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,