278 



HORTICULTURE 



September 27, 1919 



BOSTON FLORAL SUPPLY 

 COMPANY 



Wholesale Florists 



DEALERS IN 



Cut Flowers and Evergreens 



We manufacture our Baskets, Wax 

 flowers, Wax designs, Wire frames, 

 etc., and preserve our Cycas Leaves 

 right in our own factory. 



Office, Salesrooms, Shipping Dept. 



15 Otis St. 96 Arch St. 

 BOSTON, MASS. 



Telephones, Main 2574, 3525 



For All Flower* in Season Call on 



THE LEO NIESSEN CO. 



1201 Race St Philadelphia, Pa. 



EDWARD REID 



WHOLESALE FLORIST 



1619 • 21 Rustead St., Philadelphia Pa. 



eHOSCE BEAUTIES, ORCHIDS, VALLEY, ROSES 

 Md all Seasonable Varieties of Cot Flows 



Wired Toothpicks 



W.J. COWEE, Berlin, N.Y. 



Kr nU kr * 



GEORGE B. HART 



WHOLESALE FLORIST 



24 Stone St., Rochester, N. Y. 



J. A. BUDLONG 



184 North Wabash Avenue, CHICAGO 



Wholesale Growers of Cut Flowers 



ROSES. CARNATIONS 



AND ALL OTHER SEASONABLE STOCK 



Shipping orders have most careful attention al way i 



IF You Want Anything from Boston Get It 

 From Henry M. Robinson & Co. 



For Safety Place Your Orders With U* 



HENRY IVI. ROBINSON & 



2 Wlnthrop Square and 32 Otis Street, BOSTON, MASS. 



ORIGIN OF PRIMULINUS HYBRIDS. 



Gladiolus lovers in this country (and 

 they are legion) will be interested in 

 the following account of the origin of 

 the Primulinus Hybrids which ap- 

 peared in the Gardeners' Chronicle of 

 England: 



It may be desirable to place on 

 record, before they are forgotten, the 

 facts connected with the origin of the 

 primulinus group of Gladioli, as it 

 comprises some of the most beautiful 

 and decorative flowers at present 

 grown. 



During the construction of the im- 

 portant railway bridge across the 

 gorge of the Zambesi, in Rhodesia — of 

 which Sir Charles Metcalfe, Bart., and 

 Sir Douglas Fox and Partners were 

 the engineers — the resident engineer, 

 Mr. S. F. Townsend, found certain 

 flowers, which were growing under the 

 spray of the Victoria Falls, and which 

 seemed to thrive notwithstanding the 

 deluge of water which very soon 

 soaked the discoverer to the skin dur- 

 ing his efforts to obtain them. 



Being a gardener, Mr. Townsend 

 kindly sent, in 1902, four corms, by 

 post, to me, but not knowing what they 

 were, he was unable to give any clue 

 as to the treatment they required. As, 

 however, they came from Central 

 Africa, and were therefore accustomed 

 to heat, and to almost continual mois- 

 ture from the Victoria Falls, my head 

 gardener, Mr. John Richards, and I de- 

 cided that we would afford them a 

 hiah temperature and wet treatment. 



On December 1, 1903, we were re- 

 warded by the appearance of three or 

 four spikes of bloom of a delicate and 

 beautiful form, with leaves very simi- 

 lar to those of Montbretia, the plants 

 standing about two feet in height. 

 The flowers were of a rich, butter yel- 



low, self colored, with five petals, the 

 centre petal of which was bent down 

 or depressed, forming a hood over the 

 pistil and stamens and thus protecting 

 the pollen from falling spray. It was 

 evidently due to this peculiarity, and 

 provision of such a remarkable char- 

 acter, that the plant thrived and in- 

 creased under apparently most un- 

 promising conditions. 



Some of the corms were then sent. 

 not only to Kew, but to the Physic 

 Garden at Chelsea, to the Botanical 

 Gardens at Cambridge and Edinburgh, 

 as well as to growers of Gladioli, such 

 as Messrs. J. Kelway and Son, and R. 

 Wallace and Co., in England; to Groff. 

 of Simcoe, Canada: and also to Hol- 

 land, Belgium, and the United States, 

 as it was felt that it would be in the 

 interests of horticulture and al! flower- 

 loving people that the widest publicity 

 should be given this plant. 



Attempts were made at once to hy- 

 bridise the plant, crossing it with 

 Gladiolus gandavensis and others, and 

 in about three years some of the most 

 beautiful plants resulted, the flowers 

 ranging from pure white to butter yel- 

 low, with rich carmine, reds, browns, 

 and cream tints, and others with yel- 

 low segments streaked with red. The 

 interesting fact that the hooded petal 

 is retained, and that the lovely yellow 

 of the African plant is the predomi- 

 nant color, add greatly to the beauty 

 of the flowers. 



The vigor and physique of the Eng- 

 lish varieties were imparted to the fol- 

 lowing generations, with the result 

 that certain plants have grown to a 

 height of 8 feet. 



For decorative purposes, I know of 

 nothing to surpass these new additions 

 to our flower garden; a few spikes in 

 a suitable vase, placed in the centre of 

 a table, with electric light falling on 



