paper, but is far less reliable than if applied
fresh from the anthers.
The blooms of large garden varieties are rarely self-pollinated, even if
left uncovered, but the chances of fertilization with inferior kinds,
generally the most abundant pollen producers, are so great that it is
well to protect all seed-bearing blooms from insect interference. If the
work is to be done on a large scale sleeves of netting or muslin large
enough to enclose the entire spike will be found serviceable. The ends
may be drawn together by cords looped through the fabric, effectually
barring out the meddling bees. If a greenhouse structure or even a well
lighted room is available, the plants may be grown in large boxes or
pots and taken inside when blooming. This is especially desirable in the
case of rare species and varieties, as there is no interference from
stormy weather. Every bloom can be pollinated and practically every
grain of pollen utilized under these secure conditions.
CHAPTER III.
Special Care of Seedlings.
Rare or scarce gladiolus seeds, particularly those resulting from
difficult crosses, should not be risked under ordinary garden or field
conditions of growth. We naturally wish to bring to maturity every
possible plant that the ideal we are breeding for may not be lost, if it
should by chance be included in the number. If grown in pots or boxes
the first season, with due care every good seed is likely to produce a
vigorous bulb that may be planted out next year. I have found six-inch
standard flower pots, after many trials, to be the most convenient
receptacles for small quantities of seeds, though almost equally good
results may be had from well drained wooden boxes five inches deep. The
boxes may be a foot or more wide and 18 to 20 inches long, and should be
new and clean.
On no account grow gladiolus seeds or bulblets successive years in the
same pots or boxes without sterilization, lest disease be fostered.
Sterilization may be effected in the case of pots, by roasting an hour
or more in an oven at a temperature above the boiling point of water, or
by well soaking in bichloride of mercury or formaldehyde solution,
described in a preceding chapter.[C] Boxes may also be roasted in the
oven or soaked in sterilizing solutions, but it is best to use new ones
if procurable. Boxes should have at least one-half-inch drainage hole to
each sixteen square inches of bottom surface, as gladiolus seedlings
greatly dislike waterlogged soil. An inch of pebbles, broken shells or
sterilized potsherds should be placed in bottom and pot or box filled to
within one-half inch of top with light compost made of two parts rich
loamy soil and one part sand, well mixed together. Some very old fine
manure may be used, but it should be confined to the bottom third of the
receptacle and not come into contact with the seeds or resulting bulbs.
The seeds previously rubbed free from chaff, should be thickly sown on
the surface--one hundred seeds is not too many for a six-inch pot--and
covered with one-half inch of clean sand. Water with a gentle spray
until entire mass of soil is saturated, cover top with old burlap or
bagging and place pots or boxes in a secure place where the temperature
will not vary greatly from sixty degrees. But little more water will be
needed until the plants begin to come up, which should be in about
twenty days. A sunny situation in greenhouse or garden is needed to grow
the seedlings to best advantage, but if in the latter, protection should
always be given from beating rains as the tiny seedlings are very easily
broken down during the early stages of their development. Water should
be given with sufficient regularity to keep the soil constantly moist
without becoming sodden and all weeds removed as they appear. The bulbs
will mature in twelve to fifteen weeks from germination. Water should
gradually be lessened as growth ceases and foliage begins to yellow
until the soil quite dries out, when it may be passed through a sieve
and even the smallest bulblet secured.
[Footnote C: Page 59.]
The little seedling bulbs, ranging in size from a wheat grain to a
hazelnut, keep best in dry sand and should be sown next season like peas
in drills in the garden. Some of the strongest are likely to bloom the
second year and all should produce flowers the third. If seeds are sown
under glass soon after ripening, in early October, according to
foregoing directions, the bulbs may usually be ripened off in March,
cured in sand in a dry warm place and planted out in May, thus securing
a few blooms the following Autumn, one year after gathering the seed.
Most of the bulbs thus treated should attain blooming size by the end of
the first season. If only a few seeds of a rare variety are obtainable,
very porous compost in five-inch pots or shallower boxes, the seeds sown
near the edges, will give best results. The seedling gladiolus the first
year is so slender and with such a small root system that considerable
attention is needed to avoid excess moisture unless closely planted.
