Keep This Folder 
For Reference 
The Iris News 
From the World’s Largest Iris Farm of 
t. B. Katkamier Macedon, N. Y. 
Ask For a Copy 
For Your Friends 
Special Offers 
The first person from your state to order plants from 
this folder, will receive double the number of plants 
called for in the order. For example: Suppose you are 
the first person from your state to write and should 
order the “Quaker Lady Collection” of Iris for $1. You 
would receive two packages of the “Quaker Lady Col¬ 
lection” of Iris. The lucky customer in 1935 received 
eighteen of the $1 collections for his order for nine col¬ 
lections. The first customer from one of the states re¬ 
ceived two of the $1 collections of Chrysanthemums for 
her one dollar order. This was the “low” order state. 
The first customer’s letter I open on each day that 
the mail is received on our Rural Route during 1936, I 
will add to the order absolutely free, a mother root of 
the new orchid pink Iris ALBRIGHT. (Priced last year 
at $25 by the originat or.) 
Should your order chance to be the first from your 
state and also the first customer-letter to be opened 
on the day your order is received, you will obtain not 
only double your order but also the mother root of the 
ALBRIGHT Iris. (I have 400 plants of the Albright.) 
Obey that impulse and order today. 
The following six Iris cost me a total of one hundred 
dollars when I bought them soon after their introduc¬ 
tion. Now, I will send you a good plant of each, labeled 
and postpaid, for only one dollar. 
I paid for Frieda Mohr $25; Midgard $20; Ambassa- 
deur $20; Pioneer $15; Avatar $10; Candlelight $10. 
Now you get one good plant of each for only one 
dollar. 
This offer should bring me thousands of orders. Tell 
your flower loving friends. 
Mr. A. B. Katkamier: Several years ago I bought five of your dollar 
groups of Iris. To tell you I was pleased is putting it mildly —every 
root grew and prospered, even though I made the planting late n the 
spring. That was while I lived in central Oregon where it gets • ry 
hot in summer and extremely cold in winter. In the fall of 133 J we 
moved here in Tacoma. I hastily dug a few of my choicest roots, 
transplanted them haphazard in the yard. In the spring of 11135 I 
never saw such blooms so I decided to exhibit them at the (lower show. 
I won first in groups, basket and individual displays. So here is five 
dollars for another order. Sincerely, Mrs. G. N-, Tacoma, Wash. 
A. B. Katkamier Iris Farm Macedon, N. Y. 
For Cemeteries 1 
From remote antiquity the custom has prevailed of 
placing flowering plants on the graves of the beloved 
departed. 
Nothing contributes so much to the permanent beau¬ 
tification of graves as a clump of Memorial Iris. Its 
leaves are always a livid evergreen color and for three 
weeks in June it blooms abundantly with celestial blue 
flowers. . 
The Memorial Iris does not spread—the clump simply 
increases slowly in size and if desired it may be di¬ 
vided every four years. . . , 
Its leaves do not become unsightly but present <. 
green appearance both winter and summer, and ofter 
may be seen with its sword-like leaves reaching up 
through several inches of snow. 
One plant Memorial Iris 50 cents; three plants $1 
Postpaid. _ 
ABOUT THE IRIS 
ITEMS OF INTEREST 
A beautiful garden is an accomplishment. 
The Iris can give you the most beauty for the least money. 
The bearded Irises can be planted at any time the ground is not 
actually frozen. 
Unless you have Irises, the garden is likely to be bare of color be¬ 
tween the last of the tulips and the first of the peonies. 
Ease of culture and patience in adversity make the Iris an admir¬ 
able plant for gardens subjected to conditions of smoke and soot. 
An Iris bouquet will keep a week or ten days if fresh water is added 
each morning and the blooms that have faded are cut off. 
Every one who has a garden has the opportunity of enjoying the 
charm and beauty of nature in its most exquisite form—flowers in 
bloom. 
No dooryard seems to be complete in its spring floral display with¬ 
out a generous planting of Iris for it far outshines any other flower 
during its time of bloom. 
Iris will thrive on land so poor that a crow wouldn’t fly over it 
without carrying his own lunch. But of course. Iris will give a better 
performance on better soil. 
The Garden Club of America voted the Iris to be the best garden, 
perennial. It has decided many matters of great importance since then 
but nothing more far-reaching. 
There are four ways of knowing Irises—in the catalogues, in the 
garden, in bouquets and by their fragrance or lack of fragrance. Per¬ 
haps flowers are best known by their brilliant and varied colors. 
An English soldier was seen to pause on a slope raked by German 
shell and dig out something. Later is was learned that the English¬ 
man had a rock garden at home and had caught sight of a species of 
plant he did not have in it. 
