LUTHER BURBANK 



We have seen that the cardinalis was used by 

 the earlier hybridizers. It appears that the psit- 

 tacimus was also used in hybridizing experiments 

 by the Dean of Manchester. But either he did not 

 make the precise cross that was now made by the 

 Belgian gardener, or the strains he used were 

 somewhat variant; for the hybrid now produced 

 had qualities that gave it a new appeal to flower 

 lovers in general, and in particular made it a 

 flower of such easy cultivation and such striking 

 appearance as to make a strong bid for popularity 

 among amateurs. 



It gained such vogue as to be thought of every- 

 where not only as a distinct species but as repre- 

 senting a type form of the race of gladioli. It 

 was named Gandavensis, from Gand (Ghent), the 

 place of its origin. 



It is believed, however, that the form of gladio- 

 lus that came to be known everywhere as the 

 Gandavensis has in its racial strains the blood of 

 many other species beside the original parents. It 

 is almost certain, for example, that the strain of 

 G. oppositiflorus accounts for the modifications of 

 form and for the introduction of a tendency to 

 produce white flowers; and that strains of G. blan- 

 diis and G. ramosus have also been introduced. 



In a word, the form of gladiolus that came to 

 be familiar everywhere under the name Ganda- 



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