June, 1919 
GLADIOLUS TOPS COMPOST FOR GROWING 
SWEET PEAS. 
I notice in the January issue of The 
Flower Grower the article on finding 
a use for the Gladiolus tops. I have 
thrown them into a pile with cabbage 
leaves and stalks, onion tops, etc., in 
the fall and used it in the Sweet Pea 
trenches in the spring. I dig a trench 
| 30 inches or so deep and 18 inches wide, 
place a layer of tops about four inches 
and then a layer of well rotted manure, 
continuing until the trench is filled 
I level with the ground. This is also 
tramped down so it will not settle too 
much. I find it holds the moisture 
during the summer, so that during a 
I drought I am able to cut Sweet Peas 
without doing any watering whatever. 
I forgot to mention above that I only 
use four or five inches of soil on the 
I top and leave a hollow down the cen- 
ter in which to plant the peas, gradu- 
; ally filling it in as they grow. I sprout 
the Peas before planting by placing be- 
tween layers of newspaper in a flat 
| with a little damp earth above and 
below the paper. The past season I 
I cut flowers the last week in June and 
; the last the second week in October. 
G. W. J. Bridger. 
NAMING GLADIOLI. 
1 would like to enter a protest against 
the practice of naming varieties of 
flowers after persons with long names. 
These names not only prove unwieldy 
in catalog compiling, but also take up 
costly space in advertising. Captain 
Asher Carter Baker, for instance, con- 
l ; tains 23 letters. Why not have made 
| it simply “ Capt. Baker?” 
Some names seem to me to be in- 
i appropriate to the variety: Dr. Fred- 
I erick I. V. Skiff seems rather too im- 
' pressive for a pretty flesh pink ! And 
then there is Lillian Harris Coffin. A 
I common enough name, perhaps, and 
; admissible for the lady ; but what a 
name for a flower ! 
I like Mr. Kunderd’s method which 
he, with some pardonable exceptions, 
’ '• uses in naming most of his varieties. 
Such names as Rose Glory, Lilywhite, 
Moonbeam, Lustre, Gold Drop, Firefly, 
• etc., are not only pleasing and easily 
remembered and written, but are in 
i j some measure descriptive of the par- 
ticular variety. 
Let us have shorter and more ap- 
propriate names for these beautiful 
gifts of nature. 
Howard M. Gillet. 
HIGH PRICE FOR GLADIOLUS CORM. 
! T. Dabney Marshall in the April 
issue of The Flower Grower suggests 
that $1.50 to $2.00 a corm is a pretty 
high price. 
In paying an extra price for a corm 
of an extra fine variety, one is not pay- 
ing the extra price merely for the first 
year’s blooms, but for all the blooms 
that all the offspring of those corms 
will yield, forever and forever, a most 
insignificant price, if their reproduction 
powers are utilized. 
B. C. Auten. 
Olje Slower (Brower 
I Northwestern Peony 
and Iris Society. { 
The warm April showers have started 
new life and animation and have 
awakened from its long sleep the 
Peony. As we cast our gaze over the 
garden, we are enjoyed to see peeping 
cautiously from the warm, moist soil 
the tiny shoots as they venture once 
more from mother earth. What 
promise they give as from day to day 
we are enraptured in pleasant antici- 
pation of what we feel confident will 
be our reward, for they have not failed 
us in years gone by and why should 
we doubt their inability to again hold 
us spell-bound during early June ? Here 
and there we find some tardy fellow 
who has seemingly enjoyed immensely 
his winter’s nap and is loath to make 
his appearance, but we know after he 
has awakened, he will try and redeem 
himself for his seeming tardiness by 
gracing his toilet with bloom after his 
earlier associates have left but a mem- 
ory of their beauty, and bewitching 
loveliness. Our association with this 
flower for years only adds to our ad- 
miration and esteem of its many de- 
sirable qualities. 
In a recent symposium of several 
hundred varieties of Peonies conducted 
by the American Peony Society it is 
interesting to note that on a basis of 
at least 20 votes the following 12 va- 
rieties received the highest vote : 
9.7 % Le Cygne, Solange, Therese. 
