Throw open your 
home to the benefits 
of the great outdoors. 
Flood it with sun¬ 
shine and fresh air. 
AiR-JVay Multifold 
Window Hardware now permits you to 
make a sun room or sleeping porch of any 
room. To get the utmost enjoyment out of 
your new or remodeled home, make sure 
that AiR-JVay is specified. 
AiR-Way provides for a full opening of any width 
—the windows fold hack out of the way—no inter¬ 
ference with screens or draperies. They may be 
completely or partially closed in an instant. AiR- 
Way positively insures against rattles and other 
annoyances. When closed, the windows fit snugly 
and afford absolute protection against the weather. 
If you intend to build a new home or remodel the 
old one, you should make it a point to investigate 
the numerous advantages of AiR-Way. 
Most reliable hard- 
ware and lumber deal¬ 
ers can supply you with 
A iR- W ay M ultifold 
Window Hardware. 
If not, it may be quick¬ 
ly secured from any 
one of our m a n y 
branches. Write today 
for a copy of Catalog 
M- 4 . 
Richards-Wilcox* Mf&. (o. 
Aurora,Illinois,U.S.A. 
Minneapolis Chicago NewYork Cleveland LosAngeles 
Philadelphia Boston St. Louis Indianapolis SanFrancisco 
RIC HARDS-WILCOX CANADIAN CO. L« 
Winnipeg LONDON. ONT. Montreal 
g 
g 
g 
a 
G 
G 
□ 
G 
3 
G 
a 
G 
G 
G 
G 
G 
G 
G 
G 
G 
G 
G 
G 
G 
G 
G 
G 
G 
G 
G 
G 
G 
G 
G 
G 
G 
G 
G 
G 
G 
G 
G 
G 
G 
G 
G 
G 
G 
G 
G 
G 
G 
G 
G 
G 
G 
G 
Manufacturers of “Slidelitc”—the last word in garage door hardware 
G 
mtiDammpmmunmmm 
Flowers of t 
(Continued 
ranged in subdivisions according to col¬ 
or, and as these section names occur fre¬ 
quently in catalogues some explanation 
is called for. These sections and some 
of their outstanding characteristics, fol¬ 
low : 
Germanica: May flowering, blue and 
purple flowers. 
Pallida: Wide foliage, maximum height, 
the flowers in blues, purples, laven¬ 
ders and pinks. 
Variegata: Standards always yellow. 
Falls of various colors, including yel¬ 
low Amoena: Standards white. Falls 
Amoena: Standards white: Falls of 
various colors. 
Neglecta: Standards and falls, lavender 
to purple. 
Plicata or Aphylla: Petals white with 
colored borders. 
Squalens: Standards copper to fawn. 
Falls of various colors. 
There are many varieties which can 
hardly be assigned to any of these sec¬ 
tions. 
It would be very difficult to give a list 
of the ten best standard bearded irises, 
probably quite impossible, but for the 
beginner’s guidance the following list 
may be of value. It contains one or two 
of the best in each of the principal sec¬ 
tions. 
Germanica. Kochii, a rich deep purple, 
2 ' in height, very early. 
Pallida. Pallida dalmatica. This is a 
tall silvery lavender, self-colored flow¬ 
er. A variety of it, Princess Beatrice, 
is ranked as the best standard iris in 
America. There can be few flowers in 
the world more beautiful than this in 
form, texture and color. Lord of 
June, lavender blue, 3J4', and Juniata, 
of similar color and height. Queen of 
May, 2J4' , pink. 
Variegata. Loreley, standards pale yel¬ 
low, falls purple with pale yellow 
border. Very effective in the garden. 
Maori King, standards bright yellow; 
falls crimson, yellow bordered. Aurea, 
standards and falls both bright yellow. 
All these are from 2' to 2 J A' high. 
Amoena. Rhein Nixe, blue white stand¬ 
ards with pansy violet falls, 40" tail. 
Thorbeck, 2', violet blue velvet falls. 
Wyomissing, standards tinged pink; 
falls deeper pink lightening at edges. 
Neglecta. Standards violet, falls darker; 
32". Archeveque, standards violet, 
falls purple; 27". 
Plicata. Madame Chereau, white bor¬ 
dered with lavender; 3'. Introduced 
in 1844, this is still one of the best. 
Ma Mie, violet margins, height 3'. 
Squalens. Prosper Laugier, standards 
bronze red, falls velvet red purple; 
32". Jaquesiana, introduced in 1840. 
Standards coppery crimson, and the 
falls a brown red. 3'. 