A useful modification of the above method is to replace the bottom of a
box of convenient size with wire netting of one-half-inch mesh or less,
sink it to within an inch of the top in the soil in a convenient sunny
place in garden, fill with prepared compost, sow seeds and proceed in
the described manner except that less attention will be required in
watering than if entirely exposed to the air. Box and soil can be lifted
out when the bulbs mature, the soil dried and sifted to secure every
minute bulb. If a considerable quantity of seed is to be sown a board
frame eight inches deep, with bottom lined with one-half-inch mesh
netting, and sunk in the ground, will give complete security from moles
and similar vermin. If ordinary poultry netting is stretched over the
top, additional security against surface marauders is given. Hand
hybridized seeds are too precious to risk in ordinary unprotected soil.
Five thousand seedling bulbs may be grown in a frame 4x6 feet, if seeds
are thickly enough sown.
CHAPTER IV.
Gladiolus Species.
The following list includes the most important Gladiolus species, as
recognized by modern botanists. Many species formerly included in the
genus _Gladiolus_ are now correctly assigned to _Acidanthera_,
_Antholyza_, _Babiana_, _Freesia_, _Montbretia_, _Tritona_ and
_Watsonia_. Most true Gladiolus species will hybridize together, under
favorable opportunity, but all attempts to breed the above genera with
Gladiolus, thus far, appear to have failed. The most important garden
hybrids of Gladiolus, useful in breeding work, have been described in
preceding chapters. An attempt is here made to note the height of each
species, the season of bloom in the northern hemisphere, the native
locality where known, and the approximate date of introduction to
cultivation:
Gladiolus adlami, dull yellow with minute red spots, Transvaal, 1889.
" alatus, 3/4 ft., scarlet, yellow, June, 1795.
" alatus algoensis, 3/4 ft., orange, July, 1824.
" albidus, 1 ft., white, June, 1774.
" angustus, 2 ft., yellow, June, 1756.
" atroviolaceus, dark blue, purple, white, Palestine, 1889.
" blandus, 1-1/2 ft., flesh, June, 1774.
" brachyandrus, 2 ft., scarlet, whitish, Zambesi Land, July, 1879.
" brevifolius, 1-1/2 ft., pink, June, 1802.
" byzantinus, 2 ft., red, July, Turkey, 1629.
" campanulatus, 1-1/2 ft., light purple, May, 1794.
" carneus, 2 ft., flesh, June, 1796.
" caucasicus, Caucasus, 1842.
" cochleatus, 1-1/2 ft., white, red, March, 1829.
" Colvillei, 1-1/2 ft., bright red marked with pale purple. Hybrid.
" Colvillei, alba, white.
" communis, 2 ft., red, South Europe, 1596, July.
" communis albus, 2 ft., white, June, South Europe.
" concolor, 1 ft., yellow, June, 1790.
" Cooperi, 3 ft., red, yellow, September, Natal, 1862.
" crispiflorus, various, July, 1842.
" cruentus, blood red, white, September, Natal, 1868.
" cuspidatus, 1-1/2 ft., white, brown, May, 1795.
" debilis, 1-1/2 ft, white, May.
" decoratus, 3 ft., scarlet, yellow, East Africa, 1890.
" dracocephalus, 2-1/4 ft., greenish yellow with purple lines,
Natal, 1871.
" Eckloni, 1 to 1-1/2 ft., pinkish white, densely red spotted, Autumn,
South Africa, 1862.
" edulis, 1-1/2 ft., white, June, 1816.
" Elloni, white tipped with purple, 1890.
" festivus, pale rose, July, 1844.
" flexuosus, 1 ft., orange, June, 1825.
" floribundus, 1 ft., citron, July, 1788.
" Gandavensis, rich crimson, yellow, summer, hybrid.
" gracilis, 2 ft., blue, white, April, 1800.
" hastatus, 1 ft., flesh, May, 1846.
" hirsutus, 1-1/2 ft., pink, June, 1795.
" hyalinus, 1 ft., yellow, red, June, 1825.
" imbricatus, 1 ft., red, June, Russia, 1820.
" involutus, 1-1/2 ft., pink, June, 1757.
" Kirkii, 3 ft., rose, Grahamstown, 1890.
" Kotschyanus, light violet, Afghanistan and Persia.
" Leichtlini, scarlet, yellow, Transvaal, 1889.
" Mackinderii, 2 ft., red or yellow, 1905.
" Milleri, 1-1/2 ft., violet, May, 1751.