9.3% Festiva Maxima, Lady A. Duff, La 
France. 
9 2 % Mons. Jules Elie, Sarah Bernhardt. 
9.1 % Baroness Schroeder, Mme. Emile Le- 
moine. 
9.0% Marie Crousse, Milton Hill. 
The following varieties received 
equally high percentages but owing to 
the number of votes cast being less 
than 20, they are eliminated from the 
list above named : 
9.5% Elizabeth Barrett Browning. 
9.4 % Kelways Glorious, Mme. Jules Dessert, 
Tourangelle. 
9.3 % Philippe Rivoire. 
9.2% La Fee, Martha Bulloch, Mary Wood- 
bury Shaylor, Jubilee, Standard Bear- 
er, Walter Faxon. 
9.1% La Lorraine, Mignon. 
9.0% Elivood Pleas, Francis Willard. 
We miss from the above high per- 
centage, Enchanlresse, Georgiana Shay- 
lor, Karl Rosenfield, Rosa Bonheur, 
Mary Brand and many others, but the 
matter of personal charm does not ap- 
peal to all alike, and then again differ- 
ent locations, unlike climatic condi- 
tions, variation in soils and cultural 
treatment and various other contribut- 
ing influences all have a tendency to 
produce varying results with like va- 
rieties. It has been suggested that 
another similar rating be attempted in 
a couple of years, which will doubtless 
bring a few more of the better varie- 
ties into the first rank. There is no 
question but that the results obtained 
from this rating are very gratifying 
and only tend to establish more firmly 
the fact that there are a great many 
59 
varieties in commerce that should be 
dispensed with entirely. 
I desire to urge upon those having 
the Peony questionaires sent them last 
year and who did not get an oppor- 
tunity to fill them out, the importance 
of completing them this year, if pos- 
sible, and sending them to me as early 
after the blooming season is over as 
convenient. If you desire additional 
copies please advise and I will gladly 
mail them. Any reader having a named 
collection of varieties who is interested 
will be supplied with copies of the 
questionaire upon application. I am 
especially anxious to get as many re- 
plies as possible so that we can com- 
plete a summary of results and present 
to our readers. 
W. F. Christman, Sec’y. 
Meader Buys Lilywhite. 
I want to report to you an item of 
considerable interest to the trade : the 
sale of the principal stock of our new 
early forcing all white Gladiolus Lily- 
white (please note the name is spelled 
with only one capital letter, or all 
one word, as the flower is practically a 
lily white.) 
We have the very best of commen- 
dation in reports of its value. Up to 
date, there has been no spotless all 
white Gladioli of the quality required 
by florists for an early forcing purpose. 
Lilywhite is very early, forcing per- 
fectly, of ideal shape and type of spike 
and individual bloom. It is also a rapid 
propagator, making an ideal florists’ 
all white Gladioli for which the florists 
have long been in need of. 
Under the arrangements of the sale, 
four-fifths of all sizes of the bulbs have 
been purchased by Mr. H. E. Meader, 
of Dover, N. H., who is at present vice- 
president of the American Gladiolus 
Society. Mr. Meader is himself a pro- 
gressive florist and having tested the 
variety for several years is very enthusi- 
astic over it from the standpoint of the 
florist. Lilywhite will probably be of- 
fered to the trade, as well as sold at 
retail, the coming season, while Mr. 
Kunderd, the originator, is allowed to 
sell only at retail for the first three 
years from time of the sale. The price 
which Mr. Meader paid for that por- 
tion of the stock which he has secured 
is $3,000. Considering that the ship- 
ment amounted to less than two full 
barrels, this is the highest yet paid for 
Gladioli. There have been higher 
prices paid for Gladiolus stock than in 
this instance, but the quantity of bulbs 
was very much larger and the pur- 
chaser secured practically the entire 
stock, whereas in this case the origi- 
nator reserves one-fifth of the stock. 
A. E. Kunderd. 
The special offer of H. E. Meader, 
Dover, N. H., which appeared in the 
April issue of The Flower Grower, 
we understand is still in force and 
those who are interested in helping 
the American Gladiolus Society and 
being connected with this progressive 
organization should improve this op- 
portunity of joining. 
