Julv 20, 1918 



HORTICULTURE 



53 



Letters From an Old to a Young Gardener 



On Hybridizing and Crossing the French Iris 



Preparing a Garden 



We were speaking of raising new flowers and you 

 said there would be more hybridizers among gardeners 

 if simple well illustrated descriptions of how to treat 

 the common garden flowers Mere easily accessible. In 

 this letter an attempt will be made to remove this diffi- 

 culty, for one of the most common, the iris. In this, 

 as in previous letters, no attempt at originality is made, 

 nor will authorities be cited. In the dealers' catalogues 

 the ordinary form of iris is called German iris, to dis- 

 tinguish it from the .Japanese, the Spanish, the English 

 and others. The designation German is a mistake, and 

 should be abandoned. As this flower is the "bearing" 

 of the royal house of France, the name French should 

 be used instead of German. 



For ordinary use the terms Fleur de lis or Lilies of 

 France are desirable. I prefer the latter, for it sug- 

 gests the loveliness of Ulies and the grace of the French, 

 qualities combined in a high degree in the flower. 

 GrivLng the plant its right colloquial name is now_of 

 importance for we are brothers with the French in the 

 struggle against that savage ethical code of the Hun 

 Overlords. The iris is truly Everyman's Orchid. It equals 

 the peony, tlie lily, and the I'ose, yes, even surpasses 

 them in etherial loveliness. These require rich soil, great 

 care and skill. The iris will grow in gravel and flour- 

 ish under the unskilled and intermittent care of chil- 

 dren. Some varieties have a perfume of surpassing 

 delicacy. AYliat more can l)e asked of any flower? 

 When a plant has such charming qualities we cannot 

 have it in too many varieties. Already there are on 

 the market several hmidred, and a few almost perfect 

 ones ; yet there is always a chance to breed others sur- 

 passing the finest : the familv is composed of so many 

 unit characters new combinations may be very great. 



Preparation of the Hybridizing Garden 



The directions in this letter are applicable to the' 

 glacial drift soil "of New England. In more favored 

 regions this amount of preparation might not be neces- 

 sary. For a one man garden, where iris is not a 

 specialty, five or six thousand square feet are enough. 

 Make the garden long and narrow rather than short 

 and wide. One hundred by fifty feet is a good size. 

 A portion of a garden having these dimensions, may be 

 seen in Figure 8. This size will give pleasant occupa- 

 tion and at crossing time, lasting here three weeks, you 

 can find interesting work three hours a day. 

 Plowing and Cultivating 



Plow as soon in spring as the soil is in condition. 

 What is more beautiful after the long winter of the 

 north than the wann earth as it rolls, shining and 

 smooth from the polished steel, suggesting the coming 

 of new life, green fields and lilossoms? Get out muck 

 from some depression in a deciduous forest, into which 

 the leaves have washed for ages, waiting for 3'our com- 

 ing, that they may be tiirned into lovely flowers. Spread 

 six inches deep over the plowed area. On top put one 

 ton of ground limestone. Horse cultivate once a week- 

 to keep down weeds. Early in this letter it was written 

 iris would grow in poor soil, but for a garden where 



we want to try for mutants or where crossing is to be 

 done, much care should be given to the soil. Make it 

 rich, light, and just moist enough. As some seasons are 

 very dry and hot, arrange to have water run between 

 the rows. Heat and dryness may shorten the l)lossom 

 season one-half, yet we are told the garden iris hkes to 

 be baked. It really likes ideal weather, and soil just 

 moist enough that when taken in the hand and pressed 

 together, clings lightly. This does not refer to the 

 Japanese, which should be flowered in water but drained 

 after blossoming, or to the water irises. 



Preparation the Next Spring 



In ilay, of the year after the first plowing, replow, 

 harrow and spread on a thousand pounds of the follow- 

 ing plant food. Slag phosphate — 750 poimds, the best 

 sulphate of potash you can buy — 225 pounds, perman- 

 ganate of potash — 25 pounds. Harrow until dirt, muck 

 and chemicals are well mixed. Cultivate, to keep down 

 weeds until planting time. The first week in August 

 plow trenches lengthwise of the garden, running the 

 plow both ways for each. Make them four feet apart. 

 Rows with so much imused land seem wasteful of space 

 and fertilizer. If the rows are nearer, the whiffletree 

 of the cultivator in swinging from side to side will* 

 surely break ofl: some of the flower stalks and later val- 

 uable seed pods. Its name — whiffle (meaning to sway 

 from side to side), shows this. The ends of this bar, 

 generally of wood, should be sloped backward, rounded 

 and polished, that in striking a stalk it may slip past, 

 displacing, not breaking it. 



Planting 



Before planting, cut the leaves to within six inches 

 of the rhizomes. Set the plants irom one foot to eigh- 

 teen inches according to the kind of growth they ivill 

 make. Press the soil about the roots, with the feet, 

 leaving the rhizomes two inches below the surface. Many 

 years ago, someone seeing a matted and old bed of iris, 

 with the rhizomes half out of the ground, thought this 

 was the way iris liked to grow. This idea getting into 

 garden literature, and dealers' catalogues, stuck there. 

 Really the appearance was a sign of a neglected bed. 

 Always transplant before this state is reached. Rows 

 should be kept narrow to ensure quick weeding. Matted 

 row^s are a nuisance and an expense. In bending over 

 the outside stalks in weeding or crossing to reach the 

 plants inside, some of the outside flowers and later, 

 some of the valuable seed pods will surely be broken off. 



A garden for crossing is a distinct proposition from 

 an artist's garden, where flowers are grown in great 

 masses of one color, different colors being grouped to 

 produce a harmonious efl'eet. Such gardens are indeed 

 art as much as painted pictures. Some of the great 

 gardeners produce wonderful effects in this style. Such 

 gardens require much labor and are expensive. 



(To T)e continued) 





