February 24, 1917 



HORTICULTURE 



235 



Marvelous Improvement in the Iris 



We cannot >~])a.vv mu- nM laNorites — the very eiirly and 

 ragi'ant Floventina Alha. the Am. Black Prince — earli- 

 est of the German I'aniily. the stately and I'ragrant 

 Fain', the cineenly Madanir Chereau. sn<i\\y white, 

 I'rilled with blue, and ihc ~|ilcnili(l and ini|iiising 

 Pallida Dalmatica. 



But there are many id' icient iirigin that must take 

 the front ranks. There is Oiilianime. with immense 

 petals .sprinkled with sihcr that urteii s[:arkles in the 

 sunlight; the grand ^lonsijinnr. the striking Loreley 

 with its intricate and sur|.irising veining: the alluring 

 and dainty Catherina with its e.X(|nisite ai'oma : the.^e 

 are certainly welcomed with their smiles and ciieer. 



Then I believe Xatiire dearly loves a joke and de- 

 lights to provoke a smile and so she has recently gi\en 

 ns Parvar, a cute little pickaninny that cunningly hioks 

 at us with a roguish smile. Then comes the foliage iris. 

 This is one of Wilson's introductions. It has a hhie 

 flower much like the Si!)erian. But the most striking 

 feature is its wealth of foliage. The leaves are long, 

 narrow and pendulous, giving a mass of the most vivid 

 green, which retains its freshness through the heat and 

 drought of summer down to the hard frosts of autumn. 

 A walk bordered with such a wealth of green would be 

 vei7 charming. I noticed the bees were busily at work 

 on the flowers. I saved a (piantity of their pollenized 

 seed and hope for something new and fine. Tlie seed 



IHjds are different from all others, iJeing shaped like a 

 small weavers" shuttle. 



The iris is the most easily ini|n'oved from seed of any 

 flower. I have been surprised at my own efforts along 

 this line and have originated some of superior merit. 

 W. E. Fryer of Mantonville, ilinn., has originated more, 

 I in-esume, than anyone else, lie had some splendid 

 ones on exhibition at the iliunesota Horticultural sum- 

 mer meeting. He had 300 varieties in his collection be- 

 fore he conunenced propagating. He takes delight in 

 shoM-ing these to visitors ami then he takes them to his 

 own productions which are conceded to be of superior 

 merit. Jacquesiana of the Squalens gi-oup is one of 

 striking iH'auty and stands well at the front of the old 

 \arietics. But he has certainly improved on the parent 

 in size and beauty. He finds that his new creations are 

 seeding much more freely than the old sorts and this 

 o])ens a wide door for improvement. 



It seems a law of Nature that the further a plant is 

 removed from its original [la rentage the more it is in- 

 clined to break out into a wild abandon of loveliness — 

 like the dahlia with its wide divergence, so far removed 

 from the original type that its own mother would not 



know it. 



Yiir},-. Nehr. 



(^SII^Vllv^M^ 



THE CLASSIFICATION OF EXHIBIT- 

 ORS AT FLOWER SHOWS. 

 We present herewith Prof. Hall's 

 proposed classiflcation of exhibitors at 

 flower shows. The classification was 

 drawn up particularly for the Ameri- 

 can Dahlia Society, and was formally 

 discussed by some members of the Ex- 

 ecutive Committee, meeting in New 

 York on Feb. 12, but these recommsn- 

 dations. or definitions, Nos. 1-6, by 

 Prof. Hall were not adopted yet by the 

 Dahlia Society, and are now published 

 with a view to having discussion on 

 this subject, as it is one that consern-i 

 all ower show societies, and if an 

 agreement can be reached and widelv 

 accepted, much good will have been ac- 

 complished. 



1. NdMCE Aji.\'iErKS. — This section 

 shall include those growers who raise 

 the flower or plant for personal pleas- 

 ure or satisfaction only, who do not 

 profit financially in any way through 

 its cultivation, who employ no skilled 

 labor in its growth or handling, and 

 who have been growing the species 

 not more than fifty years or who have 

 grown less than 100 plants (or 40 va- 

 rieties) of it during the season of the 

 exhibit (or show) at which the dis- 

 play is made. 



2. Am.vteirs. — This section shall 

 include growers as described in Sec- 

 tion 1, but without limitation as to 

 length of time or extent of cultivation 

 of flower or plant. 



u. AiJv.v.NcEii GiioWEiis. — This sec- 

 tion shall include those growers who 

 raise the flowers or plants mainly for 

 personal pleasure or satisfaction or 

 through scientific interest in its de- 

 velopment, who employ no skilled la- 

 bor in its care or handling, who do not 

 advertise as growers by signs, cards 

 or announcements at the field or gar- 

 den, by statements or letter-heads or 

 by price-lists or catalogues, and whose 

 expenditure for new varieties, for the 

 development of seedlings, or for other 

 testing or experimental work to pro- 

 mote the interests of the flower ex- 

 ceeds all receipts from sales of flowers, 

 stock, or seedlings developed. Expen- 

 ditures for added stock of varieties al- 

 ready grown are not to be considered 

 in the preceding computation. 



4. PiKiFEssioxAi, Gardeners -vxd 

 Tniju; Employers. — This section shall 

 include owners of estates and other 

 growers who raise the flower or plant 

 for personal pleasure or satisfaction 

 only, who do not profit financially in 

 any way through its cultivation, but 

 who employ paid skilled assistance in 

 the selection of varieties, in the ar- 

 rangements and managements of the 

 plants, or in the handling of the 

 flowers. The section shall also in- 

 clude the professional gardeners em- 

 ployed by such growers when exhibit- 

 ing flowers grown by their employers. 

 Exhibits from such gardeners growing 

 flowers for themselves shall be classed 

 in such other sections as conditions 

 determine. 



5. Sk:\ii-Pri)Fkssioxal Growers. — 

 This section shall include those grow- 



ers who raise the flower or plant main- 

 ly for personal pleasure or satisfac- 

 tion, who may or may not employ 

 skilled labor in connection with its 

 culture, who do not regularly advertise 

 as growers by any of the means indi- 

 cated in Section 2, but whose returns 

 from the sale of the flowers, stock and 

 seedlings exceed the limit specified in 

 Section 2. 



6. Prokessioxal or Commercial 

 Growers. — This section shall include 

 all growers who raise the flower or 

 plant for the financial return from its 

 cultivation, whether from sale of 

 flowers, stock or seedlings, at whole- 

 sale or retail, and who advertise as 

 growers by signs, cards or announce- 

 ments at garden or field, by statements 

 or letterheads or by price-lists or cata- 

 logues. 



W. J. VESEY, Jr. 



Somewhat tardy, we acknowledge, 

 but still worthy of the place of honor 

 we accord to it, is the portrait of the 

 new president of the American Carna- 

 tion Society. We thought it best to 

 wait until we could have a real up-to- 

 date portrait of Mr. Vesey and we 

 think our carnation friends, west and 

 east, will agree that we acted wisely. 

 W. J. Vesey, Jr. is a young man who 

 has made many friends in his career 

 as a florist, as his selection for the 

 responsible position of president by 

 the Carnation Society attests. We an- 

 ticipate a year of progress under his 

 direction of the affairs of the organiza- 

 tion. 



