August 16, 1913 



HORTICULTUEE 



223 



SOME GLADIOLUS QUESTIONS. 



The following letter is self-explana- 

 tory. We hope our readers will do 

 what they can to help along this good 

 work which Cornell University and the 

 American Gladiolus Society are trying 

 4^0 do. 



Editor, HORTICULTURE. Boston. Mass. 



Dear Sir: In connection with the trial 

 ground worli of the American Gladiolus 

 Society here at Ithaca, N. Y., ne have re- 

 cently sent out to all the commercial 

 growers of gladioli, a number of questions. 

 These questions we have thought would 

 cover somewhat a census of gladiolus 

 growing, and we would like to have them 

 put into as many hands as possible. We 

 are sendiug you the questions, and wonder 

 if you could publish them in your paper, 

 for your paper would reach a large num- 

 ber of growers of gladiolus not members 

 of the American Gladiolus Society. It 

 seems important to all growers of gladi- 

 olus that such questions as "What varie- 

 ties do you consider synonyms?" and 

 *'What varieties are difiFereut under the 

 same name?" and so forth, should be 

 answered. Should you print them, we 

 wonder if you could head the questions 

 with an appeal for anyone who has any 

 thoughts along this line to correspond 

 with us and discuss those questions he 

 feels able to answer. We hope that you 

 can cooperate with us in making this in- 

 formation as complete as possible. Thank- 

 ing you in advance for the great help you 

 can give us In this matter, I remain 

 Yours very respectfully, 



ALFRED C. HOTTES, 

 In charge of Trial Grounds of the Ameri- 

 can Gladiolus Society. 



What constitutes a bloom good for 

 commercial use? 



What constitutes a bloom good for 

 landscape use? 



What varieties do you consider syn- 

 onyms? 



What varieties do you think are dif- 

 ferent under the same name? 



How deep do you plant gladiolus? 

 What is your soil? What soil do you 

 consider best? 



What method of staking, if any, do 

 you think practical? 



Should varieties sent in to be tested 

 be called "of poor commercial value" 

 if they are other than light colors? 



Do you find a commercial florist's 

 demand for other than light shades? 



Name a standard early, late, and 

 mid-season variety. 



Do you consider branches an ad- 

 vantage or a disadvantage? 



What fertilizers do you apply and 

 when? 



What insects have you noted that 

 did serious injury to the leaves or 

 flowers of gladioli? 



Have you ever treated bulbs with 

 anything that seemed of any value 

 against diseases, or do you use any 

 precaution towards prevention? 



How do you keep cormels (offsets) 

 over winter? 



How do you plant gladiolus seed? 



What varieties do you consider ra- 

 pid multipliers? 



Do you consider curved spikes go«d 

 or bad? 



How large an acreage do you de- 

 vote to gladiolus? 



How many bulbs handled per year? 



What do you consider to be the cost 

 per acre? 



What is the yield per acre of bulbs? 



What is the yield per acre of flow- 

 ers? 



What is the value per acre for 

 bulbs? 



What is the value per acre for flow- 

 ers? 



In hybridizing gladioli, do you think 



SEEN AT BAR HARBOR. 



On Monday and Tuesday, August 4 

 and 5, the garden committee of the 

 Massachusetts Horticultural Society 

 with several other invited guests vis- 

 ited the Mount Desert Nurseries of 

 George B. Dorr at Bar Harbor, Me. 

 This establishment, started some 

 eighteen years ago, has now grown 

 into a business of considerable mag- 

 nitude, and on account of its peculiar 

 advantages of location and environ- 

 ment is likely to continue to develop 

 on very substantial lines. Hardy per- 

 ennials, shrubs and conifers are the 

 leading specialties. Of these there 

 are fifty or more acres under cultiva- 

 tion, and with the combination of cool 

 mountain air and damp sea breezes 

 the sturdiness of growth and bril- 

 liancy of coloring are simply wonder- 

 ful. Even the lawns display that vivid- 

 ness of green Which those who know 

 assert cannot be found anywhere this 

 side of England and Ireland. 



