January, 1920 
any other single pink one here. It 
should have 7 or 8 blooms on each 
stem, the largest full 9 in. across with 
a 3 in. downy golden cushion in the 
center entirely concealing the stigmas 
which others do not. 
Elwood Pleas is as yet the prettiest 
solidly double, light shell pink, similar 
but larger and more floriferous than 
Richardson’s Grandiflora, a close rival. 
This has never once failed to bear 6 to 
to 9 blooms on each stem, for me, of 
largest size. Jubilee, Opal and Jewel 
are very similar, all full double white. 
No one can surpass Quaker Lady in 
delicate beauty. It is a large, fluffy, 
full double pure white suffused with 
lake or crimson, prettier if that is pos- 
sible, than a pure white, just tinted, 
and does not fade whiter. Gem is my 
own best deep crimson, quite similar 
to Grover Cleveland, and there is no 
better of its color. None have so broad 
guard petals as Mary, favoring a large 
ball before opening into a solid double 
center, half globe, the guards extend- 
ing like a saucer with an inverted cup, 
all one shade clear pink. No other is 
so pure a pink. White Swan is by far 
the prettiest snow white single, having 
light green, smooth carpels, fully ex- 
posed, with pure white, hooked tips, 
surrounded with its golden stamens, 
the contrasting colors, white, yellow 
and green are exceedingly beautiful. 
I am very partial to the little Japs, 
for their long season of bloom, their 
oddity and their delightful fragrance. 
Novelty, first called Alpha & Omega, 
because “ first and last ” the longest 
in bloom, very sweet, white with 
shades of pink, rose and yellow, with 
stamens showing, 4 storied. My Altar 
Candles is well named clustered chan- 
deliers, burning without consuming 
sweetest incense from Sabbath to Sab- 
bath, growing more beautiful in death, 
when it scatters its candles of alabaster 
purity without extinguishing their 
flame, on the bosom of mother earth 
as a sacrificial offering to its foster 
mother. They rattle off like so many 
toothpicks before wilting. 
Dr. Edgar Pleas is another even 
prettier little Jap, with fine clusters of 
bloom, light pink guards, center peta- 
loids bright canary, fading white when 
at its best. After plant is strong the 
narrow yellow petaloids put on airs 
by developing a wide, curved plume of 
pure white, much wider than the yel- 
low petaloids themselves, midway on 
the petaloids; resembling the plumes 
on the “Mums,” hence its name. I 
first called it Ostrich Plume. 
Before coming to California, I sold 
most of my best kinds to Mrs. William 
Crawford, La Porte, Ind., then an ama- 
teur, now a professional and an enthu- 
siastic member of the American Peony 
Society. She has made a very close 
and careful study of the best kinds on 
the market, trying such as she thought 
the best and may be depended on to 
send good plants true to name. She is 
a worthy devotee, donating her entire 
cut of bloom to the Red Cross fund in 
her town, cutting all bloom herself, she 
turned over $60 at night on Memorial 
Day, so said the public press. 
I have 15 or more good ones, fully as 
I3l)£~3Flow<ir (Browar 
pretty to the genuine beauty lover : 
Sarah, Ralph, Lady Emily, Rosy Morn, 
Lady Iris and Midsummer Night’s 
Dream with Madam Pleas are among 
the best. 
I never had but 1,300 all told of my 
own seedlings. Any boy or girl may 
do as well in growing seedlings. We 
do not wait for results, we plant and 
they do the waiting, and remember a 
Peony lives for generations, if not 
killed. Elwood Pleas and I had been 
married near 50 years when we planted 
ours. Jubilee was our golden wedding 
Peony. 
One of the most experienced Peony 
growers in the West advises against 
the use of barnyard manure on Peonies, 
and states that some varieties have 
been killed in this way. Too much 
fertilizer, animal or commercial, such 
as bone meal, lime, &c., is likely to 
cause indigestion just as surely as an 
all cream diet will cause the stomach- 
ache in a baby. 
The authority above quoted advises 
to plant in new ground and cultivate 
thoroughly, cover with forest leaves 
and let them rot and work them into 
the soil between the rows. Cultiva- 
tion should not be deep enough to dis- 
turb the roots. When plants are four 
to six inches high a handful of hard 
wood ashes evenly spread in a circle 
around the plant, and not on the plant, 
will give better stems. 
Peony Seed. 
Peony seed for planting must be picked as 
soon as it is brown. If allowed to dry it will 
take much longer to germinate if it will 
germinate at all. As soon as picked, put in 
sand or soil until time to plant— this pre- 
vents its drying. — Wisconsin Horticulture. 
History of Gladiolus Primulinus. 
