June, 1918 
65 
Obc Slower (Brower 
WAYSIDE RAMBLINGS 
GIVING EXTRA CORMS WITH ORDERS. 
Following the formula of the politi- 
cal platform writer, “ We view with 
alarm ” the sentiments of a paragraph 
in the April Flower Grower in regard 
to the extra corms for trial sometimes 
contributed by growers when filling 
their orders. “ Somewhat of a nui- 
sance ” and “ not much of a kindness !” 
No, no; far be it from such! To the 
amateur Gladiolus grower whose profit 
consists only in the pleasure derived 
therefrom, one of the greatest sources 
of satisfaction comes from the almost 
infinite variety of forms and color com- 
binations in which the modern Gladi- 
olus is produced. As each blooming 
season approaches, it finds the enthusi- 
ast bending over his “ new ones ” 
awaiting their advent with impatience, 
knowing that his favorite flower will 
come in some new form and dress to 
delight his soul. Large indeed would 
his garden and his purse need to be 
should he purchase and grow every 
variety offered but, if the grower, in his 
confidence that he has something that 
will please his customer, shall put in 
with his shipment a sample corm or 
two, the amateur welcomes the same 
and crowded indeed will his garden be 
if he does not find a little spot in which 
to give these samples a trial. And per- 
chance this contributed corm shall pro- 
duce a flower whose charm will so 
appeal to his asthetic nature that next 
season he adds many of its kind to his 
collection and is thankful that the 
grower has brought it to his attention. 
If it does not please, he casts it aside 
having lost nothing by the trial as he 
feels it costs him nothing. 
Then, too, if a single corm be a nui- 
sance to grow, what shall be said of the 
collections offered by some of our 
greatest growers. One, the writer has 
in mind, offers his wonderful produc- 
tions in collections of one each of from 
twenty to forty varieties. Twenty to 
forty nuisances? Indeed, no ! Twenty 
to forty joys, a joy for each new va- 
riety should the amateur be fortunate 
enough to have them bloom in his 
garden. C. S. 
Note by the Editor— 
“ C. S.” has not adhered very closely to his 
text in commenting on the article in ques- 
tion as may be ascertained by referring to 
the short editorial in the April issue. How- 
ever, we are pleased to give space to his 
comments hoping to hear from others who 
have opinions on this subject. 
MANY DIVISIONS OF GLADIOLUS CORMS. 
Referring to article entitled “Seven 
Gladiolus Corms from One,” on page 
33 of your March edition we wish to 
make the following statement accom- 
panied by photograph, of the perform- 
ance of a corm which we have desig- 
nated as seedling number 286. 
This seedling corm was two inches 
in size when it was planted in the au- 
tumn of 1916 with 200 other white 
varieties of corms. It went through 
the most severe frosts known in this 
country without damage while over 
half of the other varieties were entirely 
ruined. 
This seedling. No. 286, produced eight 
flowering spikes. The main one was 6 ft. 
high and the other seven nearly 4 feet 
each, the individual flowers being 
over six inches in diameter, of a glisten- 
ing snow white color without the least 
trace of marking, the best color secured 
from the whole 200 white seedlings; in 
fact the best white we have yet pro- 
duced. From this bulb we harvested 
eight large bulbs which together weigh 
17 ounces, one 1 inch bulb and 83 corm- 
lets. 
Richard Diener. 
VARIOUS COMMENTS AND SUGGESTIONS 
ON DIGGING, LABELING, ETC. 
I want to congratulate you on the ap- 
pearance of The Flower Grower 
which seems to get better each month. 
You made a good move when you en- 
larged the publication, the only trouble 
being that the new form will not stack 
up very well with the bound volumes of 
the old size. 
That little item about prognosticat- 
ing an early spring seems to hardly 
apply in this middle section of Indiana. 
The ground worked beautifully by 
March 14th, and on the 16th I planted 
some 6,000 cormels of named varieties 
of Gladioli. 
I have used more care than usual 
this year, spacing the cormels about 
f-inch apart. Of course this would be 
too big a job for a large grower, but I 
have not been altogether pleased with 
the development of many of the cor- 
mels, when scattered haphazard in the 
trenches. Where they happened to 
drop very close together, some would 
make quite sizable corms, while others 
would hardly increase in size. 
My soil is so heavy that I have found 
a shallow layer of sand in the bottoms 
of the trenches to be a great labor 
saver when it comes to harvesting the 
crop. One can run a spade right along 
in the sand layer, turn the spadeful of 
soil over, and the little corms are ex- 
posed to view and easy to pick out. 
My method is to get rid of all the 
soil I can, then place the corms in a 
riddle and wash thoroughly with water 
from the hose, then spread out thinly 
to dry. They are exposed to the out- 
of-doors air for a day, then spread on 
papers in the attic, where they lie for 
two to four weeks before being cleaned 
up. 
Brought down, a batch at a time, 
the cleaning off of roots, separation by 
varieties and sizes and labeling makes 
pleasant occupation for the early fall 
evenings. 
Last fall I made one mix-up. Got 
my Canary Birds in with some Mrs. 
Francis Kings, which I very much re- 
gretted. There were a good many 
more of the latter variety than I cared 
to grow, but I wanted to save the fifty- 
five Canary Birds, so there is nothing 
to do but plant the entire lot and label 
the plants in the rows when they bloom. 
This is the first time I have been troub- 
led with mixing, and it will make me 
doubly careful this year. 
Continual care is required to avoid 
mixing, and once it is done the trouble 
is generally beyond remedy. If the 
corms happen to be of decided colors, 
like Mrs. Frank Pendleton and Brench- 
lyensis, for instance, they can be easily 
distinguished. 
I carry a pencil and paper in my 
pocket and make notations of the num- 
ber of each variety as planted, with the 
row number. When a row is finished, 
a permanent record is made in a 
loose leaf book, kept in a special 
drawer of my desk. Having only a 
few corms of quite a number of varie- 
ties, rows will sometimes have as many 
as twenty kinds in them. Spaces 
are left between the varieties so 
there will be no danger of mixing in 
digging the corms, and stakes driven 
in the spaces. 
All this will not interest the large 
grower, but may help the little fellow 
some. Our neighborhood is blessed 
with many children. Usually they 
have the run of the place, but when the 
time comes to harvest the Gladioli, the 
kids have to "keep off the grass.” 
There is too much grief connected 
with shifting a label into the wrong 
batch. 
Harmon W. Marsh. 
Mr. Marshall, author of the article, 
"A Rose Garden”, in our April issue 
writes us as a matter of information 
that he has recently discovered two 
immense Roses climbing over a house 
top and that they were a mass of pink 
blossoms in March. These were planted 
when the house was built in 1838. This, 
we imagine, is quite an argument in 
favor of hardy climbing Roses. We 
wonder if it could be discovered 
what variety of Roses was able to make 
the long life indicated. 
