292 
The Garden Magazine, June, 1924 
the style in the same way. If the anthers are gathered and 
placed in a saucer or other small and convenient dish, a camel’s 
hair brush moistened so that the pollen will adhere to it is very 
useful to apply to the stigmas. Care must be taken after each 
application to clean the brush of any of the pollen before using it 
upon another flower. 
In order to guard against the interference of bees with a 
flower that it is desired to pollinate, it is a good plan to clip off 
the falls at the haft just as they unfold. This removes any foot¬ 
hold for the bees which cannot then come into close contact with 
the stigma. 
Why Not Better Parents? 
HE next question is “What will I get?” I wish I knew 
how to answer that. I wish somebody knew it with some 
degree of certainty. 
When, a number of years ago, my attention and interest in 
growing Irises from seed was first attracted because some chance 
seedlings gave better flowers than my older named varieties and 
I endeavored to figure out their parentage and make crosses 
with known parents, 1 began refreshing and endeavoring to co¬ 
ordinate and increase my fragmentary knowledge of structural 
botany and biology. It led to a great deal of reading and study 
which has left me very close to where 1 started except for a glim¬ 
mering here and there and some experience as to what may be 
expected of some crosses, or to be more exact, what they will 
not do. 
Naturally, the first idea is to figure along the lines of the 
Mendelian formula. If you are good at puzzles and like myster¬ 
ies, try to apply Mendel’s law to the strange children of Mine. 
Chereau. 1 recommend Mine. Chereau seed to any one raising 
Irises for the first time so that they will believe me concerning 
the variation of the seedlings. 
Mme. Chereau seems capable of producing almost everything 
except herself; a sort of an 1 ris clearing-house. The grower will 
have some doubts at first if these seeds really came from Mme. 
Chereau. 1 had, when I found some handsome red-toned plants 
from a row marked as Mme. Chereau seedlings. 1 have never 
secured a Mme. Chereau type of standard from Mme. Chereau 
seed, but occasionally some inferior types appear with the long 
and short stitching in the falls, which make this plant such a 
distinct variety. 
It seems now to be fairly well established that with the excep¬ 
tion of the newer varieties in which 1. trojana, cypriana, Ricardi, 
and mesopotamica have been used, the great tribe of garden 
Irises is descended from two species, 1 . variegata of which 
Maori King or Honorabile are types, and 1 . pallida, of which 
the handsome Princess Beatrice or Dalmatica is an example. 
There is some sort of progression among the various types 
that some of the breeders who have given the subject long 
study and experiment are beginning to formulate, but it is 
still uncertain. 
Speculation on these subjects is entertaining and interesting 
but of no great practical value to the average gardener. Mme. 
Chereau, Dalmatica, Queen of May, Her Majesty, and others 
common in gardens will offer good material as a start for Iris 
growing and when the result of these seedlings is observed and 
the joyful anticipation of stepping out into the garden in late 
May and early June to see the newcomers is realized, Iris raising 
will become a widely popular pastime. Raising seedlings from 
old-timers breeds a desire for better seed parents. 
Newcomers of Quality 
T HE remarkable development of Irises in recent years is due 
to the employment of several species from Asia Minor 
which have given great size to the bloom, height, and branching 
stalks. Caterina, a hybrid of I. cypriana and I. pallida, gave us 
a new race. Queen Caterina is one of these and a beautiful Iris. 
Caterina, unfortunately, and others of the finest of the newer 
Irises with the blood of Ricardi and mesopotamica as well as 
cypriana remove the only criticism of Irises that 1 ever heard, 
which is that “they grow like weeds,” for these strains are dif¬ 
ficult subjects in many situations. If Caterina will grow and 
endure long enough to produce bloom, it is a fine seed parent. 
While they seem hardy enough so far as cold is concerned and all 
have been grown even as far north as Michigan gardens, they 
cannot tolerate winter wet and perish in open winters. I have 
found it a good plan to grow Irises of these strains conveniently 
together so that 1 can place sash over them in winter, tilted to 
protect from snow and shed rain, but leaving the sides open so 
the plants will not be forced into growth. They are also grown 
in raised beds. As my garden is very sandy, there is no trouble 
about drainage which is particularly essential to the good health 
of all the Bearded Irises. 
While they have flourished under these conditions I never feel 
quite sure of them until they have started into growth each 
spring because of their proneness to rot. Ambassadeur has 
given considerable trouble in this respect although usually 
regarded as more vigorous than some of the others. 
The value of many of these newcomers as seed parents is not 
yet fully developed because of their newness, but we do know 
that Lent A. Williamson has produced some very fine seedlings; 
Souv. de Mme. Gaudichau is reported as giving a fine seedling 
to Iris Kochi; but other reports say it is of little value. 
In growing seeds, watch for the pods with only one or two seeds 
in them. Lent A. Williamson came from a single seed in a pod. 
So did Dominion. Several others of the very finest Irises de¬ 
veloped from pods in which only a few seeds matured. A fat, 
full pod is likely to furnish only mediocre Irises, but it may also 
give something extra fine. It is a gamble. 
Mr. Bliss believes his Dominion is a mutant and as I recall 
“Die Mutationstheorie” as explained by Prof. Hugo DeVries, 
the mutation period recurs every 4,000 years and a Dominion 
would be likely to occur once in a million plants, so all that we 
need to secure similar outstanding Irises, is plenty of time and a 
little room. 
While we may not find Dominions, Gaudichaus, or Ambassa- 
deurs in our seedling blocks, we will find a great many very hand¬ 
some Irises and a great variety of coloring from which to select. 
There will also be a great variety in height and size of flowers. 1 
have never been convinced that size is a criterion of beauty. I 
do not believe a Forget-me-not grown to the size of a Russian 
Sunflower would be correspondingly increased in beauty. 
There are many handsome Irises of small flower which appear 
among seedlings, and I was glad to read recently a word of 
commendation from Mrs. McKinney and Miss Sturtevant as to 
the beauty of these little fellows for garden effect. They refer 
to them as “ bantams,” an apt characterization. Bliss’ Tom Tit 
is a good example. 
Seed Sowing and Crossing 
S EED sowing may be done immediately after the seed is 
ripe. The pods should be picked when the ends split open. 
Otherwise much of the seed is likely to be lost. 1 like to sow it 
while it is still plump and so that I will get some fall germination. 
1 sow the fresh seed in a coldframe in order to give it a longer 
season of growth in the hope of getting a year’s jump in the 
bloom. Other seed I sow in the open in the fall. It will ger¬ 
minate unevenly, but a good stand is likely to appear in the 
spring with occasional seedlings appearing all summer or even 
for a year or two later. 
1 transplant them into rows a foot apart until they bloom, 
when those to be saved may be selected and the others thrown 
away. 
Haphazard crossing or trusting to the indiscriminate work 
of the bees is not likely to result in any advance along definite 
lines. It is an excellent idea to have some goal in view, although 
it is not likely to be reached. Few attain their ambitions in 
Iris breeding, Miss Grace Sturtevant being one of the fortunate 
ones in succeeding in her purpose of securing tall yellow Irises, 
the only really distinct break at all unusual or unexpected, it 
seems to me, that has been shown so far. The large size, height 