Gladiolus lovers in this country (and they 
are legion) will be interested in the follow- 
ing account of the origin of the Primulinus 
Hybrids which appeared in the Gardeners’ 
Chronicle of England : 
“ It may be desirable to place on record, 
before they are forgotten, the facts connected 
with the origin of the Primulinus group of 
Gladioli, as it comprises some of the most 
beautiful and decorative flowers at present 
grown. 
During the construction of the important 
railway bridge across the gorge of the Zam- 
besi, in Rhodesia— of which Sir Charles 
Metcalfe, Bart., and Sir Douglas Fox and 
Partners were the engineers the resident 
engineer, Mr. S. F. Townsend, found certain 
flowers, which were growing under the spray 
of the Victoria Falls, and which seemed to 
thrive notwithstanding the deluge of water 
which very soon soaked the discoverer to the 
skin during his efforts to obtain them. 
Being a gardener, Mr. Townsend kindly 
sent, in 1902, four corms, by post, to me 
but not knowing what they were, he was 
unable to give any clue as to the treatment 
they required. As, however, they came from 
Central Africa, and were therefore accus- 
tomed to heat, and to almost continual mois- 
ture from the Victoria Falls, my head gar- 
dener, Mr. John Richards, and I decided that 
we would afford them a high temperature 
and wet treatment. 
On December 1, 1903, we were rewarded 
by the appearance of three or four spikes of 
bloom of a delicate and beautiful form, with 
leaves very similar to those of Montbretia 
11 
the plants standing about two feet in height. 
The flowers were of a rich, butter yellow, 
self colored, with five petals, the center petal 
of which was bent down or depressed, form- 
ing a hood over the pistil and stamens and 
thus protecting the pollen from falling spray. 
It was evidently due to this peculiarity, and 
provision of such a remarkable character, 
that the plant thrived and increased under 
apparently most unpromising conditions. 
One of the spikes was immediately sent by 
messenger to the then Director of the Royal 
Botanical Gardens at Kew, Sir William 
Thiselton Dyer, and a letter was brought 
back of which the following is an extract: 
“December 1, 1903 — Your beautiful speci- 
men arrived in perfect condition and gave 
us all much pleasure. It is a Gladiolus of a 
type which is rather widely spread in 
tropical Africa and comes apparently very 
close to one named G. Primulinus, but from 
an horticultural point of view it seems to us 
quite unique and a brilliant discovery. I 
hope, if you are disposed to part with any of 
them, you will give Kew the first chance. 
It ought to be the starting point of a new race 
of the garden Gladiolus. I must congratu- 
late you on the brilliant success of your 
cultural treatment, which could not have 
been surpassed here.” 
Some of the corms were then sent, not 
only to Kew, but to the Physic Garden at 
Chelsea, to the Botanical Gardens at Cam- 
bridge and Edinburgh, as well as to growers 
of Gladioli, such as Messrs. J. Kelway & Son, 
and R. Wallace and Co., in England ; to 
Groff, of Simcoe, Canada ; and also to Hol- 
land, Belgium, and the United States, as it 
was felt that it would be in the interests of 
horticulture and all flower-loving people that 
the widest publicity should be given this 
plant. This form of G. Primulinus was illus- 
trated in The Gardener’s Magazine, Sept. 3, 
1904, under the name of Gladiolus Maid of 
the Mist ; and in the Botanical Magazine, t. 
8080 (June, 1906. ) 
Attempts were made at once to hybridise 
the plant, crossing it with Gladiolus ganda- 
vensis and others, and in about three years 
some of the most beautiful plants resulted, 
the flowers ranging from pure white to 
butter yellow, with rich carmine, reds, 
browns, and cream tints, and others with 
yellow segments streaked with red. The 
interesting fact that the hooded petal is re- 
tained, and that the lovely yellow of the 
African plant is the predominant color, add 
greatly to the beauty of the flowers. 
The vigor and physique of the English va- 
rieties were imparted to the following gen- 
erations, with the result that certain plants 
have grown to a height of eight feet. 
For decorative purposes, I know of nothing 
to surpass these new additions to our flower 
garden ; a few spikes in a suitable vase, 
placed in the center of a table, with electric 
light falling on them, form an exquisite 
picture, and fully corroborates Sir William 
Dyer’s prediction that G. Primulinus would 
prove the commencement of an entirely new 
family of Gladioli. 
From the abov4 it will be seen that a period 
of seventeen years has elapsed from the 
date of discovery. 
We learn that the time and place of 
the meeting for organizing the Ameri- 
can Iris Society will be at 11 A. M., 
Jan. 29th, 1920, in the Museum Build- 
ing of the New York Botanical Garden, 
Bronx Park, New York City. The 
Botanical Garden is reached by the 
Third Avenue Elevated, Bronx Park 
Station; or by Subway to 149th St., 
Third Avenue, transferring there to the 
Elevated ; or by the Harlem Division 
of the New York Central Railroad, 
direct from Grand Central Station to 
Botanical Garden Station. 