" Mortonius, 1-1/2 ft., white, 1837.
" namaquensis, 3/4 ft., orange, June, 1800.
" natalensis, 4 ft., scarlet, yellow, August, Natal River, 1830.
" ochroleucus, Transvaal.
" oppositiflorus, April, Madagascar, 1843.
" papilio, 2 ft., purple, yellow, South Africa, 1866.
" permeabilis, 3/4 ft., orange, June, 1825.
" primulinus, Primrose-yellow, East Africa, 1890.
" psittacinus, 3 ft., scarlet, yellow, S. E. Africa.
" pudibundus, 3 ft., rose, hybrid (G. blandus x G. Cardinalis).
" punctatus, greenish-yellow, brownish-purple, 1889.
" purpureo-auratus, yellow, purple, Natal, 1872.
" Quartinianus, 4 ft., yellow and red.
" recurvus, 2 ft., striped, May, 1758.
" Saundersii, scarlet, white, August, South Africa, 1871.
" segetum, 2 ft., purple, July, South Europe, 1596.
" sericeo-villosus, 3 ft., yellow, S. Africa, 1864.
" Salmoneus, 2 ft., bright salmon.
" tenellus, 3/4 ft., yellow, June, 1825.
" tenuis, 1 ft., red, June, Tauria, 1823.
" trichonemifolius, 1-1/2 ft., yellow, June, 1800.
" trimaculatus, 1 ft., red, white, June, 1794.
" tristis, 1 ft., brown, red, 1745.
" turicensis, Garden hybrid: G. Gandavensis x G. Saundersii.
" undulatus, 1 ft., pink, May, 1760.
" versicolor, 1-1/2 ft., brown, June, 1794.
" vinulus, creamy white, feathered with crimson, 1888.
" viperatus, 1/2 ft., green, white, May, 1787.
" watsonioides, 1-1/2 ft., scarlet, Mt. Kilimanjaro, 1887.
ADDENDA
Odd Notes From Many Sources.
Planting gladioli after potato or tomato crops is said to incur risk of
scabby stock.
Parcel post has proven very satisfactory for shipping blooms, packed in
this manner.
The pure yellow Primulinus Sunbeam when displayed with purple Baron
Hulot is very effective.
Peeled bulblets require a warmer soil than the unpeeled ones, and for
this reason, May 15 to 20 is about the proper time for sowing.
To grow giant flower spikes, plant in rows 21 to 30 inches apart and 7
to 9 inches apart in the rows; fertilize well.
Long distance crates for mailing cut blooms may be made of slats
3/4-inch apart, with end pieces 6 to 7 inches square, braced in the
middle.
All spikes should be cut when lowest or first flower begins to unroll;
spikes should be set in water for an hour or more before packing.
Constant cultivation creating a dust mulch is very necessary with these
as with other crops in case of drought. Many overlook this.
Mrs. B. H. Tracy says that Liebesfeur or War, Mrs. Frances King, Pink
Perfection and Independence make a wonderful color combination.
It is conceded that second or even third size bulbs of Mrs. Francis King
will throw a better flower spike than bulbs of a similar small size of
most other kinds.
When your flowers are coming on freely and weather turns warmer, don't
forget that cuttings must be made more frequently, and Sunday work
unavoidable.
Some Gladiolus bulbs can stand freezing, though frozen solid. If left in
tight boxes or barrels and allowed to thaw out very slowly without
handling or exposure to air they will not be seriously injured.
When the roots of the gladiolus have attained their full growth, the
surface of the soil should be stirred but lightly, because of the danger
of cutting the roots. Prior to that time, gladiolus bulbs will stand
deeper cultivation.
Write your state experiment station for analysis of commercial
fertilizer best adapted to the Gladiolus. If you contemplate shipping
cut blooms, consult your commission man as to the most satisfactory
method of packing.
Young bulbs from seven eights to one inch in diameter should, if given
space when plants of about two and a half inches apart and well
cultivated, produce a crop approximately half or more first grade bulbs
and the remainder seconds.
One grower never plants gladioli the second time in succession on the
same land. Dr. Van Fleet, the originator of Princeps, who distributed it
through Vaughan's Seed Store, says that the variety should never be
planted on recently manured land, but in a naturally deep, rich,
alluvial soil.
