, or any small area, while
special crossing done in the natural way requires a great deal of room.
The artificial method also has the advantage of being perfectly exact,
while in the other there is a possibility that pollen carried by bees
may be introduced, even at a considerable distance.

Whichever plan is adopted, the work is very fascinating, and if the
grower succeeds in attaining the realization of his ideals along the
lines he is pursuing, or even a near approach to those ideals, the
pleasure he experiences is ample recompense for all his efforts.

[Illustration: EUROPE]

[Illustration: ATTRACTION]

[Illustration: SPHINX]

CHAPTER XIV.

Enemies and Diseases.

The gladiolus has almost no enemies, and the same may be said of
diseases. The bulb has a very unpleasant taste, and is somewhat
poisonous. It is not eaten by mice or grubs. The black aster beetle is
fond of the flowers, and is quite a pest when very abundant. These
insects have a preference among colors, and attack the red flowers
first, especially a scarlet sort named Bertha. They will single out the
spikes of this variety in a field of mixed colors, and devour the very
buds as soon as the red comes in sight. They are especially troublesome
when the weather is hot and dry, as they can then fly readily. When it
is cool and damp, if jarred from the spikes they fall to the ground, and
are slow in regaining their places. The grower of flowers, either
amateur or commercial, finds in these insects an enemy hard to contend
with, but the grower of bulbs pays no attention to them, as they do him
no harm.

In regard to diseases, bulbs sometimes become scabby, but this seems
rather an accident than a disease. It is apparently due to conditions,
and is not perpetuated by heredity. Perfectly sound bulbs may produce
scabby ones, and vice versa. If healthy bulbs are planted in a place
that is too wet, or that is subject to frequent overflow, or if they
come in contact with barnyard manure in the ground, or if the foliage is
seriously injured in the growing season, the product is liable to be
scabby. Some years ago I had a field of gladioli, one end of which
proved to be a runway for dogs, and the plants that came in their way
were broken, or partly broken. As a consequence, many of the bulbs in
that part of the field were scabby, but these planted in a different
place, produced smooth ones the next season. If bulbs are taken up and
cured immediately a