10 



The Weekly Rorists' Review. 



JANUAKY 23, 1908. 



W. J. Vonderheide offers a fine silver 

 cup for 100 blooms of the best carnation 

 to be disseminated for 1908. This ex- 

 hibit must also be separate from all 

 others, excepting that it can enter for 

 certificate of merit. 



In considersCtion of the lateness in of- 

 fering these prizes, they can be entered 

 for at the meetipg in Washington with- 

 out extra charge. Anyone not a member 

 of the society • and not acquainted with 

 its rules and regulations can, by joining 

 at the meeting, make entries for the show 

 free of charge. Members who have neg- 

 lected to send in their entries or have 

 additions to make can make them at the 

 meeting by paying $1 for each entry 

 made. Everything possible will be done 

 to make the work of exhibitors easy and 

 expeditious. We have a fine lot of en- 

 tries now and want more for the above 

 prizes and any other of the numerous 

 ones bffered in the premium list. 



Albert M. Herr, Sec'y- 



RUFFLED GLADIOLL 



At Kendallville, Ind., A. E. Kunderd 

 has for years been breeding and selecting 

 gladioli with a view to the development 

 and fixing of the type of flower illus- 

 trated in the accompanying reproductions 

 from photographs, in which it will be 

 seen that the petals are ruffled, unlike 

 any gladiolus heretofore known. Mr. 



Kunderd believes that he is* well under 

 way to the development of the most mag- 

 nificent type of this flower, as these two 

 varieties are now well established in 

 character, and he has others in which the 

 development is even more marked, but 

 which are not yet established to his sat- 

 isfaction. 



The illustration in which the section of 

 spike is shown is of a variety creamy 

 in color, with a blush tint overspread, 

 and has a fine feather or flame of red 

 in the center on the three lower petals. 

 The plant is strong and it is said that 

 flowers over five inches in diameter have 

 been produced. The ruffling is even 

 more apparent in the natural flower than 

 it is in the photographic reproduction. 

 The flutings are up to five-eighths of an 

 inch deep. 



The picture showing the two spikes is 

 of a variety smaller in size but a fine 

 "white in color, with a little more pink 

 tint than in the flower previously de- 

 scribed. There is a similar feather on 

 the lower petals and the ruffling is more 

 pronounced. The arrangement of the 

 upper petals gives the flower much the 

 appearance of the azalea flower. Mr. 

 Kunderd says it increases less rapidly 

 thaw th« former variety, which makes 

 from fifty to 100 cormels. A bulb of 

 the first described variety was sent last 

 spring to Luther Burbank and was re- 

 turned in November with J.42 cormels. 



Mr. Kunderd also is at work on some 

 other types. One is a flower that he de- 

 scribes as saucer-shaped, the petals being 

 all of about the same proportions and 

 opening so that the tube is short. He is 

 hybridizing to put the ruffle on this form 

 of flower. He also has a type in which 

 the flowers are well distributed around 

 the stem, with blooms as upright as tube- 

 roses, and with long tubes. In this form 

 all six petals are exactly alike. This 

 class comes in light colors, some being 

 solid colors and others having all the 

 petals blotched. Other sorts on which 

 Mr. Kunderd is at work provide still 

 other interesting variations. 



LILY BULBS IN THE U. S. 



A. E. Ktmdenl'$ Ruffled Gladioli. 



Work of the Department of Agriculture. 



As a preface to a bulletin by George 

 W. Oliver, just issued to record the 

 work of Bureau of Plant Industry, Dr. 

 B. T. Galloway says: 



* ' The Easter lily is of great import- 

 ance to florists, its bulbs being largely 

 imported from Bermuda and Japan. 

 The imported bulbs, however, are not 

 satisfactory, and if the industry of 

 forcing these plants so that they will 

 be in flower at Eastej is to be continued 

 it will be necessary to produce the bulbs 

 in this country. The -problem of produc- 

 ing these bulbs in the United States has 

 been studied for some years by members 

 of the staff of this Bureau, and the ac- 

 companying paper summarizes the in- 

 formation on the subject to date. Mr. 

 Oliver has shown that healthy bulbs can 

 be readily and profitably produced in 

 this country and that disease-resistant 

 strains can easily be maintained. ' ' 



Disease in Imported Bulbs. 



At the present time Bermuda is the 

 main source of supply of Easter lily 

 bulbs for the United States. The mild win- 

 ter climate of the island is. very favorable 

 to the growth of these lilies in the open 

 air, but the area of arable land is lim- 

 ited and many of the farms are so small 

 that alternation of crops is not prac- 

 ticed with lilies, onions and potatoes, 

 which are the staple crops. 



As a result of these conditions and 

 the fact that careful selection is not 

 practiced, the vigor of the lily bulbs 

 produced is lessened and weak plants 

 are produced from them. As a conse- 

 quence the plants grown from Bermuda 

 bulbs in greenhouses in the United 

 States are in a very unsatisfactory con- 

 dition. In many cases from fifty to 

 seventy-five per cent of the plants are 

 diseased to such an extent as to be 

 practically unsalable; in fact, they 

 are so seriously affected that many 

 florists would willingly give up their 

 cultivation altogether were it not that 

 their patrons demand the lily in its 

 season. The problem how and where 

 to produce the bulbs within our own 

 borders therefore confronts those who 

 would continue in this industry. That 

 this problem will be solved soon there 

 is little doubt. It is not likely that 

 American growers will be able to harvest 

 the bulbs and place them on the market 

 as early as the Bermuda crop, but judg- 

 ing from present appearances their 

 efforts will result in supplying bulbs 

 practically free from disease. 



It is said that about 3,000,000 bulbs 

 are annually imported from Bermuda 

 and that about 20,000 salable bulbs, 

 ranging in size from three to five inches 

 in circumference, can be grown on an 