When bulbs are worth only two cents or less and cut blooms selling at
three cents net or over, stalks may be cut close to the ground, giving
foliage much desired by the retail florist. This advice, of course,
applies to other values whenever the flowers are selling well above the
cost of the bulbs.
Gladiolus make roots freely outside in quite cool weather, therefore,
may be planted as early in the spring as ground can be opened, sometimes
certain soils may be heavily mulched with straw in fall and thus kept
unfrozen for very early planting in March.
When cut blooms are selling for less than the value of the bulbs, great
care should be used in cutting to leave four good leaves uncut as these
are necessary to complete the growth and mature a healthy bulb. Two
leaves or even three are not enough to finish and develop a first class
bulb.
For all points south of the Ohio River and in the extreme south second
grade bulbs, that is of diameter 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 inches have bloomed well
out of doors. Mrs. Frances King bulbs of only 1 inch to 1-1/4 have
produced well; America and Chicago White for best results need larger
grading than King.
Watchfulness in winter storage is necessary. If bulbs are racked or
shelved too deep and become moist, they must be thinned and turned or
both; if they become too dry, as they will if your cellar or storehouse
lacks moisture, you may put more layers in the racks, or spread
newspaper over them or spray the floor of your storeroom as often as may
be necessary to maintain proper moisture which can be told by feeling of
the bulbs.
Those, and they are many, both Amateur and Commercial growers who
exhibit blooms at Flower shows should remember that if spikes are cut
when the lowest blooms begin to open and transported to the exhibition
halls early and there, standing in vases allowed to open their blooms,
will be much more perfect and free from that bruised condition shown by
blooms which have not been cut until the flowers on the spikes were
nearly open.
One reliable grower keeps his black hard-shelled bulblets in gunny sacks
containing about one bushel mixed with about 20 per cent of fine dry
earth. He has been quite successful in keeping the bulblets in this
manner, and when so kept the shells do not harden to such an extent as
to prevent sprouting of the kernel, as sometimes is the case when they
dry out too much. This same grower believes in soaking the black
hard-shelled bulblets for 36 hours in water just before planting, but no
longer.
Gladiolus bulbs stored in bins should be turned every few days,
especially after February, as this tends to prevent sprouting. They
should not be kept in too warm and dry a place. It is best to keep them
quite cool, the thermometer running as low as forty degrees Fahrenheit
at times, and in an atmosphere of the ordinary cellar, which usually has
some moisture. If they become troubled with green fly, sprinkle them
with tobacco dust once a week.
Gladiolus bulbs stored in racks have been kept in good condition by
close covering of double or triple thickness of newspapers, the bulbs
being levelled off and the newspapers laid closely over the racks and
kept close to the bulbs by loose strips of wood laid over them. Others
have kept gladiolus bulbs in very good shape in old paper flour sacks,
which contain half a bushel or three pecks of the bulbs (the bulbs
being, of course, thoroughly dried out when tied in the bags). The
natural moisture of the bulbs seems, by some kind of paper protection as
mentioned above, to be conserved, while full and continued exposure to
dry air seems to provoke scab as well as hardening of the outer skin of
the bulbs.
It requires a good sized bulb of America to throw a first class spike
and second size bulbs produce, when forced, a considerably smaller spike
than the first size bulbs. The America requires a longer growing
season than most other gladioli and continues its growth well up to
severe frosts. Growers who wish to harvest the largest possible number
of first size bulbs allow these to grow as late as possible, and then
leave the plants on their sides for 36 or 48 hours, during which time
the sap from the stalks seems to go into the bulbs, making them more
firm and putting them into better keeping condition for the winter. This
latter suggestion probably applies to all gladioli and not alone to
America, as it is practiced by a good many of the best growers.
Growers differ a good deal as to the depth of the planting and width of
rows. One very successful Ohio grower plants his bulblets and small
bulbs fully six inches deep and in rows only two feet apart, pressing
the dirt down very firmly over the bulbs. Such deep planting, he claims,
secures cooler soil for the working roots and insures a better crop in
case of dry weather. The same grower in planting hard shelled bulblets
sows one pint to about three feet of row, making them very thick in the
row, as he believes that the hard shelled bulblets, in germinating so
close together, cause the hard shells of most of them to rot. There is
convenience also in digging the crop which may be lifted in a mass. They
also grow up so closely together in the row that they seem to choke out
the weeds, thus saving hand labor.