HOBNBERGER’S HOME AND GARDEN SERVICE 
5 
and wanted it tested in several locations, you ask the office to send you a list of names 
of all other Co-operators, and you make your own terms and conditions with any of these 
other Co-operators who are willing to help you make a Group Test. If you ask another 
Co-operator to help you test a moderate priced variety, you should at all times donate 
the stock free and expect him to do likewise when he wishes a GROUP TEST conducted. 
However, in the event you are using high priced bulbs and if stock is very limited, then 
it is always best to make some kind of a proposition directly between the parties in¬ 
volved. In all these Group Tests, you proceed the same as with the Independent Tests; 
you must at all times supply a DUPLICATE CARD for the main office, and sueh a, dup¬ 
licate for each season that a TEST is conducted, and until it is complete, using six cards 
in all complete three year tests. 
All your tests will be Independent or Group tests, but the most of the tests will likely 
be Independent tests. In addition, we will also record all tests that are conducted for 
three consecutive years as STANDARD TRIALS, and, at the end of the third year, we 
will compare these many Standard Trials and award them certain recognition at that 
time. We will not form definite opinions about a variety until a Standard Trial is com¬ 
plete at the end of the third year. However, we can use the information we glean in 
the first two years to our full advantage as they will show trends—but our observations 
and statements will be suggestive only, and not definite until the test is complete. In 
these Standard Trials, w T e are to use mo less than 10 bulbs and in units of 10 only up to 
100 or more bulbs, that is the minimum test will be 10 bulbs, and up to 100 or more, pro¬ 
vided you use all units of 10 bulbs. The ideal size is a No. 4 size bulb as this is in most 
cases grown from a bulblet, and you have a better chance to determine its age. It is as 
sure to flower as a larger bulb and you can determine bulblet performance 1 better if you 
start with a No. 4 that was grown from a bulblet and is one year old when you plant it. 
No. 5 and No. 6 are too small for our purpose, although large No. 5 will be permitted te 
be used where you can not secure No. 4 size. No. 3 would answer, and we permit their 
use, but a No. 3 is always of more doubtful age, and it must not be a division from an 
old bulb. Young No. 3 bulbs consist largely of one and two year old bulbs, and if you 
are sure your No. 3 is no older than two years from the bulblet, its use is permitted. 
However, always try to use a No. 4 that is one year old from the bulblet. It is quite 
easy to determine the age of the average No. 4 or larger No. 5. It is also possible to 
secure No. 4 sizes that have been grown from small No. 6 bulbs, but I think you can read¬ 
ily detect this fact from the base scar where the roots develop. 
In beginning your test with YOUNG BULBS, you will also have a record of the 
exact age of all your bulbs. The first year will be devoted tc acclimatizing these bulbs, 
as well as growing your bulbs to large size for the next year’s test. The second year you 
slart your test with these large, acclimatized, young bulbs. You also make, a record of 
the bulblets produced, and plant in the same plot next to your large bulbs. All should 
be planted under one label. In all three consecutive years that these Standard Trials 
are run, you make complete and accurate records. You rate and record length of stem, 
total height of stem and plant, length of flower head, width of floret, number' open and 
in good condition at one time, number of total buds to the spike, texture of flowers, type 
of flower, placement, kind of stem, percentage of good spikes of bloom produced from lot 
and general color description. Also record bulblet performance. At the close of the 
second year, you will lift your large flowering size bulbs and the small bulbs produced 
from the bulblets. You will also have bulblets from the large bulbs as well as some 
bulblets from the small bulbs. Put these bulblets all together in one lot and keep all 
sizes and all bulblets together at all times. At the beginning of the third and last year’s 
test, you will have all sizes and bulblets, and a much larger lot to plant, much depending 
on how it propagates. You plant all these again as you did the second year. The large 
bulbs that were the original bulbs purchased will now be only three years old so all your 
stock will be young stock, and for that reason have a fair chance. Varieties like Fred¬ 
erick Christ, we have found, will often give exceptional bloom when bulbs are five to six 
or even seven years old. However, there are many fine, worth while varieties that will 
hardly perform as svell after the fourth or fifth year as they do from the first to the fourth 
or fifth year. 
GRADE ALL BULBS: We supply a free grading card. At the end of each season, 
be sure to grade all bulbs after harvest, and when cured, record the exact total of each 
and every size, as well as bulblets. The rating cards will have a space provided for this 
data. If a variety produces very large No. 1 sizes like Aflame and Picardy, make this 
notation on card and on the other hand if it averages small No. 1’s, i. e.: If the bulbs of 
