8 
^>l)e~nower (Brower 
January, 1920 
The Iris. 
A Suggested Program for The American Iris Society. 
By John C. Wister. 
Introduction. 
Some of the activities into which the 
American Iris Society should enter, are 
discussed in the following paper. It is 
realized that important points have 
been omitted, and that less important 
points have been given undue emphasis; 
and this paper is offered chiefly as a 
means of creating discussion, and of 
bringing out the sentiments of the Iris 
growers of the United States, who may 
become members of the Society. Sug- 
gestion and criticisms are invited and 
should be sent'to.. the Secretary, Dr. H. 
A. Gleason, Botanical Garden, Bronx 
Park, New York City. 
* # * * 
The American Iris Society is the re- 
sult of a long felt need among Iris 
growers, both amateur and profes- 
sional, for a central body to assemble 
all available information concerning 
Irises and Iris growing, to conduct 
research, to ascertain additional infor- 
mation, and to encourage in every way 
Iris growing in all parts of this country. 
I shall take up some of the suggested 
activities for this Society in the follow- 
ing order : 
I. Theoretical Work— 
1. Botany. 
2. History and Classification of 
Horticultural Varieties. 
3. History of Iris Growing. 
4. Cultural directions for differ- 
ent climates. 
5. Pests. 
II. Practical Work— 
1. Test Gardens and Exhibition 
Gardens. 
2. Iris Shows with suitable prizes. 
3. Publicity. 
I. Theoretical Work — 
1. Botany. 
Upon botanical knowledge must rest 
the foundation of any work dealing 
with plants. The great work of Mr.W. 
R. Dykes, “ The Genus Iris ” presents 
an exhaustive study of Iris botany. As 
the price of this work places it beyond 
the means of many persons, we be- 
lieve that the Society might make it 
available to its members by some sys- 
tem of traveling libraries. Another 
fine book is “ The Book of the Iris,” by 
R. Irwin Lynch. A less technical work 
is “ Irises,” by W. R. Dykes. There 
are, however, still many disputed bo- 
tanical points concerning which this 
society might conduct research. 
2. History and Classification of 
Garden Varieties. 
In this important subject there is no 
available authoritative material, and 
one of the first duties of the Society 
should be to make a thorough search 
for all possible information and as- 
semble it. Nursery catalogues are 
filled with hundreds of varieties, the 
origin of which is not now known, and 
many of these varieties are masquer- 
ading under several different names. 
Present methods of classification are 
entirely inadequate, and there are no 
standardized descriptions, many of the 
catalogue descriptions being so inaccu- 
rate as to be misleading. 
The Society should publish a cata- 
logue of all varieties in commerce, giv- 
ing name of originator, date of intro- 
duction, parentage, and synonyms, 
wherever these facts are ascertainable; 
it should describe them accurately by 
means of a color chart, state briefly their 
chief good and bad points. A start to- 
wards such a work is now being made, 
in the preparation of a check list of 
Bearded Iris, containing the names of 
over 900 varieties. 
3. History of Iris Growing. 
No coherent review of the history of 
Iris Growing, and of Iris Growers and 
Breeders has ever been published. In- 
formation as to the introduction of the 
various species can undoubtedly be 
found in botanical publications. Of 
the early beginnings of garden Irises 
little is known. The following review 
of the ascertainable history of Bearded 
Irises, will show how very fragmentary 
our knowledge is, and it is hoped it 
will suggest what great interest a real 
knowledge of history might bring to 
the lovers of the Iris. The history of 
the Rose is quite complete, and through 
the labors of Peony enthusiasts we now 
know fairly clearly the transition from 
the wild Peony, through the skill of 
French breeders during the last 100 
years, to the magnificent garden Peony 
of today. The story of the transition 
from the wild types of pumila, pallida, 
variegata to the modern Irises of our 
gardens, should prove equally fascina- 
ting. 
Note by the Editor : 'i 
Mr. Wister’s paper contains an outline of the I 
history of the achievements of various Iris l 
originators under the above heading which ! 
will be published as a separate article in a \ 
future issue of The Flower Grower. 
4. Cultural Directions. 
Garden varieties of Iris are easily 
grown and comparatively few direc- 
tions are needed in the older sections 
of the country. The introduction of 
varieties containing blood of new spe- 
cies such as Trojana and Ricardi, how- 
ever, opens up new problems of cli- 
matic suitability, soils and culture. 
Many species which are now practi- 
cally unknown in gardens, could be 
grown in many parts of the United 
States if their needs were understood. 
The Society should, through its test 
gardens in different parts of the 
country, collect and publish authorita- 
tive information on these subjects. 
5. Pests. 
Iris culture has been singularly free 
from serious diseases and insects. It 
would be folly, however, to assume 
that the Iris is immune from trouble, 
and the Society should by co-operation 
with entymologists and plant patholo- 
gists conduct research work on these 
subjects. The Iris worm or root borer 
is present in many parts of the country, 
root rot is often prevalent in wet sea- 
sons, but the two leaf diseases common 
in England have apparently not ap- 
peared here. 
II. Practical Work. 
1. Test Gardens. 
These are necessary for making 
descriptions, determining synonyms, 
judging varieties, and for making re- 
searches in cultural directions and in 
investigating insects or diseases. It is 
to be hoped that in time it may become 
the custom for new seedlings to be 
judged in these gardens by expert com- 
mittees, before they are named and in- 
troduced, for while we would like to 
have breeders produce ten times or 
even a hundred times as many seed- 
lings as they are producing at present, 
we must admit that at the present 
time too many varieties are being 
named and introduced. They fill our 
catalogues and our gardens and serve 
no useful purpose. High awards should 
be given to meritorious novelties, while 
the introduction of seedlings which 
have proven inferior should be dis- 
couraged, as should seedlings which 
while good in themselves are too close 
to existing varieties. 
The New York Botanical Garden, 
Bronx Park, New York City, will estab- 
lish next spring an Iris test garden, 
containing approximately two acres. 
The Director of the Garden has asked 
the Society to co-operate with him in 
establishing this garden and through 
his kindness this will become the So- 
ciety’s first test garden. Here there 
will be a permanent collection of all 
available species of Iris, and also of all 
available horticultural varieties to date. 
A special portion of the garden will be 
devoted to the testing of unnamed 
seedlings. Special committees of the 
Society will conduct various types of 
work in this garden, and members of 
the Society will be asked to contribute 
plants. The situation of the garden 
is ideal, and it will undoubtedly be 
visited by many thousands of people. 
The garden will be under the direct 
charge of Dr. H. A. Gleason, who has 
been one of the prime movers in the 
organization of the Iris Society. 
It is understood that Iris exhibition 
gardens have been begun in St. Louis 
and Minneapolis. As the Society 
grows older it should co-operate in 
every way with the directors of these 
gardens and should endeavor to have 
a public Iris garden established in every 
large city. Additional test gardens 
should also be established in the dif- 
ferent climatic sections of the country. 
2. Iris Shows with Suitable Prizes. 
The Society should hold its annual 
meeting each year at Iris time and 
should hold an exhibition in connec- 
tion with the meeting. Here prizes 
should be offered to nurserymen, pro- 
