April, 1919 
lected example you see, for parsnips 
often show poor germination. 
Your reprinting from The Garden of 
“One Way for the Amateur to be Use- 
ful,” is particularly pertinent and de- 
serves wide attention. 
The note on Iris lurida interested 
me, as Mrs. Wilder notes an experience 
that is, I think, peculiar to her plant 
and situation rather than to the variety; 
at least with us lurida has never given 
a second bloom and though we have 
used it as a parent we do not consider 
it of value as such, the progeny being 
small-flowered with a distinct curling 
under the falls. Under unusually rich 
soil or exceedingly favorable weather 
conditions we have had late blooms 
(though not effective in quantity) on 
John Foster, Lorelei, Mrs. Alan Gray 
and quite frequently among the pumila 
hybrids; we should judge that either 
John Foster or Mrs. Alan Gray should 
prove better and more promising par- 
ents than lurida. We grow lurida and 
it may also be obtained from, or is 
listed by Farr, The Dean Iris Gardens, 
and The Rainbow Gardens. 
I am afraid that my notes have 
grown too long but Iris is always a 
prolonged subject to an enthusiast. I 
again express my appreciation of The 
Flower Grower and its presentation. 
Robert S. Sturtevant. 
GLADIOLI IN A DROUGHT. 
In May heavy rains packed the 
mulatto soil solid and from June 1st to 
August 19th, hardly any rain fell ; 
temperature ranging from 90 to 102 
in the shade. Aug. 19th, first shower 
fell, and abundant rain followed up to 
Oct. 1st, saving the bulbs of those that 
kept alive over the dry season. The 
first one to go down was Baron Joseph 
Hulot. The French baron could not 
stand the heat of Southern Illinois. 
He was closely followed by the Holland 
beauties, Pink Beauty and Pink Pro- 
gression. Planting stock, midseason 
and late planting, all suffered alike ; 
90% perished of these three kinds. The 
American creations, Augusta and 
Maude fared no better. Planting stock 
of A lice Carey, Mrs. Francis King, Vel- 
vet King, Lucretia and Mrs. Frank Pen- 
dleton, 60% loss. America, Panama, 
Willy Wigman, Bertrex, President Taft, 
Schwaben, Mary Fennell, Halley and 
Hohenstaujen, stood the test well, only 
10% loss. Hohenzollern came out of 
the fight with only 2% loss. All plant- 
ing stock of above varieties showed 
only a few short flower spikes. Plant- 
ing size, Prince of Wales, stood the test 
best of all, only 2% of the bulbs miss- 
ing and nearly every one had a strong 
spike of immense large flowers but the 
Prince got sunstruck and sent his 
spikes to all points of the compass. 
June 1st, the greatest part of the 
large bulbs were planted in loose, dry 
soil. Golden King, Rouge Torch and 
Presl. Taft lead the list, producing large 
flower spikes and bulbs. America, 
Panama, Halley, Alice Carey and Willy 
Wigman all withstood the drought 
well, producing fine large bulbs after 
rain came, but had no flowers. Velvet 
King had a good many short spikes, 
Ol)e :flower (Brower 
at the expense of the bulbs, and Mrs. 
Francis King also had a good many 
flower spikes, and produced fine large 
bulbs. 
Bulblets with the exception of Willy 
Wigman were a total loss. One lesson 
I learned from this year’s experience, 
which kinds are the strongest and most 
vigorous to endure and survive one of 
the most unfavorable seasons on rec- 
ord, a pointer for the future, and all 
kinds that showed weakness will be 
dropped. 
Henry C. Eckert. 
ANOTHER DELIGHTFUL GLAD GARDEN. 
