4 
Hornberger’s Home and Garden Service 
about Glads than the man that sold him 250 No. 6 bulbs of a new variety for $100.00. 
My office files are full of this kind of material. 
My remarks along this line last season were much resented in some individual 
cases that were brought to my attention. Now it is not my object or intention to say 
anything but the truth about the varieties we grow; it is a proven fact in all parts of 
the country that Solveig is a very slow and difficult propagator. It is a lovely flower 
when well grown and the right growers should have a splendid demand for years 
for this very beautiful if very slow propagator. The demand should come from that 
class of people who wish to have a few bulbs or a few dozen bulbs of choice varieties 
for their own pleasure or for a hobby, and where no particular attention is given to 
bulblet propagation. I mean the amateur gardener or Glad fan who can give a lot 
of coddling and coaxing to his small plot of Glads. 
Very naturally the growers who can make the propagation of Solveig and others 
of this type worth while must be the growers who have or can contract such special 
conditions as are known to give us the very highest germination as well as the very 
maximum growth from bulblet grown plants. Under such conditions, bulblet grown 
plants often reach size # 1 to # 3 and produce the greatest possible increase of new 
bulblets. By such methods a worth while increase is possible with these very slow 
or difficult propagators. By the use of our New Progressive Nomenclature, we hope 
to so classify faults as well as virtues of varieties that you can tell at a glance where 
each variety fits in. For example, we all know that the eastern non-irrigation grower 
must have a good and dependable propagator if he is to use it successfully as a cut 
flower commercial. It at least must be moderately good as a propagator. 
Solveig was introduced as one of the outstanding new commercial prospects. 
Our catalog as well as the catalogs of all leading growers of new varieties now 
cater not alone to a retail trade but they cater to many specialized growers and 
dealers. All Gladiolus varieties, new and old, must be adapted to the requirements 
of the user, hence we must have a utility rating. Without such a rating there is sure 
to be confusion and disappointments, and the unnecessary loss of thousands of dol¬ 
lars. Both a Picardy and a Solveig are equal in beauty of form and color alone, but 
between them as PROPAGATORS AND DO-ERS there is an impossible gulf of sepa¬ 
ration. Both the Minuets and the Solveigs are now indiscriminately introduced as 
COMMERCIAL TOP NOTCHERS. In fact the man who introduced Solveig gave it 
a commercial rating above every other commercial variety. I am sure that you can 
anticipate what will happen if you have $10 0.0 0 or more that you wish to invest in 
a new highly advertised variety that is recommended as a commercial prodigy, and 
should you happen to be unfortunate enough to spend your money on a Solveig 
instead of a Picardy, the results would be most disastrous to you, the same as it was 
to the grower whose letter we quoted at the head of this article. A well grown 
Solveig and a well grown Picardy may look equally good and desirable on the show 
bench, but there is absolutely no comparison when you grow the two, and when you 
require a variety that will give good performance UNDER AVERAGE NON-IRRI¬ 
GATION CULTURE and the ability to withstand ADVERSE growing conditions. 
There is no reason why such “facts” should not be presented. To withhold them 
will mean the unnecessary loss of thousands of dollars each year to the consumer. 
SPECIAL SEED BEDS AND CLOTH HOUSES 
Some experiment stations have prepared special experimental plots by digging 
deep trenches or excavating all the soil from a selected plot; often to a depth of 
three to four feet, then filling this entire cavity with rich, prepared soil, filled with 
humus scientifically prepared, that permits the roots of plants to go deep down into 
ibis prepared material. The results are often astounding. 
Our many Agricultural colleges and state experiment stations have conducted 
many interesting experiments in recent years. Sizes of flowers and vegetables and 
other plants, have often been increased 100% and often several hundred per cent by 
SPECIAL CULTURAL METHODS. I have in mind the cloth house experiments 
conducted by one of our leading agricultural colleges where they have had numerous 
experiments under observation. Cloth houses were erected on plots of ground and so 
constructed that the cloth house would cover just one half of the plot used. Flowers 
of various kinds were planted in these houses in single rows, extending from one 
side of the cloth house to its opposite side, but these rows did not end there, but were 
continued on the outside of the house, giving each single row devoted to a single 
variety an equal number of linear feet of row inside the cloth house, and an equal 
number of linear feet of row of the same variety outside of the cloth house. The entire 
seed bed, inside and outside, receiving the same preparation and care, so that all 
differences of growth, development, etc., would be directly due to the influences of the 
use of the cloth house alone. I wish that every reader could view the results of such 