Josh Billings said: “Nature never makes any blunders. When she 
makes a fool she means it.’’ When she makes a mountain or a lake, 
she knows what she is doing. When she makes a lovely Iris and gives 
it an enchanting fragrance she means it. 
Wasn’t that the truest statement you ever heard of, when Mrs. 
Spinks of Mobile, Alabama, wrote to Mr. Hottes of the Better Homes 
and Gardens, that in caring for her garden she “dug many a trouble 
into the soil and many a joy grew out of it” ? 
Everybody who keeps one or more hives of bees should grow plenty 
of flowers. 
In general and at any time of the year, it is asserted by apiarists, 
that bees like best those flowers that have some shades of blue. 
You remember Richard Halliburton in his romantic story “The Fly¬ 
ing Carpet?” He tells of the wild Iris growing at the Sahara desert 
oasis of Adrar a rainless, changeless land. 
Also a customer at Boulder City, Nevada states: “I live in the 
desert and am hungry for flowers. Many plants will not grow here, 
but Iris will." 
The story of sweet smells came with the first time a human being 
became conscious that a flower in bloom gave forth an odor that gave 
pleasure to his sense of smell. 
No doubt this experience happened with the parents of mankind in 
the accepted “Garden of Eden.” 
When the Iris bloom, with their rich colors, your garden proclaims 
that you love beauty. The blooms of the various varieties as they flash 
their petalled ensign from their flag-staff like stems, say to all be¬ 
holders, “I am native born” or “I came from Asia or Europe, or 
Africa, or from the Islands of the Sea.” Kochi seems to say as its 
black-shirt like blooms appear, “I came from the Lake region of Italy 
and was grown for my beauty in the garden of the mighty Caesar. I 
am the oldest cultivated Iris, the Adam of my race.” 
When the glory of the morning sun light comes to unveil the blooms 
that have opened during the intervening time since sunset, then is 
the approved moment to take a walk in the garden. 
And how we will have our eyes opened to the new beauties revealed 
and we will drink in the fragrances which always accompany the 
breaking of buds into flowers. 
We will discover some new color, form or perfume not hitherto ob¬ 
served and they will add immensely to the joy of living. If we are 
not moved to worship at the shrine of nature by these things, we are 
hopeless. 
A customer at Middleburg, N. Y. asks what is meant by a ‘bicolor’ 
Iris In answering this question suppose I take a moment and delin. 
some of the technical terms and abbreviations as applied to Iris: 
The bearded Iris has a group of upstanding hairs, blue white oe 
yellow in color, clustered on the haft of the falls. The letters S. am 
F. refer to the sLx petals of the Iris flower. S. meaning the Standards 
or three up-standing petals and the letter F. meaning the Falls, or 
three drooping petals. The haft is the narrow bridge that leads from 
the Falls to the center of the bloom. . 
The bearded Irises are divided by their size into three sections. th< 
Tall Bearded, like Morning Splendor, Albright and Queen Gaterina 
the Intermediate bearded like Ingeborg, Nymph and Dorothy; and th< 
Dwarf bearded like Leopold, Barbara and Ruby. 
The range of color in the bearded Irises is unbelievably large, al 
shades, tints and hues of the blues, pinks and reds The yellows rangj 
from palest primrose to rich gold. You would be surpused at th< 
many differences in the white Irises. And the range of blends and 
pastel shades is bewildering. There is fascination, charm and loveli 
ness in them all. ... , , , . 
A “bicolor” is an Iris that has standards of one shade and falls o 
another shade of the same color, usually darker, like Alcazar. A 
“self” carries the same shade throughout the whole flower, like Pnn 
cess Beatrice. A “blend,” as the name indicates, is a suffusion of sev 
eral colors, like Quaker Lady. A “plicate is a light colored Ins 
usually white, the edges ot which are flushed, lined ol dotted witl 
color, usually violet, sometimes extending to nearly cover the petal 
Mme Chereau being the best known example. A “var.agata ha 
yeUow Sf ind reddtah brown F„ like Iris King, An. 'amoena ha 
white or creamy S., and F. of another color, like Mildied Presby 
which has creamy white S. and red purple F. and K very fragrant^ 
Mildred Presby is the loveliest Iris originated by the late Bertrand 
H Farr who did more than any other to introduce the Iris, the ram 
bow flower” into millions of gardens to beautffy home surroundings 
The rainbow glorifies the dark cloud with brilliant colors wtncfl 
blend So elch other with the Creator’s 
his cons that he had set his bow m the clouds to be a covenant De^ 
tween himself and the earth, that thewaters p ® h . c £ ld L^nb^whas^bew 
a flood to destroy all flesh. And ever since then the rainbow has beer 
the ultimate thought in color, symmetry^ and 
glorifies the sky for a moment only, while the ’ Thpir loveli 
gives us exquisite beauty for more than two months. Their lo 
ness is regal. _ 
In case of error in filling your order, the shipping tag 
should be returned with your claim. 
