Mabch 7, 1012. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



19 



ally that are recognized as standards of 

 perfection in their respective types. 

 Without close inspection even the pro- 

 fessional grower could not detect the 

 wild blood in many of the modern varie- 

 ties, and he, too, is often puzzled and 

 unable to decide to his entire satisfac- 

 tion. 



The process of breeding up to the 

 finer strains and varieties of the present 

 day has been a long and tedious, yet 

 interesting work, and one which has 

 required much skill and study. In 

 breeding, not only must the color, size 

 and texture of flower be taken into 

 consideration, but also many other at- 

 tributes which are necessary to secure 

 a well balanced plant. Some of these 

 requirements I will mentiop: First, , 

 strength and vitality of the bulb, giving ' 

 it power to withstand the changes in 

 soil and climatic conditions, without 

 which the most beautiful flower would 

 be worthless. With this feature I have 

 had much to do, especially with foreign 

 hybrids and self or field fertilized stock, 

 upon the former of which I have spent 

 many thousands of dollars in experi- 

 mental work, in the end discarding 

 beautiful specimens which, from the 

 lack of this one requisite, were rendered 

 valueless for dissemination. Other 

 points which the successful hybridizer 

 must consider are the proper number 

 of flowers to a spike and their correct 

 arrangement thereon, length and 

 strength of spike, foliage, and the abil- 

 ity to reproduce rapidly. 



Commercially, gladioli are divided 

 into five classes or strains: Ganda- 

 vensis, Lemoinei, Nanceianus, Childsii, 

 and, last but not least, Groflf's hybrids. 

 This last strain comprises all of the 

 most desirable qualities of the others 

 mentioned, without reference to the 

 particular species from which they are 

 bred, the highest standard of quality 

 being sought for, irrespective of par- 

 «ntage. 



Planting and Cultivation. 



Gladioli are increased in numbers in 

 two ways: First, by the hard jiormels 

 which form about the new bulb and 

 above the old bulb planted, the latter 

 of which dies in producing and nourish- 

 ing its offspring; second, by the bulbs 

 which grow from the center of, and 

 the sprouts upon the side of the planted 

 bulbs. These last mentioned are all 

 of blooming size, and I have seen as 

 many as seven bulbs so formed; this, 

 however, is rare. 



The black cormels have to be culti- 

 vated one, two and sometimes three 

 years to produce strong blooming bulbs. 

 They are planted, or rather sown in 

 rows twelve inches apart. Two years 

 ago I arranged a machine so that it 

 would open the furrows, sow cormels 

 and fertilizer, cover and press the earth 

 on top, and this with two rows. For- 

 merly the ground, after being thor- 

 oughly pulverized, was furrowed by 

 two men and a horse, six furrows being 

 made at one time. Following this oper- 

 ation, a man with a fertilizer distrib- 

 utor, another with the cormel sower and 

 the third with a hand-wheel plow com- 

 pleted the planting. 



With the bulblets, those which are 

 to produce salable or blooming stock, 

 the process is quite different. These 

 are first rubbed lightly over coarse 

 screens to remove the roots which have 

 become brittle during the storage 

 period, and at the same time the small 

 cormels which have adhered are loos- 

 ened and passed through the screen. The 



Arthur G>wee. 



bulblets arie then carted to the fields 

 in trays or bags. Drills are prepared 

 thirty inches apart and about four 

 inches deep, into which the bulblets are 

 distributed, to be properly spaced and 

 placed by hand by the large gang of 

 men required, after which an ordinary 

 potato hiller passing over the rows com- 

 pletes this planting, leaving the bulb- 

 lets about eight inches below the top 

 of the covering. In about a week or ten 

 days, according to weather conditions, 

 the cultivating and weeding begin. 

 While we formerly were compelled to 

 do a great deal of hand weeding, the 

 most of this work is now accomplished 

 by the use of horse cultivators and 

 weeders, which are kept busy until the 

 plants begin to show bud. We calcu- 

 late to start the cultivating just before 

 the Weeds show above the ground, and 

 by the time the spikes begin to appear 

 few weeds are in sight and the soil 

 has become quite level, so that the 

 bulbs continue their growth about four 

 inches below the surface. 



The Labor Question. 



Berlin being a small village, the labor 

 question became a serious problem with 

 me as the industry increased, to cope 

 with which I conceived the idea of 

 making use of "Weary Willies," or 

 what are termed "hoboes," "tramps," 

 "wandering workmen," or whatever 

 you may choose to call them. The first 

 season I managed to halt and employ 

 about half a dozen, to whom at the end 

 of the harvest, together /with the rest 

 of my regular men, I ga>^ a chicken 

 dinner. The second season more came 

 and the third more still, so that accom- 

 modations for taking care of them were 

 not sufficient.' I then organized a camp, 

 furnishing to every man a blanket and 



firewood for cooking, making a nomina\ 

 charge of 25 cents per week per man. 

 The result was that I did not laek for 

 labor and was able to select my men 

 according to their individual ability, 

 for usually more arrived than I could 

 employ. Neighboring farmers took^ ad- 

 vantage of my surplus help and were 

 more or less encouraged to increase 

 their plantings. 



These men, as a general thing, are 

 quiet, industrious and sober while in 

 my employ, for I have made it a point 

 to impress them with the fact that I 

 consider them honest gentlemen until 

 otherwise proven. Now and then, how- 

 ever, by reason of some dishonest fel- 

 low's answering to the name of an ab- 

 sent man, the roll is called the second 

 time and every man is required to step 

 in line, so that the missing one is not 

 again checked. 



Everything r^n smoothly until three 

 years ago, when my hoboes struck for 

 higher wages (I was paying $1.50 per 

 day). I was compelled to accede to 

 their demands, it being late in the sea- 

 son and considerable valuable stock 

 unharvested. The strike fever again 

 attacked them the following season, 

 but, fortunately, it was early in the 

 harvest and I concluded to take a 

 chance with local help, with which I 

 managed to squeeze through. Since the 

 second strike I have made it a practice 

 to employ none of the men who were 

 connected with it, and they all know 

 that it is useless to apply again for 

 work. Some of such return, however, 

 and loiter about for a day or two 

 hoping for an invitation; disappointed in 

 this, they leave. 



A Useful Water Reservoir. 

 Several years ago, having experienced 



