DEPENDABLE GLADS 
13 
laid below. Even if we do have to count our pennies, maybe we should count out a 
few less for certain things in order to have a few more for flowers in our garden. A 
disproportionate share of our spending is for the purely physical well-being of our¬ 
selves, too little of it is for the higher things. The enjoyment of the beauty in flow¬ 
ers takes high rank among those things that further the well-being of our souls. 
GLADS NOT LOSING CASTE 
With Glads so easy to raise, and so inexpensive, and so sure to bloom, it would 
seem that they would become common. But such is not the case. Glads are now in 
the high society of flowers. They are generally considered as among the aristocrats 
of the floral kingdom, along with the Rose and the Lily that have always been there. 
Everywhere Glads ahe in style. In the high priced advertisements in the standard 
national magazines Glads are now quite frequently used in the decorative features of 
the colored pictures and illustrations. Glads are in heavy demand on the flower 
markets. In the beauty of their pure colors lies the foundation of their popular 
favor. The great variety of colors offers a limitless field of choice for the individual 
fancy, while the interest in Glads is challenged by the constant changes and improve¬ 
ments in colors and types, with no chance of their losing caste with the snobbish on 
account of their cheapness and commonness. 
GARDENING FOR PLEASURE 
At the 1934 convention of the American Seed Trade Association it was reported 
by the National Garden Bureau that the volume of flower seed business is increasing. 
In 1925, when general conditions were good, out of a six million dollar business in 
seeds by a group of wholesalers only twelve percent were flower seeds, leaving 
eighty-eight percent for vegetable seeds. In 1933 this proportion had increased to 
twenty-six percent, in spite of the depression. The exact opposite would naturally 
be expected, because of the need for supplementing income by producing food in the 
home garden. This trend towards the recreational features of the garden, and away 
from gardening as a necessity, has been noticeable for the past ten years, and is in¬ 
creasing in momentum. The thousands of garden clubs that have been organized in 
recent years are another proof of this fact. 
It is instinctive in man to enjoy getting out away from things and next to Na¬ 
ture. Men did this for thousands of years before the advent of the office and shoo. 
Out in the garden for an hour or two a day affords relief from the artificiality of 
things. Inexpensive, healthful, convenient, interesting, what other recreational act¬ 
ivity can surpass home gardening. 
THE LAWS OF BEAUTY 
In what follows it is shown in what ways the principles of beauty apply to the 
form of a Glad. Beauty of form is that which results in the easy and organized 
movement of the eye up the spike. 
For every flower there is a basic form. Outlines of petals, contour of blooms, ar¬ 
rangement, and so forth, mean one thing for the Rose, for example, but an entirely 
different thing for the Lily. The term “Lily” has always called to mind one particu¬ 
lar type of flower, and no other. The basic type for the Glad, around which all im¬ 
provements must be centered, is essentially the spear-head, with the individual flor¬ 
ets facing the front. The florets themselves have an openness without flatness, giving 
an impression of depth of character. The cluster is high rather than broad, suggest¬ 
ing stateliness and dignity. For the entire spike ensemble there is an accumulating 
impression of sheer color loveliness, which is presented by no other flower in just 
this way. 
RHYTHM 
When we look at an object, the eye tends to travel along the lines of the object. 
If this movement is smooth and easy, and not restless and distracting, the object is 
said to have rhythm. Rhythm is seen in a Glad spike in the alternate an angemeno 
of the double row of florets up the spike, each one like the next one in a pleasing 
repetition, in a restful flow of line up the spike. 