The charming article in the January 
issue of The Flower Grower by Rose 
Marsh reminded me of my own va- 
rieties which bloomed for me in late 
September. My own bulbs (800 or 
more) were put in the flower garden, 
but a late, hot, dry season and insuffi- 
cient cultivation were the causes of the 
poorest crop of blooms it was ever my 
lot to mourn over. When late in June 
an express package of 140 bulbs, with 
sprouts six inches high, came to me 
unexpectedly from a woman exchanger 
who lives near Cowee, Berlin, from 
whom she obtained them, it was by 
no means altogether a joyful surprise, 
as everything was full, even the house 
with boarders and company. My hus- 
band, as he always does, came to my 
help. “Give them here,” he said, “I’ll 
fix them.” So he planted them in the 
bean patch, one-half mile from the 
house. The beans were a failure, ow- 
ing to an early September frost, but 
the Glads did finely. They were culti- 
vated once and weeded out once in 
August. That was all. Every bulb 
bloomed and they were lovely. Of 
course, I did not know the varieties but 
they were just as pretty. I left them 
in the ground until late in November 
and harvested a crop of huge bulbs 
which I ripened and dried off under the 
kitchen table, which proves that no 
one however busy need be without 
Gladiolus blooms for three months in 
succession. The last ones bloomed in 
the middle of October. They are well 
named Glads. 
Mrs. E. B. Murray. 
SOME VEGETABLE HINTS. 
The tough, leathery, outside leaves 
of head lettuce make a “greens” un- 
surpassed in quality and delicacy. 
Salsify is a plant not fully appreci- 
ated, every part of it being available. 
The roots, sliced, stewed, and creamed 
or made into soup with milk, are 
both nourishing and appetizing. The 
blanched lower ends of the leaves make 
a dainty green salad, and the remain- 
ing part of the leaves are fine to stew 
as greens. 
The bitter outside leaves of endive 
are a choice greens, similar in flavor to 
dandelion, but much milder, and the 
roots of the plant are a good addition. 
Wild lettuce is another greens similar 
in flavor to dandelion and much milder, 
and it comes very early in the spring. 
For all these greens, cream or butter, 
or both, make desirable dressings. 
37 
Turnips badly wilted from long stor- 
age still are much better than evapor- 
ated turnip, if tender at gathering 
time. Slice them into cold water and 
let them stand several hours. Then 
cook slowly. 
B. C. Auten. 
ABOUT DAHLIAS. 
In the January issue of The Flower 
Grower a reader states that he finds 
it impossible to dig and handle Dahlias 
without breaking or twisting the necks 
of tubers to some extent. My experi- 
ence has been that to break or twist 
the neck of a tuber is the exception 
not the rule and I have grown, dug and 
stored successfully hundreds of clumps 
of Dahlias. 
I do not dig Dahlia clumps immedi- 
ately after the tops have been frost- 
killed. (In my article in the October 
Flower Grower it should have read 
“ frost-killed ” instead of “ first killed ” 
as it was printed.) I leave the roots in 
the ground to ripen until the ground 
threatens to freeze hard. Then dig 
them, allow soil on them to dry, cut 
off tops and store. I believe that stor- 
ing tubers with the stalks down will, 
in a measure, prevent rotting of tubers 
as any surplus juices in the stalks will 
run out. I have been experimenting 
along this line, but when I wrote the 
“Bulb” article published in the October 
issue of The Flower Grower was not 
ready to report anything definite on 
this point. 
To be certain that tubers will grow, 
Dahlia clumps should not be divided 
until the sprouts appear in the spring. 
Then the dividing can be done intelli- 
gently and with the assurance that the 
tubers planted are likely to produce 
plants. 
Mrs. Bertha Berbert-Hammond. 
" WEB-FOOTED ” OR " CLUB-FOOTED ” 
GLADIOLUS BULBS. 
A very few of my Homestead Favor- 
ites and a heavy proportion of my 
Chicago Whites when blooming had 
what we called " web-footed ” buds. 
They were fastened together and were 
often bent to right or left of spike 
ruining them for sale. Can you tell 
me the cause of it ? I used liquid ma- 
nure quite heavily on these two varie- 
ties just before buds could be seen 
starting and thought that the special 
forcing at budding time might have 
caused this irregularity. 
W. Thurston Gibbs. 
The editor has adopted the name 
"club-footed" for the peculiar spikes 
referred to by Mr. Gibbs, and he has 
thought that it was a peculiarity of 
certain varieties rather than the result 
of special causes. Can anyone throw 
further light on this subject? 
Support to the premium list of the 
American Gladiolus Society for the 
next annual show in the shape of lib- 
eral premiums for exhibitors is a boost 
to the Gladiolus interests of the world 
at large. All growers should do some- 
thing for this prize list. 
