126 Cornell Extension Bulletin 9 



from seeds of G. concolor fertilized by the pollen qf G. cardinalis. G. con- 

 color is now regarded by botanists as a variety of G. tristis. The flowers 

 were bright scarlet, with lanceolate blotches of white on the three lower 

 segments. The flowers were fragrant, which points to G. tristis as one of 

 the parents. This hybrid is stiU in the market and is, at least in America, 

 the most important variety for growing under glass. 



Although the production of G. Colvillei was the first important achieve- 

 ment in the improvement of gladioli, it was not the result of the first 

 efforts in this field. The earliest attempts to hybridize gladioli appear 

 to have been made by the Honorable William Herbert, Dean of Manchester, 

 early in the last centur}^ In 18 18 he wrote the Horticultural Society of 

 London as follows (Herbert, 1820:196): 



Having raised two beautiful and hardy species of Gladiolus, by impregnating Cardinalis 



with Blandus and Blandus with Cardinalis, I propose to call one 



Gladiolus Blando-Cardinalis, and the other Gladiolus Cardinali-Blandus. These two 

 new species of Gladiolus which have flowered make seed freel3^ I have also mules 

 from Gladiolus tristis impregnated by the large flowering blue Gladiolus recurvus. 



Later, in 18 19, in nis classic paper On the Production of Hybrid Vegetables 



(Herbert, 1822a: 44-45) , he wrote : 



Of Gladioli I possess the following mules: G. blando-cardinalis, G. cardinali-blandus, 

 G. angusto-blandus, G. tristi-blandus, G. fioribundo-blandus; G. cardinali-angusto- 

 blandus; G. tristi-hirsutus; G. ringenti-tristis, and G. versicolore-hirsutus. I have this 

 year seeds from further intermixtures, and mules may probably be obtained with endless 

 variety of colour. These mules flower most beautifully in the open border, in a mixture 

 of sand and peat, in patches amongst the Azaleas. It is perhaps best to take up the 

 bulbs, and dr}^ them, when the seed is ripe; but I have left African Gladioli unmoved 

 for several years, in the border. I have never seen the least approximation to each 

 other in the natural seedlings of G. blandus, G. tristis, G. cardinalis, G. hirsutus, and 

 G. recurv'us. 



Dean Herbert was an enthusiastic cultivator of gladioli, as well as an 



authority on the Cape bulbs. The following prophecy, written in 1S20 



(Herbert, 1822b), will be of interest to all lovers of gladioli: 



I am persuaded that the African Gladioli will become great favorites with florists, 

 when their beautv in the open border, the facility of their culture, and the endless 

 variety which may be produced from seed tn- blending the several species, are fully 

 known, nor will they be found to yield in beauty to the Tulip and Ranunculus. 



In 1837 he wrote as follows: 



The hybrid Gladioli, of which a large portion are sufficiently hardy, flower about the 



same time as the roses These hardy crosses are between G. Cardinalis, blandus, 



carneus, inflatus, angustus, and tristis, and they vary with every shade of colour from 

 white to scarlet, rose, coppery, and blackish purple, and some are exquisitely speckled 



in consequence of the cross with tristis The beautiful crosses with hirsutus, 



recurvus, and versicolor are more delicate plants, and do not succeed well in the border. 



Ten years later, in the Journal of the Horticultural Society of London, 



he wrote (Herbert, 1847): 



Forty years ago I first crossed the large and brilliant scarlet and white Gladiolus 

 cardinalis with the smaller, but more freely flowering, G. blandus, which sports with 



