February, 1919 
Slower (Brower 
WAYSIDE RAMBLINGS 
COLOR CLASSIFICATION AT FLOWER 
SHOWS. 
To the Editor 
I quite agree with Mr. Meader in 
that the Boston Flower show is not the 
only one where errors are made in color 
classification. Nearly every show that 
I have attended has had the same 
faults. 
Of course we all agree that the 
Judges’ decision must and will stand 
but we have a perfect right to our 
opinions and also a perfect right to ex- 
press them (in America) and to call 
attention to these errors that the shows 
may be better in future. 
Does Mr. Meader mean to say that 
Independence should be classed as a 
pink, Schwaben and Pres. Taft as striped 
varieties just because Judges have 
awarded first prizes on them in those 
classes? I sent the Superintendent of 
the show at Hartford a copy of the 
Official Bulletin and there was some 
improvement this year, the main 
trouble at all shows being, to my mind, 
the fact that the Judges are not Gladi- 
olus growers and suppose that the 
growers who show have entered prop- 
erly. 
Regarding Scarsdale which for two 
years has won first as both lilac and 
mauve, Mr. Meader asks who should 
be disqualified and very discreetly 
leaves the question unanswered. We 
entered it as lilac because the Judges 
of that show decided last year that this 
was the proper class for it. Neverthe- 
less the American Gladiolus Society 
Bulletin gives the color as “Rosy Ma- 
genta,” neither lilac nor mauve. 
As no prizes are offered for Rosy 
Magenta, therefore, we cannot prop- 
erly show Scarsdale at all, unless Scars- 
dale belongs to the general class of 
lilac or mauve. We contend that it 
belongs in the lilac class. 
Mr. Meader states that the descrip- 
tions given by the nomenclature com- 
mittee of the American Gladiolus So- 
ciety are confusing and complex. 
We changed our catalog description 
to correspond with the official descrip- 
tion but in a very simplified form, giv- 
ing the color of the perianth or the 
main color of the flower only and if 
other growers would do the same and 
follow the classification of the Society 
we might arrive at some uniformity, 
to the general advantage of the trade. 
As Mr. Meader is an official of the 
American Gladiolus Society I will ask 
him to bring before the next conven- 
tion the matter of properly dividing 
into general classes of white, crimson, 
scarlet, red, blue, lilac, mauve, etc., the 
commonly grown varieties as a basis 
for future exhibits. The publications 
of this society are very valuable and 
the only basis that we have to work 
upon so far. The addition above re- 
ferred to for general use would be of 
great advantage to every grower. 
C. W. Brown. 
FLOWERS IN WAR TIME. IN PRAISE OF 
THE GLADIOLUS. 
Sitting around the fire last Xmas the 
question of Flowers vs. Vegetables 
came up for discussion and I mentioned 
that I intended to still further reduce 
the number of Gladioli in my garden 
this year. Whereupon my brother-in- 
law remarked : “ If you have any 
corms to spare I wish you would send 
a few to Mrs. H , she did so ad- 
mire the blooms you sent her last 
year.” I made a note of the address, 
and later on I made up a parcel con- 
taining a good assortment, and I had 
forgotten the incident until this morn- 
ing when I received the following let- 
ter from the lady : 
16th Aug., 1918. 
“ I want to tell you what a great 
deal of pleasure your beautiful present of 
Gladioli has given us. There seems to be 
no end to the variety of colors from palest 
salmon through coral, crimson, scarlet, pink, 
saffron, and a most beautiful vivid white, 
with almost green buds and crimson inside, 
they are just lovely and my daughter cuts 
them when they have opened nearly to the 
end and puts them on my table. 
“ Of course they have had very little care 
or attention as most of our energies are de- 
voted to the production of the dullest pos- 
sible of crops, and so we have appreciated 
this glorious wealth of bloom which has 
come without toil to us.” 
The lady had had no previous experi- 
ence in the growing of Gladioli, but no 
doubt she followed very carefully the 
printed instructions when planting the 
corms, and nature did the rest. There 
is no room to doubt that when happier 
times return to us this lady and her 
daughters will become ardent cultiva- 
tors of the Gladiolus. 
Smilax. 
GLADIOLI FOR RED CROSS. 
Last year, having a surplus of Gladi- 
olus flowers, I offered the local Red 
Cross what they could sell one Saturday. 
One of the drug stores was used for the 
sale and the young ladies and school 
girls did the selling. Only ordinary 
prices were asked and twenty-five dol- 
lars was realized. This year, being 
very busy, I did not get around to it 
as soon as I should and no advertising 
was done ; but the flowers were dis- 
played at the curb on Main street, a 
hand bell was rung and a “ sandwich 
man” marched on the sidewalk. Seven- 
teen dollars was realized. If the work 
had been properly organized more 
could have been made, but what we 
did was very easily done. 
Geo. S. Woodruff. 
PAINTED WOOD LABELS. 
I had some Dahlias (or Dahlia tubers 
rather) that I planted with the labels 
on them, the ordinary plant label cop- 
per wired and painted one side with 
the name written on them with an or- 
dinary pencil. 
17 
This was year before last, and after 
a season’s growth the tubers were dug 
and separated, and two or three of the 
labels were removed from the old roots, 
and as they seemed quite fresh and 
legible I fastened them back on the 
fresh tubers to see how they would 
stand another "burial.” When dug 
those inscriptions although very faint 
could be distinctly read. 
I have used unpainted labels in rogue- 
ing Glads and those that were put on 
early in the season were so weather 
beaten and mildewed they were almost 
if not quite indecipherable at harvest 
time. 
H. E. Meader. 
UTILIZING GLADIOLUS TOPS. 
They are left in the field until thor- 
oughly dried, and then raked up and 
put in piles, and left in the field until 
conditions are right for mulching a 
variety of plants. Most plants should 
not be mulched until the ground has 
frozen a few inches deep. When the 
ground is frozen so that a team will not 
break through it is a good time to 
mulch plants. 
Gladiolus tops make a very good 
mulch, and as they are free from foul 
seeds they are doubly valuable on that 
account. 
Here plenty of barnyard manure is 
available; and the tops are burned in 
the field on the larger plots. A dry, 
windy day is selected, and the wind 
must blow lengthwise of the rows. If 
the conditions are just right quite an 
acreage can be burned over in a very 
short time. 
Willis E. Fryer. 
Herman Kirscht, Pleasantville, N. J., 
sends us the above photograph of a 
quintuple Mrs. Francis King bulblet. 
These Gladiolus freaks are interesting 
and this one is especially uncommon. 
L. H. Read, Deer Park, Ala., sends 
us a Gladiolus freak. It consists of an 
old dead corm which had been removed 
from the new corm for several weeks. 
Mr. Read noticed that one of the eyes 
that had remained dormant all sum- 
mer had started to grow. He laid the 
old corm aside to watch further de- 
velopments and gradually five or six 
small corms were formed, the largest 
of which is nearly an inch in diameter. 
