58 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



creased number of proofs as to the cor- 

 rectness of the system of breeding 

 advocated by me. I repeatedly collected 

 in the field new varieties of special merit, 

 supposing them to be the same, until 

 compared in detail, when the trans- 

 mitted parental characteristics of each 

 collection was distinctly traceable, but 

 with sufficient variation as to make 

 each variety valuable, each bearing 

 distinctive qualities of jl value under the 

 diverse cultural conditions to which 

 they inevitably must be subjected. 



Specimen Spikes 



It is not easy for me to illustrate by 

 comparative description the highest 

 points of results claimed by me. If all 

 were gladiolus experts, it would be much 

 easier to secure appreciation. One 

 effective illustration will assist however. 



During the earlier years of my ex- 

 perience in securing commercial effici- 

 ency, the invariable cry was, "Send no 

 red shades," In 1905, Mr. Cowee was 

 offered $5 for a single corm, and I was 

 offered $10 for one of the same variety, 

 a brilliant red, both offers being from 

 amateurs of moderate means, and I 

 may say that no such offer was ever 

 made to me for a variety of any other 

 color. A single spike of six flowers 

 measures one foot wide by two in length, 

 and is so effective as to centre attraction 

 in a field of thousands of other varieties. 

 This variety is being rapidly multiplied 

 for earlv introduction, but you will be 

 interested in learning that I have types 

 of later origin that will supersede it in due 

 time. You will of course, expect this ad- 

 ditional result. 



The commercial demand for high- 

 class lights has now been filled by the 

 thousands of new varieties originated by 

 me during the first 10 years of my 

 work. Selections bred from this material 

 have given me thousands of newer and 

 more advanced types which have been 



crossed and multipUed during the past 

 five years for future introduction, and 

 will constitute as marked and distinct 

 an advance as did those shown at the 

 expositions referred to. The value of 

 some of these is beyond estimate. 



The present commercial yellow is 

 deficient in color, quality and multiply- 

 ing qualities. This need will shortly be 

 filled by thousands of new varieties 

 developed by me under the same prac- 

 tice that produced the new light section, 

 all varieties of equal and greater quaUty 

 than the few novelties issuing from 

 European sources under name. 



All other desirable colors are receiving 

 the same attention and improvement 

 by the same system of selected breeding. 

 Among all of 

 these are re- 

 markable types 

 of promise be- 

 yond my ex- 

 pectations, in- 

 dividual vari- 

 eties of such 

 special quali 

 ties as to be 

 beyond de- 

 scription, for 

 want of ade- 

 quate com- 

 parison. 



I have refer- 

 red to our 

 geographic ad- 

 vantages, but 

 these are by 

 no means suffi- 

 cient for my 

 personal re- 

 alization of the 

 best commer- 

 cial results. 

 Although m y 

 season isnearly 

 a month longer 

 than even the 

 northern part 

 of our penin- 

 sula, it is fully 

 a month too 

 short for the 

 full maturing 

 of the cormei^ 

 of many valu- 

 able and useful 

 varieties devel- 

 oped from late 

 maturing ma- 

 terial. The 

 variety named 



"America," erroneously classified as 

 Childsi by the purchaser and intro- 

 ducer under that name, has been 

 grown and sold by me in collections 

 for the past 10 years. Its annual 

 cormel production is from 2,000 to 5,000 

 per cent., but with me a comparatively 

 small percentage mature annually. Of 

 course such experiences are to be ex- 

 pected in work on a semi-tropical plant. 



and afford proof of my public contention 

 on this point, many years ago, before 

 this experience proved the correctness 

 of my then expresesd theory. While I 

 have knowledge of many similar ex- 

 periences, the naming of this one of my 

 hybrids, "America," has made that 

 variety useful as an illustration of a 

 scientific fact. 



As I have referred to the fact of scien- 

 tific results I beg to record : That cross- 

 ing from varieties tending to double has 

 induced the production of twin corms 

 from single seeds; that bud variation, 

 partial the first season and complete the 

 second, has produced a fixed new type, 

 sporting from one apparent equal fixity; 

 that atavism of aesthetic and commer- 



Floral Fan of Gladioli 



cial value results from the intercrossing 

 of advanced types of diverse parental 

 extraction, the flower form of the iris, 

 a plant of the same natural order, having 

 been brought from the ages long past 

 and replacing the normal form of that 

 of the original species; that racial 

 qualities are as potent and capable of 

 direction in breeding for specific results 

 in plant, as in animal life; that no 



