12 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



l»i:(i;.Mi!i;ii -21, 1911. 



Dahlia and Gladiolus 

 Growers Hold Meeting 





aLZ^ 



•»>--^'-»^'^-'^^ 



THE WESTERN ASSOCIATION. 



'riu' Western JValiiia and (iladiolus 

 Association iicld its liist annual meet- 

 ii)<r l''riday, J)eceinl)er l.'i. at <i(i K"an- 

 doI[)li street, ('liieajfo, wliere facilities 

 I'ur exliihit ion and nieetinj; were jiro- 

 vided l>y the A. L. K'aiidall ( d. 'The 

 proj^rain as pnlilished in The l\e\ie\v 

 idr J)eceMi|]er 7 was carrieii oiit with 

 the e\ce|iti(pn uT two papers tidin nieni- 

 liers iinalde to lie present. .I'ollowiii)^ 

 the papeis on ''The ( I ladiidns, ' ' by 

 A. I*'-. Kiindord, aud on "Hybridization 

 and (ulliire," by 11. W. Koerner, was 

 a i^eiH'ral discnssion enjoyed by all. 

 ('arl (f()|ip na\(' some intorestiiii^ points 

 rej^ardin^ late development of the 

 coiins of (gladioli and the dahlia chimps, 

 sliowiiii^ that liidh jdants lart;(dy in- 

 creased in size and solidity late in the 

 fall, but that care inuHt bo used in not 

 ]eavin<^ too late, to be injured b\- sexcre 

 frosts. lie also su<j;i;ested that there 

 iiiit;ht be a iirotilable future for the 

 ('olvillei type ot' <;la<liolns, I'dushiuf^ 

 IJride and 'others. S. W. i'iUe. of St. 

 Charles, ill., ^ave it as his opinioti that 

 late (le\'elopmeiit of the bulbs is do- 

 cidedlv adxantajfeous. The paper on 

 "American P.nlbs," road l>y Iv S. 

 Thoinj)sou, com]>leted the pi'oj^ram. 



It was decided to appoint a commit- 

 tee on noinonclaturo, so that tho work 

 could lie started at (uice. M. ('rawford, 

 of Cuyahoj^a I'alls, <)., was appointed. 

 The jiropositiou to hold an exhibition of 

 flowers ill coiiiie<-t ion with tho Society 

 of Aniericaii I'loiists at ('hicajfo in 

 Aufiust, liML', was placed in the hands 

 of the executive cominittee. The regu- 

 lar annual meetin<^ of the association 

 for the elect iiui of oirieors will be held 

 at tho annual bulb show some time in 

 Decenib(>r of ea( h year, «>a(di date to be 

 fixed by the oxeciitiNC cominittee. 



No iminensc tliiiij^^s were expected, 

 but tlioso who have worked for the 

 association feel well rojiaid with the re- 

 ception liy the trade as well as by tho 

 amateurs, and anyone iiitc^rested missed 

 a good thing if ho did not look over tho 

 bulbs shown at this meeting. Dahlias, 

 gladioli, cannas, irises, oxalis, tiger 

 lilies, montbretias, etc., were shown, all 

 grown in the central west. Maiitmoth 

 bulbs of Kunderdi Glory, four inches in 

 diameter, were shown. Koerner 's hy- 

 brids were three and a half inches in 

 diameter. IJulbs of Childsii, florists' 

 mixture, King and America, throe to 

 throe and a half inches in diameter, 

 wore shown by the Central Seed and 

 Bulb Co. Vaughaii's Seed Store gave 

 a good exhibit of King, Augusta and 

 the now Chicago White gladiolus. The 

 exhibit was a success from all sides, for 

 the initial one of the association. Over 

 s(nenty entries were made. Dahlia 

 clumps fourteen inches across were 

 shown. One of the roinarkable fea- 

 tures of the exhibits was the thick, 

 solid and lie;iltliy appearance of all the 

 gladiolus bulbs. Only one diseased liulb 

 was found ill the collection, and the 

 western growers can congratulate them 



solves on jdacing on the tables the 

 largest sized and the (iiiost appearing 

 gladiolus and dahlia bulbs e\'er iilace<l 

 on exhiliition in this country. \The 

 association is so well |)lease(l with tlic^ 

 work that next December will see more 

 than .")()() entries of dahlia cluni|)s, rep- 

 resenting all varieties of any \aluo, and 

 specially showing those of good value 

 from the stand|ioint of the comiiKM'cial 

 .'ind amateur trade. It is designed that 

 other outdoor llowers grown from a 

 bulbous root will lie iiKduded in the 

 scope of the work. ()ne aim is informa- 

 tion to lioth trade and amateur. The 



ri-OBAl-CO. 



