H. J. N ITCH MAN, Arlington, Ohio 
BEOWULF—1936—(Nitchman)—A giant variety well worthy 
of the name. Some time back a well-known grower said that 
seeing was believing and he would believe that there was a 
better lavender than Minuet if, and when, he saw it. This 
summer this grower saw it, from spikes mailed him and he 
telegraphed: “Seeing is believing.” We are not going to 
ballyhoo this variety because we intend to let the customer 
who purchases it do the publicizing for us. Stock of it is 
scarce, very scarce, and we may be foolish in even introduc¬ 
ing it this year, but my policy has been from the start some 
several years back, to let my friends and customers IN. 
when I had something. This resulted in much less advertis¬ 
ing costs for me as well as profit for them. 1 intend to fol¬ 
low such a plan here. If you are convinced that there can’t 
be a better lavender than Minuet, don’t buy. But if you are 
disgusted, as many are, with the futileness in attempting to 
propagate Minuet, then I say: Buy BEOWULF, the laven¬ 
der that propagates as well if not better than Picardy. In 
a couple of years I have built the original seedling which 
resulted from a cross of Minuet on a lavender seedling 
brought forth from Amethyst and Peters, to a stock of sever¬ 
al hundred bulbs, full of health and pep. Buiblets are pro¬ 
duced in profusion and they germinate so easily that stock 
is necessarily priced high. This variety may be classed as 
exhibition as it opens eight, having inherited this from both 
Minuet and Amethyst. The spike has never yet crooked on 
me, and I might mention here my tactics on crooked vari¬ 
eties: Over the fence, is OUT. Have discarded literally 
hundreds of varieties because of crooked tendencies, and 
seedlings are no exception. This glad should be planted deep 
as the plant is very heavy and lush with wonderful growth. 
Even buiblets reach three feet height with many blooming. 
Buiblets are small but make line number fours, fives and 
sixes. With no exaggeration 1 can truthfully say this variety 
will make 5% foot growth. The only fault I can find is 
possibly that it is somewhat late. Whether this is a fault or 
not remains with the grower. It can be timed easily. The 
color is all one can ask for. Not quite so clean as Minuet, 
perhaps, but the color is clear and sharp, not much if any 
darker than the outer part of the floret. This merely em¬ 
phasizes the lavender and a basket of this variety is truly a 
symphony in quiet, rich lavender. I have said enough now 
regarding this variety. If you want to invest wisely, pick 
Beowulf, the glad with a future. Price—any size bulb—no 
Bits, for sale—$50.00 each. 
