16 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



February 22, 1912. 



QEBMAIN SEED & PLANT CO. 



The accompanying illustration shows 

 the remodeled interior of the Germain 

 Seed & Plant Co. store, Main street, Los 

 Angeles, Oal. This is one of the oldest 

 established businesses in California, but 

 one that is constantly kept young by 

 up-to-date methods and sound business 

 policy. As will be noted, the store is 

 both roomy and well arranged, and all 

 other departments are similar. The 



offices are on the second floor and 

 equipped with every appurtenance to 

 aid in this end of the business, while 

 the windows are famous all over the 

 state for the excellent displays con- 

 stantly kept up. Seed store windows 

 are too often uninteresting and ugly, 

 but those of the Germain Seed Co. 

 would do credit to an up-to-date de- 

 partment store, and form a splendid 

 advertisement. H. R. R. 



^^^^0^J^^.''m^.'^-r-.^0^.'^^.'^^.^^^!^.^^^:^^^'■y^^'U^^y.'9^^<i^i^^^^ 



^ 



NOTES ON 

 ^^^^^ GLADIOLI 



S 



GLADIOLUS PRIMULINUS. 



For fifty-two years I have grown the 

 gladiolus, and most of the time has 

 been devoted to the task of trying to 

 improve it. In my younger days there 

 were practically no books to guide the 

 beginner and I had to work out the 

 problems the best way I could. Some 

 of my boyish efforts would make a 

 botanist smile. However, the knowl- 

 edge gained, that some things can not 

 be done, has paid; also, that some 

 things said to be impossible can be 

 done has been more satisfactory. For 

 instance, scientific men say that the 

 gladiolus can not be crossed with flow- 

 ers of a different species. Now, I have 

 proved, to my own satisfaction, at least, 

 that they can. There are several spe- 

 cies of flowers that will hybridize the 

 gladiolus and cause it to bear fertile 

 seed. The tigridia, the ixia and mont- 

 bretia, all these will fertilize the gla- 

 diolus. To be sure, the progeny is 

 utterly and entirely worthless from 

 anything but a scientific standpoint, 

 and, I may remark, it does not pay 

 for the time spent. I will also add that 

 it is not worth while for the grower 

 to spend his time crossing the species; 

 or to cross the wild on the domestic, or 

 cultivated gladiolus. The results sel- 

 dom pay for the effort. In the begin- 



ning I made this mistake, and it took 

 a good many years to find out that I 

 was harking on the wrong track. The 

 beginner in breeding gladioli had bet- 

 ter take the best cultivated varieties 

 he can get for his seed stock, and leave 

 the species alone. 



Now, concerning the Primulinus, 

 when this was first discovered I was 

 fortunate enough to get one of the 

 original bulbs. This did not come up 

 until late, and did not bloom, but made 

 two small bulbs. Fearing these might 

 not bloom, I wrote Dr. Van Fleet, who 

 kindly let me have a bulb, making 

 three, which all bloomed. These were 

 pollinated from Princeps, and some of 

 my big seedlings, and I got a tidy lot 

 of the largest and plumpest seed that 

 I ever saw. This was planted and came 

 up fully ten days before other seed 

 planted at the same time. The seed- 

 lings kept ahead all summer and made 

 a nice lot of the best seedling bulbs 

 that I ever grew, almost all of which 

 bloomed the next year. The flowers 

 were a surprise and delight, being so 

 entirely different and distinct from all 

 others. There were not many colors, 

 being mostly shades of red, rose and 

 pink, all having great yellow throats, 

 but the colors are delicate and beauti- 

 ful. For all their delicate appearance 



they are tough, standing the hottest sun 

 and heaviest rain and wind, coming up 

 smiling after the worst storms. No gla- 

 diolus is better in this respect. The 

 flowers are rather small when compare il 

 with the new giant varieties, although 

 I have several 4-inch and o-inch sorts. 

 I have not as yet succeeded in gettiu<» 

 any pure yellows among them, and I 

 do not know of anyone who has; hut 

 pure yellow is bound to come, for gla- 

 dioli will breed back to their granil 

 parents or great-grandparents. This i 

 found out long before I ever heard ol 

 Mendel and his law. 



I have a white gladiolus that I will 

 challenge any man to tell from the 

 White Lady, yet it is only one-quartor 

 of the blood of that variety. It Avas 

 this fact that made me take the Primu 

 linus for a foundation, as there is a 

 scarcity of really good yellows at the 

 present day. "Whether I shall succeefl 

 or not is a question, but if I do not. 

 some one else will, for a lot of goorl 

 yellows are certain to come from the 

 Primulinus, sooner or later. 



These hybrids arc not popular with 

 the florists, on account of not having 

 enough flowers open at a time, and the 

 habit of the flowers in looking down 

 ward. For the amateur they are fine, 

 as they last a long time in bloom. 

 either when cut or in the garden. A 

 vase of the cut stalks is a thing of mar 

 velous beauty. 



This matter of breeding gladioli to 

 satisfy the demands of the florists' 

 trade has been carried too far. The 

 result is that we have, with few excep- 

 tions, a great lot of varieties the prin 

 cipal merit of which is that they have 

 a lot of the flowers open at once, and 

 increase rapidly. Now, these character- 

 istics are not the best by any means. 

 We often see in a flower store window 

 gladioli wadded together in a bunch, 

 having no more grace or beauty than 

 a bunch of asparagus on the market 

 man's table. It gives me a pain, but 

 I do not know who is to blame for it. 

 A gladiolus, to be valuable, should 

 last a long time. A variety that stays 

 in bloom two weeks is far better than 

 one that lasts only three or four days. 

 Three flowers of the Princeps, and 

 many of its seedlings, make more show 

 than eight or ten flowers of the com 



Store of the Gertnain Seed and Plant Co., Los Angeles, Cat 