NAME-STORIES 
The more we can learn about a plant, the more satisfaction we get 
in the growth of that plant. The names of plants are very interesting 
and instructive when we understand their meaning. 
The Iris Tristram is much more interesting to us than it would be 
if we did not know the fascinating story of Tristram and Ysolde and 
the incident of the black and white sails. The story is briefly outlined 
in the “Chivalry Collection” which you will find in another column. 
The person who gave a plant its name had some reason for his 
choice. It may have been thousands of years ago or only last year, but 
if we can find out why he gave it we shall probably know something 
about that plant, the country of its origin, or its discoverer, or the 
habitat it loves, or the useful purpose it served or some medicinal 
property which it possesses, or was supposed to possess, or some pe¬ 
culiarity which was thought to be distinctive. 
Thus names are interesting, not only to the etymologist, as all 
words are, but to the garden-lover. They tell him something about 
his plants which he did not know before and he loves them all the 
more for knowing it. 
I get considerable pleasure in searching for items for the name- 
stories of flowers. I have a fair size library but in recent years I have 
depended very largely upon books loaned me by the various libraries 
in Western New York. There are now on my desk books borrowed 
from the Rochester Public Library, The Wood Library at Canandai- 
gue. The King’s Daughters Library at Palmyra and the Grange Li¬ 
brary at Farmington. 
Your attention is invited to the name stories in the various Collec¬ 
tions of Iris. They will be continued in future issues of “The Iris 
News.” Get your name on our free, permanent mailing list by send¬ 
ing your plant order for at least a dollar. 
YOU WILL BE GLAD 
You read this new folder and then preserved it for future reference. 
(Perhaps you have a friend who would appreciate “The Iris News”). 
Siberian Iris—100 for $4, 1000 for $35 
These clumps of narrow green foliage are an ornament to any 
garden or perennial border. The two varieties giving greatest sat¬ 
isfaction are Perry’s Blue and Snow Queen. 
Emperor (Orientalis) — Beautiful dark blue.$ .10 
Perry’s Blue — Bright sky blue, lovely and unusual.10 
Snow Queen—Will grow in shade. Beautiful white.10 
A THRILLING ADVENTURE 
Hearing of the success and renown Iris Hybridizers have achieved, 
quite a number of customers have asked how the work is done. Here 
are brief explanations of methods that lead to actual results: 
The three up-standing petals of an Iris flower are Standards, and 
the three down-falling petals are Falls. The stigma, or female part is 
found just above the beard on each fall. The rod-like pollen-covered 
stamen, the male part, is on the under side of the stigma. Thus there 
are three stamens and three stigmas on each Iris flower. A small lip 
is found on the under side of the outer tip of each stigma. With a 
pair of tweezers, all three stamens should be removed from a flower. 
If the stamens are used on their own blossom, it is called .self-fertili¬ 
zation. But if cross-fertilization or hybridizing is desired the stamens 
must be taken to some other Iris flower and moved delicately over the 
three stigma, which being more or less sticky, will retain some of the 
grains of pollen. The operation may be repeated by using the three 
stamens from this second flower on the stigmas of the first. 
GAMBLE, CHANCE OR LUCK 
An Iris seed may produce a prize winner variety or it may be worths 
less. No one can tell. It is the uncertainty, the chance and the excite¬ 
ment, together with the great promise of something good or superior 
that gives to the growing of Iris seedlings its zest and its intense 
interest. 
Suppose you should secure from your seedlings an “honest-to-good- 
ness” real pink or a real red or a new break in color, or an Iris with 
an especially delightful fragrance. All the Iris lovers in the world — a 
great multitude—would be coming to you for plants and you would be 
finding yourself on easy street. 
Then again you might fail completely. There is no guarantee of 
success. Growing Iris seedlings is a gamble, chance, “luck,” yet some 
one has produced all the named varieties in commerce. 
Thousands of dollars have been made on new varieties of Iris. And 
while some growers have not succeeded in producing a prize winner, 
they have succeeded in filling their own garden with beautiful flowers, 
for a good percentage of seedlings are attractive. 
