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CHOICE AMERICAN 

 CREATIONS IN CANNAS 



When inclined to he despondent about the results of Quarantine No. 

 37, we may find encouragement m con templating the wonders that have re- 

 cently been performed by some American hybridizers in providing improved 

 varieties of stock. Note, for instance, the success of our canna specialists. 



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HEBE is no need to go back 

 over a quarter of a cen- 

 tury to call attention to 

 what was embraced in this 

 class of bedding plants 

 before M. Crozy devel- 

 oped the wonderful dwarf, 

 free - flowering type of 

 which Mme. Crozy was 

 one of the first to be in- 

 troduced. The old varieties, useful in 

 tropical bedding only because of their 

 luxuriant foliage, have passed out of 

 commerce. Many of the varieties that 

 have sprung from the crossing of the 

 French type with the various older 

 forms give us the same values in foliage 

 with the addition of plenty of flowers. 

 Cannas enjoy heat and moistnrfi^^ con- 

 sequently there are few Tpl^^^^ui the 

 country where they do not adapt them- 

 selves and prove to be superior bedding 

 plants. Their popularity has increased 

 with the realization of this fact and 

 the immense progress in the improve- 

 ment of varieties. 



Our Debt to the French. 



In this field we are, of course, par- 

 ticularly indebted to the French, who 

 in the early nineties 

 first produced the type 

 from which the mod- 

 ern canna was devel- 

 oped. Many excellent 

 varieties have followed 

 the first one of that 

 class from France. The 

 later French introduc- 

 tions, however, have not 

 possessed some of the 

 particular qualifications 

 that would entitle them 

 to a permanent place in 

 our commercial collec- 

 tions. 



Probably the most 

 remarkable French in- 

 troduction of recent 

 years is the variety 

 Firebird, which is fully 

 entitled, because of the 

 immense size of its flo- 

 rets, to all the public- 

 ity accorded it. Un- 

 fortunately, it has 

 failed, however, to find 

 favor in many locali- 

 ties, because of impor- 

 tant characteristics 

 which it lacks. 



The canna of today 

 must be a vigorous, 

 healthy grower, a free 

 bloomer and a good 

 keeper, Sfze of flower 



By EUGENE H. MICHEL. 



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is important, but really secondary, be- 

 cause, in bedding, an abundance of 

 smaller blossoms will prove far more 

 effective than a few of unusual size or 

 even of great beauty. 



The break toward varieties that more 

 nearly fill the requirements for mass 

 bedding was strongly noticeable in a 

 number of German and Hungarian in- 

 troductions within the last generation. 

 In red, these included J. D. Eisele, 

 Feuermeer and Fanal, the last men- 

 tioned still being one of the most de- 

 pendable varieties; in yellow, Goethe 

 and Gustav Gumpper, both with cer- 

 tain shortcomings, but unusually effec- 

 tive; in pink, Hungaria and Lahneck. 



Older Sorts That Still Lead. 



Hungaria is probably the most popu- 

 lar pink canna at present. While it 

 lacks substance, there is a refinement in 

 its wonderful coloring that will make 

 it difficult to supersede. To Italy is 

 credited the creation of King Humbert, 

 unqualifiedly the most popular canna of 

 todav. It is not the sole survivor of its 



Field of The Gem, wHh some Uhlberg In Left Foreground* 



type, but many of the earlier so-called 

 orchid-flowered varieties are losing 

 ground, while King Humbert remains 

 firmly entrenched in its position of lead- 

 ership. 



In thus discussing the foreign intro- 

 ductions, my object is to give credit 

 where it is deserved. What I am about 

 to say about American cannas would not 

 be possible if our friends across the 

 pond had not ' ' started something. ' ' 



Nor are there any other lines with 

 which I am familiar, except cannas and 

 dahlias, where the challenge of the 

 European hybridizer has been so suc- 

 cessfully accepted by American enthusi- 

 asts. The best cannas and dahlias for 

 our purposes, introduced in recent 

 years, have been of American origin. 

 In dahlias the work can be credited to 

 a number of capable hybridizers. In 

 cannas, however, the credit falls large- 

 ly to one individual, whose vision and 

 perseverance have placed in our hands 

 material which makes us independent of 

 further European importations. 



A Few of Wintzer's Winners. 



Why Antoine Wintzer, of West Grove, 

 Pa., has accomplished all this, may not 

 have been a matter of 

 great concern to thou- 

 sands who find pleas- 

 ure in viewing his 

 creations. Judging 

 others by myself, I be- 

 lieve that Mr. Wint- 

 zer's enthusiasm was 

 first aroused by the ac- 

 cidental discovery of 

 the possibilities in se- 

 curing variations in 

 cannas. 



Initial success was 

 like the implanting of 

 a germ, which, once es- 

 tablished, continues in 

 its development until 

 it overruns its entire 

 field. With the first 

 success the imagination 

 was aroused, and the 

 ambition and deter- 

 mination to master the 

 problems have enabled 

 him to create a large 

 proportion of the most 

 useful cannas in Amer- 

 ican commerce. 



As proof of what 

 Mr. Wintzer has ac- 

 complished, the follow- 

 ing alphabetical list 

 of a few of his most 

 notable introductions is 

 submitted : 



