30 
Slower (Brower 
nuERiES - 1 answers 
H ^E= department ==-T 
IIIIIIIIIIIIIMIIIIIIII 
[This department of The Flower Grower is intended to be one of its most helpful and 
valuable features. All questions asked in good faith and which are of general interest will 
have careful attention. The full name and address of the writer must be given, but not 
for publication.] — Editor. . 
Do Gladioli in Mixed Bed 
Affect Each Other? 
To the Editor 
I am inclined to believe that in a mixed 
bed of Gladioli containing red and dark 
purple there is a tendency for the entire lot 
to become dark colored. If the dark colored 
ones were cut off as they appeared would 
that eliminate the trouble ? These Gladioli 
are Groff’s hybrids, mixed, so that I cannot 
separate them before planting, but I thought 
that by cutting off the dark flowers as they 
came into bloom it would prevent the pollen 
from mixing, and the lighter flowers would 
not be affected. 
M. E., Iowa. 
Answer : — I do not think it possible 
for red varieties of Gladioli to affect 
light varieties because of their being 
planted together or near each other, 
and I have never heard of such a thing. 
What happens is that dark colored 
sorts are apt to be stronger growers 
than the light colored kinds and if 
these two colors are in a mixture the 
dark colors will predominate in a few 
years, simply because they multiply 
much faster and perhaps some of the 
light colored plants die out or are very 
shy producers, and it would seem that 
the light colored ones have turned 
dark, whereas the latter have simply 
disappeared altogether or have simply 
held their own while the dark ones 
multiplied and thus predominated the 
mixture. — I. S. H. in Florists' Exchange. 
Temperature for Holding 
Cut Flowers— Shipping Boxes. 
To the Editor : — 
From your experience what temperature 
seems best for storing cut spikes of Gladioli, 
and when shipping to the flower shows are 
corrugated boxes safe packed tightly in hot 
August weather with no openings or ventila- 
tion ? 
F. M. H. 
Answer : — The temperature at which 
cut Gladioli should be stored before 
shipping would depend on how long 
they need to be kept. A temperature 
of 50 F. is low enough for short carry 
and we would not put them in a lower 
temperature than this unless they were 
to be kept a week or more. When cut 
two or three weeks in advance of the 
flower shows they may be stored at a 
temperature of 38 to 40 whereas those 
which are cut only a few days before 
the show should go into a temperature 
of 50 to 55 . 
While we have not used corrugated 
paper boxes for shipping cut bloom to 
flower shows, yet such boxes are often 
used for this purpose. Most any pack- 
age will answer that is strong enough 
to protect the rather heavy load of cut 
bloom, and there is no necessity for 
ventilation so far as our experience 
goes. Some growers pack their stock 
rather tightly, but in rather thin layers, 
not more than two or possibly three 
inches thick, each layer in trays, the 
trays in tight wooden boxes. Our own 
preference is for shipping in metal 
cans containing water, the cans in 
crates, with the spikes standing up- 
right, and they should be packed quite 
tightly to prevent moving about in the 
crate. The crates are open at the top 
which gives ventilation to the top of 
the spike. The spikes are done up in 
bundles of about twenty to twenty-five 
each wrapped with newspapers, the 
bundles open at the top, and also at 
the bottom, of course, where the stems 
set into the water. A description of 
this crate will be given in some issue 
of The Flower Grower between now 
and cut flower time. 
MHiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiaiiiiiitiiiHiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiHiiiimiiiimiiiiiHiniiiiiimmi; 
The Glad Philosopher’s 
| Musings. 
iiiiiMiiiiiiiimiiiiiniiiiHiHHiiiiiiMimiiiiiiniiniiMiniiiiiiiiiiiMiMiiMiiniiimiiiiiiiiiiim” 
Mr. Lee R. Bonnewitz, a prosperous 
merchant of Van Wert, Ohio, is an 
amateur Peony enthusiast who spends 
much of his spare time in his garden. 
One day, one of his business associates 
found him there at work, and asked 
him with surprise, “ Mr. Bonnewitz, 
why are you doing this kind of work ?” 
“ My dear sir,” replied Mr. Bonnewitz, 
“ I am working in these Peonies now 
so that when I am eighty years old I 
shall have grown into a happy, like- 
able old gentleman.” 
And the Glad Philosopher predicts 
that he will attain the eighty years, 
and then some, for there is no surer 
form of life insurance than the very 
hobby that Mr. Bonnewitz has adopted. 
Going up street the other day I met 
an old friend, a happy-faced bright- 
eyed young man of ninety years, plus 
two or three more, walking w'ithout a 
cane, and whistling as merrily as a 
schoolboy. As a list of this venerable 
gentleman’s friends would embrace 
the name of every person who ever 
March, 1919 
knew him, I am impelled to express 
my belief that a likeable old gentleman 
is one who never practiced in his earlier 
years the gentle art of making enemies. 
Some years ago a merchant of my 
acquaintance broke down in health 
because of too close attention to busi- 
ness with no relaxations — the inev- 
itable result — and became morose and 
neurasthenic. He began taking long 
walks into the country, but as he al- 
ways went alone and kept his eyes 
fixed on the ground, his walking did 
little for his condition. One day late 
in autumn, while out on a botanical 
jaunt, I saw him coming and knowing 
that the adoption of some interesting 
out-door hobby would do him a world 
of good, I halted him and casually 
called his attention to some of the wild 
flowers growing around us. I plucked 
ladies’ tresses and showed him the 
peculiarly twisted racemes of fragrant, 
waxy flowers that give this beautiful 
little orchid its charm. Failing seem- 
ingly to arouse his interest I deter- 
mined to have another try, and spying 
some bottle gentians I called his atten- 
tion to their unusual deep, rich violet- 
blue color and the peculiar freakish 
formation of their closed corollas Still 
no sympathetic response. I told him 
of the pleasure I got from walking 
and forming acquaintance as I walked 
with the wild flowers and the birds. 
He listened respectfully, grunted and 
passed on, head down as before. “Poor 
devil,” I thought, “I cannot help but 
pity you after all.” And he, probably, 
as considerately pitied me ! 
John Zeestraten, of Mansfield, Mass., 
the well-known Gladiolus grower, keeps 
chickens which are allowed to roam 
over his place. One day last fall, J. Z. 
had some bulbs of one of his choicest 
varieties out curing in the sun when 
one of his hens came along and 
greedily ate up all the bulblets. In- 
stead of bemoaning his luck or bewail- 
ing his loss, or even indulging in a 
riotous outburst of profanity as some 
might have done, John, being a re- 
sourceful man, grabbed the ax and 
started after that hen. After several 
laps around the barn he caught the 
culprit, cut off her head, removed the 
precious bulblets from her crop, and 
the next day the Zeestraten family had 
chicken for dinner. 
The Glad Philosopher. 
! BULBLET SPECIAL j 
2 Pendleton, exquisite salmon pink with blood { 
| red blotch. 100, 25c.; 500, $1.00; 1000, $1.75. j 
! Schwaben, sulphur vellow, extra fine, strong, [ 
j 100, 25c.; 500, $1.00; 1000, $1.75. | 
• Prince of Wales, gorgeous salmon, scarce, I 
• 100, $1.00: 500, $4.75; 1000, $9.00. 
ALL POSTPAID ANYWHERE. 
Raymond M. Champe 
| Walled Lake. Oakland County. Michigan | 
2 New and Rare Bulbs and Hardy Plants of Proven Merit 2 
t Gladioli, Dahlias. Darwin Tulips, Iris, Peonies. Phlox j 
