1898 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
161 
D. S. Marvin, on page 97 of Tub R. 
N.-Y. reports a 13-petaled gladiolus 
flower as a rare novelty. In my experi¬ 
ence, “ double ” gladioli are more com¬ 
mon than is generally supposed. I have 
grown annually, for the past 10 years, 
from 3,000 to 10,000 gladioli, all from 
hand-pollenized seeds, and have seldom 
failed to find some flowers with dupli¬ 
cate petals among the successive batches 
of seedlings as they came into bloom. 
At first, I was disposed to regard them 
as unwelcome monstrosities, and dis¬ 
carded them ; but latterly I have pre¬ 
served some of the best, which are not 
without a special attractiveness. I have 
never seen all the flowers on a particular 
spike double ; neither, as in Mr. Marvin’s 
case, are the number of petals equal in 
all the abnormal blooms. The petals 
may number from 8 to 20, but the most 
pleasing and symmetrical flowers always 
have 12 petals, two stigmas and six 
stamens, in truth, a “double” bloom, 
as there are twice as many of the con¬ 
spicuous organs as in normal blooms. 
If the flower happens to be large, and 
of good, clear coloring, the effect is very 
pretty ; to some extent resembling a 
richly tinted water lily. The flowers 
with duplicated petals seem to form, in 
most instances, near the end of the 
spike, where the development of buds 
begins to be arrested. 
Twin, or double buds, growing side 
by side, are very common on the spikes 
producing abnormal blooms ; indeed, 
the attractive “double’’form seems to 
result from the coalescing of two such 
buds. The flowers with an odd number 
of petals usually result from the petaloid 
transformation of stamens, and are sel¬ 
dom regular or pleasing in outline. As 
Mr. Marvin fears, it is difficult to fix the 
character of these forms. When grown 
for a series of years, the corms and ac¬ 
companying offsets are found to be as 
likely to produce racemes having all the 
flowers single, as to reproduce the 
“ double ” forms. I find the abnormal 
blooms more often developed when a 
dry spell occurs at blooming time after 
a period of warm, wet weather. I have 
grown for two years the double varie¬ 
ties originated by Luther Burbank, of 
California. They do not appear to have 
the doubling tendency much better fixed 
than many of my own seedlings, though 
many fine, perfect flowers appear on 
most of the plants each season. The 
type “ California,” and the varieties 
originating from it, are in my estima¬ 
tion, much more valuable for their 
peculiar, dense, hyacinth-like formation 
of the spike, and the dwarf, compact 
growth, than for the characteristic of 
producing double flowers. 
Several years ago, an amateur in Bel¬ 
gium originated and sent out a gladiolus 
more truly “ double,” in the popular ac¬ 
ceptation of the term, than any other 
I have yet seen. It is known as “ Presi¬ 
dent de Seydewitz,” and is a strong¬ 
growing variety, producing flowers hav¬ 
ing from 10 to 30 petals, many of which 
are transformed stamens. The spikes 
are usually more or less abortive, only a 
few blooms being developed, while the 
tip fades. The flowers are fairly large, 
but irregular in form and of a rather un¬ 
pleasant, ashy rose color. It remains the 
most constant double-flowering gladio¬ 
lus yet sent out. 
Complaint is made in “ Ruralisms,” 
page 80, by Rev. Dr. Garlick, of Vir¬ 
ginia, that the new rose, Crimson Ram¬ 
bler, is worthless because it did not 
grow with him last year. Reports of 
this nature are very common, and the 
large majority of plants under my own 
observation, acted in the same provoking 
manner. This I cannot attribute to any 
defect in the rose itself, but in the man¬ 
ner the plants were propagated, or, 
rather, over-propagated. Seeing that the 
rose was of great value, and that a large 
demand would be created, the growers 
forced its propagation to the utmost 
limit, to the consequent injury of the 
resulting plants. Plants of the Crimson 
Rambler rooted from wood that had not 
been unduly forced or stimulated, have 
grown vigorously, both in the open air 
and under glass, while the others have 
apparently remained at a standstill. 
However, another season may show 
strong development of these resting 
plants. Dawson, Multiflora and kindred 
varieties, often act in the same manner. 
I have a fine Crimson Rambler about to 
bloom for the third successive year. I 
know of no rose of such tough and en¬ 
during texture in bloom, or of such deep 
and lasting color-effect. Would that it 
were of the “ ever-blooming ” character. 
W. VAN FLEET. 
[Seedling gladioli raised at the Rural 
Grounds, have often borne more or less 
double flowers, especially seedlings of 
Shakespeare. But the new corms from 
these would rarely bear double flowers. 
Eds.] 
In writing to advertisers, please always mention 
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•—ESTABLISH 80 1809- 
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