January 15, 1910 



HORTICULTURE 



71 



The Gladiolus 



A Few Observations from My 1909 Note Book. 



Judging i'roni the great number of new varieties being 

 introduced by gladiolus growers all over the world, it 

 would seem that this popular bulb was receiving its full 

 share of the attention of the plant breeders. I have 

 grown and tested the past season something like 400 

 varieties and I will describe briefly the best of these. 



"Eeine Blanche" (Barre), a new pure white, from 

 Europe is sure to be a valuable sort for florists' use and 

 the cut flower grower as it does not pink like Augusta 

 and the only show of color is so deep in the throat that 

 it does not show. It is a gandavensis of average size 

 flower and very vigorous. 



I received from Vaughan's Seed Store the two new 

 Princess seedlings of Dr. Van Fleet. The best one was 

 Mastodon, a "chip of the old block," but a decided im- 

 provement, the spike growing well above the foliage 

 thereby furnishing a good long stem. Margaret by M. 

 Crawford is also a very fine red. 



C. L. Goodrich, Luther, la., sent me some of his new 

 seedlings to test. They were all magnificent especially 

 the following. Clarinda (No. 119), rose ground 

 titriped crimson, throat white mottled violet, very large 

 flowers; Montezuma (No. 162), scarlet and crimson 

 with large pale yellow throat; Mt. Shasta, pure white 

 ground slightly penciled and tinted pink; very large 

 flowers well arranged on the spike; No. 183, a large 

 flower, very pleasing blend of light lilac and lavender, 

 marked with crimson on tip of petals; No. 1270, a 

 very large and most beautiful flower, pink ground 

 flamed and marked crimson, throat mottled with white; 

 Agricola, white, striped and shaded with light crimson 

 on the edges, dark crimson band on three lower petals. 



Among the varieties from A. E. Kunderd, Fort 

 Wayne, Ind., the following were splendid : Improved 

 1910, a variety resembling the old variety but with finer 

 spike of larger size flowers. Improved May, — this is 

 also a great improvement on the old sort. New Garden 

 Pink, — this is one of the best sorts that I have seen of 

 the gandavensis type; flowers of good size eight or ten 

 opening at the same time and a beautiful blending of 

 pink and white. Mrs. Frank Pendleton, Jr., — this va- 

 riety which was sold through my agency to W. W. Raw- 

 son & Co., is the finest gladiolus I ever feasted my eyes 

 upon. It is a type of its own being a cross of Lemoinei 

 and Gandavensis, the result producing a flower of im- 

 mense size of a most delicate salmon-pink with a deep 

 blood red blotch in the throat at the base of the three 

 lower petals. Mr. Kunderd is also producing some 

 wonderful sorts in his new ruffled strain. 



At W. W. Rawson & Co.'s last summer I saw in bloom 

 the most beautiful varieties of recent European intro- 

 ductions. The yellow and white varieties were far 

 superior to anything yet offered by American growers. 

 The following deserve special mention — of the white 

 sorts Hoenstaufen, pure white, suffused soft pink, throat 

 scarlet edged yellow; Deutsche Kaiserin, pure white, 

 with the exception of delicate lavender on the tip of the 

 petals; Elizabeth Kurtz, very large flowers of pure 

 white. In yellow there were Yellow Prince, a very large 

 clear yellow; Mrs. Carpenter, also a very fine almost 

 solid color, and Hellios, very large pure yellow deeply 

 ruffled and fluted. Then there was Wm. Steinhausen, a 

 giant flower of a salmon red color, quite distinct and 

 novel, and Neues Jahrhundert, the most brilliant com- 

 bination of red and white I have ever seen, the flowers 

 at the apex of the spike growing like a hyacinth. 

 Hybridists have for years been working to produce a 

 hyacinth-flowered gladiolus, that is to get the flowers to 

 :form all around the spike. 



Luther Burbank wrote me that he produced such a 

 type a few years ago, but sold the entire stock to a Phil- 

 adelphia seedsman who shortly after went out of busi- 

 ness and that he had never been able to get track of 

 them since. However, A. Gravereau, a French special- 

 ist, has been working on this type for several years and 

 has already listed one variety, '"Triomphe de Paris," to 

 be followed soon by others. V. Lemoine & Son, Nancy, 

 France, have also introduced two varieties of this type, 

 Courounement and Triomphe de Nancy, the last named 

 being a very dainty sort of a tender salmon shade. 



Of the Lemoinei varieties that I tested this past sea- 

 son these were the most beautiful. Henry Lemoine, a 

 rich yellow with a crimson blotch with crimped petalsy 

 Lady Howard de Walden, clear yellow with a brown 

 blotch edged sulphur yellow, and Tricorne, a pale sal- 

 mony rose with irregular dark red blotches, a very odd 

 variety. In Nanceianus, Abbe Roucourt, a dark crim- 

 son; Director Von Angyal, another crimson, and Desde- 

 mone, an enormous flower of ashy-rose color, striped vio- 

 let with a large dark red blotch edged with sulphur yel- 

 low — a splendid variety — were all superb. 



Gladiolus Childsi is deservedly popular with a great 

 many growers and private gardeners and a few varieties 

 that I will mention are magnificent, viz.. Attraction, a 

 bright red with a pure white throat ; I. S. Hendrickson, 

 irregularly marked pink and white; Jay, compact spike 

 of large well open flowers, dark pink with mottled 

 throat ; Melrose, a white flaked pink with bright crim- 

 son center, very large flower, and Wild Rose, a bright 

 rose tint of a very tender shade. Another very fine sort 

 of Mr. Childs' list is Contrast, a grandavensis of intense 

 scarlet with a large pure white center. 



The following varieties from Vilmorin Andrieux & 

 Co., Paris, were among the best that I tested of the 

 gandavensis class. Triomphe de Caen, large white flow- 

 ers slightly striped with pink and somewhat fringed; 

 Sans Pareil, the finest orange-rose I ever saw, with a 

 large white throat; Nuee d' Orage, almost solid slate 

 color, very distinct color; Florence, very large flower of 

 bright lilac with a large white blotch on the two lower 

 petals. 



Among some varieties sent me for trial by Mr. G. D. 

 Black, Independence, Iowa, was a variety of his own 

 raising that was very fine. It is a clear yellow with a 

 dark red blotch ; a fine spike and very vigorous, good size 

 flower and altogether the best American yellow I have 

 yet seen. 



P. 0. Coblentz, New Madison, Ohio, sent me the fol- 

 lowing under number all of which were splendid, 40, 

 207, 304 and 312. 



There is much work ahead for the breeders in the 

 blue section. I have grown a good many varieties, but 

 have yet to see what I call a first class variety in this 

 section. They are of a weak constitution and in most 

 instances very shy seeders. 



I find that there is much disease in various sections 

 of this country as well as Europe in the commer- 

 cial strains, and some of the species from the Cape (S. 

 A.) are likewise badly affected. The U. S. Bureau of 

 Plant Industry at Ithaca, N. Y., is carrying on an in- 

 vestigation of the diseases of this bulb, and will issue a 

 bulletin on the subject later giving the result of their 

 experiments. 



