104 PLANNING AND PLANTING 



DAHLIAS AND GLADIOLI 



IT is a far cry from the original Dahlia as 

 discovered in Mexico in the year 1784 by Dr. 

 Dahl, to the immense and gorgeously beautiful 

 types that we have today. Likewise, corning orig- 

 inally from Africa as a wild flower, one would 

 hardly recognize the Gladiolus in its present day 

 grandeur as belonging to the same family as its 

 forebears. 



These wonderful changes have come about 

 through the processes of patient hybridizing, se- 

 lecting and reselecting that has been in progress 

 for many years, and from the first small begin- 

 nings have been evolved the marvelous modern 

 creations that delight flower lovers. 



In the improvement of these two species there 

 are a number of names that stand out prominently, 

 none of which however need be mentioned here. 

 Those who wish flowers of rare and gorgeous 

 beauty need today look no further than the Dahlia 

 and the Gladiolus. 



And, by the way, so many lovers of the Gladio- 

 lus are ignorant of how to rightly use the word 

 for this flower, that it might be well to set them 

 right on its proper use and pronunciation here. 

 Even those in the business of growing and selling 



