There is no soil, however barren and unproductive, that cannot, by well digging and dunging, be made 
fertde and prolific.-^Adapted from Cervantes’ DON QUIXOTE, Part II, Chapter XIL 
Sales and Service Bulletin 
VOL. 7 WAYLAND, MICHIGAN, U. S. A., SEASON OF 1938 No. 1 
FIELD NOTES 
With thousands of varieties of 
dahlias already introduced and sev¬ 
eral hundred more new ones being 
offered each year it is utterly im¬ 
possible for the commercial grower 
to keep stocked up with everything, 
especially when it is necessary that 
each variety be grown in consider¬ 
able quantity before it can be of 
any interest to the wholesale trade. 
During the past ten years we have 
discarded probably more than three 
hundred varieties of dahlias, all of 
which had more or less merit but 
for some reason or other did not 
quite come up to our requirements. 
In an effort to standardize our 
list so far as possible we have been 
following a system of grading of 
vaiieties based on a strictly com¬ 
mercial point of view, as follows:—- 
Total 
Basic 
Uniformity of growth 
30 
30 
Root maker 
40 
20 
(Allow 4 roots as basic, 
add 5 points for each ad¬ 
ditional root up to 8) 
Form of root 
10 
10 
(Deduct for long slender 
root or root with slim 
wiry neck easily broken, 
or extra large or extra 
small roots, up to 5 
points) 
Keeping quality of roots 20 20 
(Deduct for tendency to 
stem rot and tendency to 
shrivel, up to 10 points) 
Varieties scoring less than 70 
points will almost invariably pass off 
the market automatically or as you 
might say, will become run out, 
while those scoring 80 points or 
more are retained until something 
better in a similar type and color 
appears to take their places. 
In trying out new varieties we 
first select those which make a satis¬ 
factory showing on very heavy 
ground. On such soil we look chiefly 
for size of bloom and intensity of 
color, because on these points heavy 
soil gives a much better showing 
than the lighter soil in our regular 
fields. These varieties are then tested 
on our lighter soil to determine their 
general suitability to commercial 
use. If any variety fails to come up 
to our standard on the points listed 
above we give it no further atten¬ 
tion. 
We still consider Jersey’s Beauty, 
Jane Cowl and Mrs. I. de Ver War¬ 
ner as the three greatest dahlias 
grown. They do well everywhere and 
meet all requirements of a dahlia 
for the average flower grower. No 
list is complete without these three 
varieties, and no dahlia show can be 
found in which they do not appear 
in prominence. 
Other standard varieties which 
are just as worthy of a place in 
your list—varieties which will give 
just as great satisfaction to your 
customers—are Sagamore, Pride of 
Stratford, Bashful Giant, Edward 
T. Bedford,' Laura Morris, Pride of 
California, Jersey’s Beacon, Margaret 
Woodrow Wilson and The Commo¬ 
dore. Every-one'of these has giant 
blooms and good color which will 
make them stack up with any of the 
newer H,onor Roll varieties. We grow 
all these varieties in immense quan¬ 
tities—our crop of Jane Cowl alone 
should be upwards of 100,000 roots 
this year—and we are able to take 
care of any order, regardless of size. 
Aida, Countess of Pembroke, Dar¬ 
lene, Doazon, Purity, Queen Mary 
and Yellow Colosse are older var¬ 
ieties, but every one of them is good 
and will help fill out a collection of 
higher priced sorts so the whole col¬ 
lection can be sold at a popular 
price. For counter trade these var¬ 
ieties cannot be beaten, because they 
can always be depended upon to give 
satisfaction even in the hands of the 
most careless grower. 
If you want other varieties at just 
a little higher price, you can’t beat 
Agnes Haviland, Delice, Jean Kerr, 
Mrs. Carl Salbach, Oregon Beauty, 
Swift and Venus. These are all ex¬ 
cellent varieties, just as good as any 
of the newer ones and you need 
have no fear in recommending them 
to anyone. 
Don’t overlook the Aif and Ball 
types in making up your list. The 
former has just as large blooms as 
the decorative, and the latter is com¬ 
ing into favor very fast, especially 
since the demand is growing for 
blooms that will keep in good condi¬ 
tion for some time after being made 
up into pieces for sprays, decora¬ 
tions, etc. 
In fact, v/e don’t think any list is 
complete without at least a repre¬ 
sentation of each of the four types 
of dahlias. 
We urge all our customers to visit 
us during blooming time, because it 
is impossible for us to give you a 
description of any variety that will 
equal the flower itself—especially 
when you see a million blooms at 
one time, all colors and forms per¬ 
fectly blended in our planting ar¬ 
rangement. By going over our fields 
you can pick out just the varieties 
you want in each collection, and 
when you offer these to your custo¬ 
mers you will be able to do so with 
the vim that comes from being “sold” 
on them yourself before you ask 
anyone else to buy. 
Most of the giant blooms which 
are exhibited at the dahlia shows are 
grown from green plants. These 
plants have only one stem and abso¬ 
lutely no part of the original root. 
A small tuber with a single eye will 
invariably produce a better plant 
than a larger tuber, and this plant 
will produce as large flowers as can 
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