July, 1918 "Dfye Jflow^r Grower 
A Peep at Glads Under the Ground. 
(From Catalogue of J. D. Long, Boulder, Colo.) 
T HERE’S A SAYING, you know, “You 
can’t eat the cake and keep it too.” 
Whoever started that didn’t know much 
about Glads. Glad bulbs will not only give 
your money’s worth in lovely, lasting, cut 
flowers but in the fall they cheerfully hand 
you back all your bulbs and then some. 
Every healthy Glad bulb produces a new 
one, (formed just above the old, which dies 
and shrivels up). Some will form two, three 
or four new bulbs. Then for good meas- 
ure many will often throw in some of the 
tiny bulblets, maybe several, may be a dozen 
or more. These bulblets should be saved 
and planted like peas the next spring. They 
make the best vigorous blooming bulbs in 
one to two years. 
Now look at these bulbs as they appeared 
when I pulled them out of the ground last 
fall. No. 1 is Pendleton, grown from a bulb- 
let. It is not a large bulb but is thick from 
top to bottom (indication of strong vitality) 
and will send up a good flower spike next 
year. Look closely and you will see that it 
has a clump of bulblets also. There is no 
rule for figuring on bulblets, but generally 
the younger the bulb the more bulblets it 
will make. 
No. 2 is a two-year old, grown from a 
very small “yearling” bulb, so small that 
the old bulb does not show. It has lots of 
bulblets also. This is Mrs. Francis King, a 
Preserving the Natural 
Green of Plants. 
A discovery of very great interest to 
botanists and others, has recently been 
made. As is well known when plants have 
been dried by any of the well known proc- 
esses (such as under pressure, in hot sand, 
or by sulfur fumes) the foliage loses most of 
its natural greenness. To get anything re- 
sembling a life-like effect, the leaves have 
had to be artificially colored and this plan 
has not proved to be very satisfactory. The 
difficulty has been entirely surmounted 
owing to the fact that it has been found 
possible to form a chemical compound with 
the chlorophyll which is permanent. The 
method adopted is on the following lines. 
A boiling solution of copper acetate and 
acetic acid is prepared. Into this the parts 
of the plants to be preserved are steeped. 
The acetate combines with the chlorophyll 
and forms a permanent coloring matter. 
Whatever the original shade of green may 
be this color is perfectly fixed. The drying 
process can then be carried forward. Where 
the particular method is that which pre- 
serves the form, as is the case when hot 
sand is used, the preserved plant is wonder- 
fully life-like. The steeping in the copper 
acetate appears to have no effect on the 
flowers. If the drying is carried out with 
sand or sulfur fumes the original hues are 
usually well preserved. 
The plan described above has also been 
employed in the preservation of seaweeds 
variety that multiplies very fast from bulb- 
lets. 
No. 3 is another King bulb, but grown 
from an old bulb of larger size. Notice the 
old bulb at the bottom. 
No. 4 and No. 5 illustrate how one bulb 
makes two and three new ones, formed on 
top of the old. These bulbs are flatter and 
not so strong for another year as No. 1, 2 
or 6. 
No. 6 is a bulb cleaned for selling and 
planting. The old bulb has been removed 
and stem cut off close to the bulb as in- 
dicated by the mark just above bulb. Notice 
this bulb is thick up and down. The thicker 
the bulb, the stronger; the flatter it is, the 
weaker. These are general rules only. Some 
varieties just naturally make thicker bulbs 
than others at any age. Princeps, for in- 
stance, makes very thick or conical bulbs, 
while Augusta and some others run more flat. 
When once you get the “ Glad fever” you 
can hardly wait until digging time to see 
what has been going on under the ground 
while you have been enjoying the flowers 
above. There are always surprises in store 
for you. One thing you can bank on, though, 
and that is your original investment and a 
mighty good accumulation of interest in the 
way of additional bulbs and bulblets. All 
this in addition to the flowers. Who said, 
“You can’t eat the cake and keep it too?” 
with excellent results. For the brown sea- 
weeds it has been found needful to add a 
little permanganate of potash to secure the 
best effect. With the red seaweeds certain 
stains are used but, when once the right 
color is secured, the copper acetate fixes it 
for all time. One great value of this plan is 
that the plants so treated do not suffer from 
exposure to light. After some months of 
standing in direct sunlight the treated speci- 
mens were as bright green as if they had 
just been freshly gathered .— Scientific Ameri- 
can. 
American Gladiolus Society. 
The prize list of the American Gladi- 
olus Society which appears on page 72 
is a very attractive one and it should 
bring out a large display of bloom. 
The time of the show is such that 
Gladioli should be at their height. 
Buffalo is a well located city for a 
Gladiolus show. Eastern growers can, 
any of them, easily reach Buffalo ; like- 
wise any of the Western growers as 
far as the Mississippi River or even in 
Minnesota or Iowa can show to ad- 
vantage and with assurance that their 
stock will show up well when staged 
in Buffalo. We urge that all who are 
interested in Gladioli should make an 
effort to display bloom at the Buffalo 
show. 
79 
iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiminiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMMi 
CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING. 
Growers having surplus stock for sale will find 
this department effective in disposing of it. Five 
lines (.about forty words) $1.00 per insertion. Ad- 
ditional lines 15c. each. 
W E. KIRCHHOFFCO., Pembroke, N.Y.. growers 
• of the finest Gladioli, such as Pendleton, Pan- 
ama, Niagara, Pink Perfection, Europa, Mrs. Fryer, 
War, Peace, etc. Correspondence solicited. 
M UNSELL & HARVEY, Ashtabula, Ohio, growers 
of GLADIOLI and PEONIES. Would appreci- 
ate your order for Peony roots for fall delivery, at 
least the request for a price list. 
CTAMP COLLECTORS— I have stamps to exchange 
for any part of several hundred each of Tulips, 
Iris, Lilies, Gladioli, Narcissus, Jonquil, Peony and 
other hardy bulbs, Grapes, Berries, Hydrangea, 
Snowball, etc. What have you? 
L. Ray Starkweather, R. D. No. 3. Rockford. III. 
j W. F. SHEARER j 
Gladiolus Growe r 
| 504 Snuth College St. Angola, Ind. | 
Vaughan’s Seed Store 
CHICAGO NEW YORK 
Importers and Growers of all Bulbs 
CAT A JAW ant/ SPECIAL 1‘RJCES FREE 
Our deliveries of Dutch Bulbs last year was a re- 
markable record of prompt and accurate handling. 
GLEN P. HOWARD 
IOWA GROWN 
GLADIOLI 
Box 524 HARLAN, IOWA 
GLADIOLUS “MRS. WATT” 
AND OTHER CHOICE VARIETIES.. 
HOMER F. CHASE 
Grower o( Gladioli 
Wilton ... New Hampshire 
Colorado Grown Bulbs & Seed 
Specialize on 
Dahlias, Cannas, Gladioli 
H. E. Mason, - - Rocky Ford, Colo. 
IRIS and PEONIES 
Our Iris list contains only those varieties that 
have artistic blending of delicate shades. They 
may well be called the "Poor Man’s Orchid." 
Our Peony list contains only those varieties 
that have proven popular and warrant planting 
in every garden. 
Both these flowers are very hardy and need 
no winter protection, unless it be in very ex- 
posed locations. Send for list and make your 
choice. We will send cultural directions and 
PREPAY expressage on all orders received be- 
fore AUG. 1. 
ORCHADOTTE FARMS 
Box M West Point, Pa. 