The Massachusetts Horticultural So- 

 ciety people had remarked with much 

 interest the splendid eremuruses, as- 

 tilbes and other garden specialties 

 staged by Mr. Thatcher, the manager, 

 at the Boston and other exhibitions, 

 and were prepared for something out 

 of the common, and were not disap- 

 pointed. Perhaps the biggest surprise 

 came in the sweet peas. The size and 

 brilliancy of the flowers, the enormous 

 growth and floriferousness of the 

 plants place the Mt. Desert sweet peas 

 in a class by themselves. Pentstemons, 

 again, were of a size and lusciousness 

 entirely out of reach in any ordinary 

 climate. Here is probably the largest 

 collection of aconites in any nursery 

 in this country. When we state that 



there is a promising field using wild 

 species other than those now used? 



Would doubling be a great improve- 

 ment? 



Where is the greatest need for im- 

 provement? 



At what time of day do you emascu- 

 late the flowers? 



Do you bag the flowers? What kind 

 of a bag do you use? 



When do you pollinate? 



With what instrument do you polli- 

 nate — brush or small piece of wood? 



What type of flowers (what varie- 

 ties) are you especially using as a 

 parent now? 



How many seed capsules do you al- 

 low per stem? 



Do you know of any literature upon 

 the breeding of gladiolus? 



Have you any general remarks to 

 make upon the breeding of the gladio- 

 lus? 



Name 



Address 



the flower spikes stand from five to 

 eight feet high on many of the plants, 

 some idea of their growth is con- 

 veyed. 



We will not go further into nursery 

 details. We were particularly inter- 

 ested to see the Banksian pine grow- 

 ing wild here. Bar Harbor being the 

 extreme southern limit of its home. 

 Mr. Dorr is greatly interested in the 

 preservation of the natural beauties 

 of Mt. Desert. Through his initiative 

 and persistent effort much has been 

 accomplished to conserve the forest 

 scenery and the picturesque moun- 

 tains and crags have been set aside as 

 public reservations for all time. Much 

 damage has been done to the conifer- 

 ous forests this vear bv the fir saw- 

 fly. 



The visitors were lavishly enter- 

 tained by their host, ably assisted by 

 Manager Thatcher. Buckboard rides 

 over the forest roads and visits to sev- 

 eral of the finest private estates on 

 this famous island were much en- 

 joyed. The Kennedy estate, presided 

 over by Mr. Burton, we have had oc- 

 casion to mention heretofore. It is 

 easily the finest estate on the Maine 

 coast. The Italian garden is one of 

 the few worthy of the name or of ad- 

 miration. A Gloire de Dijon rose clam- 

 bering over the enclosing wall was 

 surveyed with incredulous wonder and 

 the glory of the purple clematises was 

 beyond description. In the green- 

 houses the grapes and melons, the 

 gloxinias and begonias and gloriosas 

 took all eyes. 



At the Vanderbilt estate where Ed- 

 ward Kirk presides, the visitors were 

 privileged to see where those wonder- 

 ful flowers came from which almost 

 completely swept the decks at the re- 

 cent sweet pea show in Boston. Melon 

 houses and tomato houses were in full 

 bearing. Carter's Sunrise tomato mak- 

 ing a most remarkable showing and 

 being regarded by Mr. Kirk as the 

 most prolific tomato in existence. 



PUBLICATION RECEIVED. 



The first number of The Florists' 

 Trade Journal, (monthly) published 

 in New York under the management of 

 J. H. Pepper, has been received and is 

 a very attractive magazine. The cover 

 illustration is a fine colored plate of 

 the rose Mrs. George Shawyer. We 

 extend cordial good wishes to the new- 

 comer. 



NEWS NOTES. 



M. J. Pope, at Naugatuck, Conn., has 

 a very fine white sport from Dorothy 

 Perkins rose. 



An exceedingly pretty little hardy 

 rose is the "Baby Tausendschoen." a 

 very dwarf growing variety with flow- 

 ers much like its large growing name- 

 sake and blooming continuously until 

 November. We saw a fine lot of it in 

 the Julius Roehrs Nurseries at Ruth- 

 erford, N. J. 