The constantly increasing interest in 
hybridizing makes it certain that most 
of the standard irises are, in the com¬ 
paratively near future, doomed to be 
driven out by the newer and better 
varieties. There are hosts of these nov¬ 
elties now offered for sale and already 
establishing themselves, but it takes time 
to achieve the general introduction of 
a new iris, because until stock is plenti¬ 
ful, prices are too high for the average 
purchaser. 
The best of the newer irises relatively 
few growers have seen, and it is in con¬ 
sequence with some hesitation that any 
of them are here named. The following 
are, however a few of those receiving 
the highest commendation from those 
fortunate enough to own them : 
Lent A. Williamson, violet and purple; 
frequently rated the finest iris ever 
produced in America if not in the 
world. 
Ambassadeur, red violet. 
Ballerine, a fragrant, blue iris. 
Dominion, standards bluish violet, falls 
indigo purple velvet. The most fa¬ 
mous iris produced in England. Also a 
he Rainbow 
on page 90) 
competitor for worldwide first honors. 
Souvenir de Madame Gaudichau, deep 
purple. 
Magnifica, standards blue, falls reddish 
violet. A French production famed 
for its size. Blossoms 6" in height. 
Queen Caterina, pale lavender violet. 
Phyllis Bliss, pale rosy lavender. 
The iris is propagated by breaking the 
rhizomes into several pieces and plant¬ 
ing these just beneath the surface of the 
soil, late in summer. Irises may also be 
grown from seed, though many varieties 
are sterile and produce no seed. As 
present day irises are of very mixed ori¬ 
gin, it follows, when they still retain 
the power to produce fertile seed, that 
this seed will, in turn, produce plants 
which may reveal any trait of any an¬ 
cestral plant, or any combination of such 
traits. It is from this situation that the 
joys of seedling raising arise, for he who 
plants iris seed experiences at once the 
thrills of both gardening and gambling. 
Anything may happen, but interest is 
greatest when the seeds are not the re¬ 
sult of chance insect fertilization, but of 
the deliberate hand crossing of two 
prominent varieties. 
The usual procedure of the hybri¬ 
dizer is to pluck with fine pointed pin¬ 
cers the stamens of the blossoms selected 
for seed parents, while these flowers are 
still in bud. This results in a rumpled 
flower, but one which can not fertilize 
itself. Bags of white muslin are tied 
over each of these mutilated buds. 
We will suppose, for sake of illus¬ 
tration, that the seed parent selected is 
a purple iris which is known to produce 
seed. When the blossoms are well 
opened within their insect excluding 
muslin bags, the hybridizer gathers sta¬ 
mens from the plant he has selected for 
pollen parent. We will assume that th s 
is a yellow iris. He transfers the pollen 
from these yellow iris stamens to the 
stigmas of the purple stamenless blos¬ 
soms and again ties on the protecting 
bags. To accomplish this pollen transfer 
he may use a camel’s hair brush, or sim¬ 
ply rub the anther of the stamen on the 
stigma. Bags may be removed as soon 
as blossoming is over and the seed from 
the resultant pods is planted in the fall. 
This seed will ordinarily germinate the 
following spring, and the plants usually 
blossom the spring after that. In the 
case under consideration these flowers 
may be expected in all possible combina¬ 
tions of yellow and purple, together 
with other unpredictable colors derived 
from unknown ancestors of both parents. 
It is in this way that the producers in 
France, England and America are bring¬ 
ing forth each season the new irises des¬ 
tined to drive out the present standard 
varieties. Each hybridizer, and in these 
days everyone has his seedling bed, 
hopes to make a great discovery. The 
greatest of all hybridizing stories is that 
of Mr. E. B. Williamson of Bluffton, In¬ 
diana, who had a row of Amas bearing 
about 500 blossoms. Mr. Williamson 
applied pollen to every one of these 500 
flowers and was rewarded with but a 
single seed. It was this lone seed, how¬ 
ever, which produced the famous Lent 
A. Williamson. 
The novice hybridizer must bear in 
mind several important facts. Many 
irises, for example, are sterile and will 
give no seed, and others which will 
produce seed under cross fertilization, 
produce nothing but sterile pollen. 
Many seeds themselves are sterile, and 
many which are fertile will not germi¬ 
nate the first year. There is one re¬ 
corded case of an iris seed that delayed 
18 years before germinating! It is 
necessary to plant iris seed in the fall, 
as the winter freezing is essential to 
germination. The seeds may be planted 
in rows like sweet pea seed, and the little 
sturdy seedlings are at once identifiable 
from the accompanying grass and weed 