■Si^^.^^.^^^"^^^ 



DECORATION^ 



FUNERAU DESIQNS 



growers are in earnest and jiropose to 

 bo in the front for western bulbs and 

 business. K. S. Thom[)son, Sec 'y. 



HYBRIDIZING AND CULTURE. 



I .\ impcr liv 11. W. Kiiciiii'i'. (if MiUvMukcc, 

 AVis.. ic.id i,t 111!' iiicvlint; of llic Wcslcrn l)iilili:i 

 Mild (iliuliiiliis Ass(ici;iti(Mi, in Oliiin^u, llccciiitici' 

 1.'), 11)11.1 



Though Secretary 

 called on mo to read 



The Ludwig Building. 



'i'lionii)soii lias 

 paper on ' ' Jly- 

 bridizing and Culture'," I wisli to say 

 that my remarks shall be brief, as tho 

 tiuK^ for preparation was short and 

 there wore too many other tilings on 

 my mind. 



Hybridizing can bo explained in fif- 

 teen words, but to go into details would 

 make \olumes, so I shall just give a 

 few brief particulars as to the way I 

 do things. VVlioii there is any variety 

 that 1 wish to cross, 1 generally cut the 

 anthers oil the one from which I intend 

 to save! tho socmI, and then cross with 

 t li(^ one from which I take tho pollen. 



.\ow, in judging and tiguring so as to 

 get tlu? colors aiul tyjies you want in 

 gladioli, J consider all the points — the 

 habit of stem, tli(( number of ilowors 

 open, the closeness of the ilowors to 

 the stem; the tlowers must be well open, 

 and the main thing is color. 



Best Gladioli Multiply Slowly. 



I do not like the Lemoino typo, al- 

 though I think there is a time coming 

 when they will go ahead of any other 

 type, for they niultiidy faster, which 

 gives them the load. Tho reason I do 

 not like them is, because they generally 

 lia\e crooked stems and only two or 

 four Ilowors open at once. I can pick 

 out any one that has liomoine blood by 

 those two points. Oiu? thing I liavp 

 learned is that the best varieties gen- 

 erally multiply the most slowly, for I 

 have been growing some of my best 

 kinds for ten years and still have not 

 stock enough to otfer. 



PoUenization of Dahlias. 



In pollenizing dahlias, it is more diffi- 

 cult to do tho work right. You must 

 employ a strong magnifying glass to see 

 the anthers which should bo cut off, and 

 to select the ripe pollen. I always se- 

 lect free flowering and long-stemmed 

 varieties to cross, and I never save shy 

 bloomers or short stominod varieties, for 

 there are too many of that kind already 

 on the market. 



The best time of the day for crossing 

 is between ]'2 and 2 o'clock on a bright, 

 sunny day. 



1 venture to declare that hybridizing 

 is yet in its infancy and that there will 

 be entirely now tyjios and shapes, unlike 

 any over seen before, in both dahlias 

 and gladioli, for i have some rare sorts 

 in iioth Ilowors and J also have new 

 typos in peonies, one in ])articular, 

 which is like a decorative dahlia. 



As to culture, there is not much to 

 say. Any soil that produces corn or 

 potatoes will grow dahlias and glads, 

 but plant deeply, at least four inches 

 below the surface. The time of planting 

 differs greatly; gladioli should be plant- 

 ed early and dahlias late. 



GLADIOLUS AND ITS FUTURE. 



[.\ paper liy A. K. Kimdfnl, ol Coslion, Ind., 

 lead at tlio liicc'tin^' of (In- Western Dalilin and 

 (Jladloliis Association, in Chicago, Uecemljer 15, 

 I'JII.] 



So much has been written and said 

 about the gladiolus, as regards its cul- 

 ture both outdoors and under glass, for 

 bulbs and cut flowers, that I will not 