PLANTING IRIS SEED 
I have a quantity of Iris seed saved from such outstanding varieties 
as Seminole, Red Wing, Pioneer, Parc de Neuilly and others and have 
it stratified in sand ready for spring planting. Packets are 25 cents. 
50 cents and $1. each. Soak seed 24 hours in warm water and sow 
like peas, covering with one inch of soil. 
Try your “luck.” Luck is an opportunity coming your way. Ac¬ 
cept it. 
Thousands of Seedlings at Just the 
Right Prices 
They are the size I like to use for transplanting in rows in the 
fields, getting them ready for the retail price. 
They cost only $4. per 100, postpaid. Not less than 25 of a kind 
sold. Oriental Poppies, Rose of Heaven, Marguerite, Aquilegia 
Chinese Delphinium, Sweet William, Blue Flax, Sweet Rocket. 
The Following Iris Collections 
featured last year’s folder and were very popular. 
Asked many times if they would be offered' this year, 
they are again presented. They are worth the money: 
One dollar for each collection —six collections for $5. 
Indian Collection—$1.38 for $1 
Hiawatha, Iroquois, Inca, Navajo, Nokomis, Pocahontas, Pow- 
hatan, Seminole, Tecumseh, Ute Chief. 
Beauty Collection—$2.17 for $1 
Buto, Commodore, Eventide. Gov. Hughes, Mildred Presby, Omaha, 
Pauline, "rue Charm, Tropic Seas. 
Very Early Collection—$1.28 for $1 
Firmament, Florentina, Germanica, Helge, Ingeborg, Kochi, Mme. 
Gaudichan. Mrs. Alan Gray, Parisiensis, Rose Unique, Walhalla, 
Zwanenberg. 
Gold Collection—$2.07 for $1 
Amber, Anrea, Calias, Empire, Nebraska, Old Gold, Queen Flavia, 
Shehinah, Sunset, Virginia Moore. 
Very Late Collection—$1.41 for $1 
Argynnis. Col. Candelot, Dream, Imperator, Jubilee, Late White, 
Mary Garden, Midwest, Nine Wells, Princess Beatrice, Rhein Nixe, 
Gorgeous Collection—$1.98 for $1 
Avatar, Cretonne, Dusky Maid, Eldorado, Fra Angelico, Harriet 
Presby, King Karl, Morning Splendor, Sir Galahad, Steepway. 
Mrs. Collection—$1.78 for $1 
Mrs. Audrist, Mrs. R. S. Hoyt, Mrs. Christman, Mrs. Dugdale, Mrs. 
H. Darwin, Mrs. Kingscote, Mrs. Neubronner, Mrs. Tinley, Mrs. 
Walier Brewster, Mrs. Wicht. 
Man’s Collection—$1.70 for $1 
Ambassadeur, Autumn King, B. Y. Morrison, Cecil Minturn, C. J. 
Hunt, Dr. C. H. Mayo, E. C. Shaw, L. A. Williamson, Lewis Trow¬ 
bridge, Oliver Perthuis. 
Water Iris — 100 for $4, 1000 for $35 
I have possession of perhaps the largest meadows of Pseudacorus 
and Versicolor Irises in the world, consisting literally of millions 
of plants. I can fill all orders promptly, no matter how large. The 
Water Irises are being used to beautify moist locations on estates, 
marshes, along the margin of lakes, ponds, brooks, water gardens. 
They will also thrive on any type of upland soil. 
Pseudacorus—Bright golden yellow. Tall, graceful. $ .10 
Versicoior—Light blue. Does not grow as tall as Pseudacorus... .10 
30 Iris Plants 
Perhaps the greatest offer ever made in the flowering 
plant business is this: For one dollar I will send you 30 
(thirty) varieties, my selection, of the Iris described in 
this folder, all labeled and postpaid. This group will 
make a charming Iris garden for you. 
The Rules of Transplanting 
There really are only two rules in transplanting perennial flower¬ 
ing plants: roots in the soil and stems and leaves in the air. 
Iris are usually planted with the thick part, or rhizome, just cov¬ 
ered out of sight and the plants spaced six to ten inches from each 
other as the available ground will permit. If the Iris plants are dipped 
in water just before being placed in the soil, no further watering 
will be necessary. 
Plants like violas, dianthus, aquelegia, doronicum, etc., should be 
transplanted slightly deeper than they grew. Keep these well watered 
until established. _ 
Mr A. B. Katkamier: Jan. II, 1936—Our Garden Club is giving 
_ nr ' ra' m on the origin of flower names. Will you please send us 
copy of your folder with the name stories? Mrs. C. S. B., Weather¬ 
ford, Texas. - 
All plants labeled and postpaid direct to your mail 
box You know just what they cost you. 
