FIELD NOTES 
(Continued from Page 1) 
be grown from the best green plant 
because the small tuber will sustain 
the sprout only until it puts out 
roots of its own, thus duplicating 
the conditions which are sought by 
the plant grower. 
You have no doubt seen many of 
the new cactus dahlias, such as Miss 
Belgium, Golden Standard, Satan, 
etc. We are growing these new var¬ 
ieties, but as yet the price is neces¬ 
sarily much higher than on such var¬ 
ieties as Bride’s Bouquet, Libelle, 
Bertha Horne, Celia, Golden West, 
J. H. Jackson, Rene Cayeux, Mina- 
moto, Rheinischer Frohsinn, Scara- 
mouche. Cigarette, Countess of Lons¬ 
dale, etc.; but when you visit our 
fields we want you to compare these 
varieties with the newer ones and 
see which ones are the best. In fact, 
we want you to ask the attendant to 
gather some of all these varieties— 
armsful if you please—and see what 
gorgeous beauty they present. 
We have been growing dahlias for 
a great many years and we admit 
that in many points we have strayed 
from the beaten path as regards our 
method of handling our stock. Most 
growers wait until spring before di¬ 
viding their clumps but this would 
be impossible with us both because 
of the very large number of clumps 
we have to divide and because of the 
fact that we usually start shipping 
in December. It is, therefore, neces¬ 
sary that we start dividing our 
clumps just as soon as we are done 
digging. When the divisions are 
made each root is carefully trimmed, 
all fresh cuts are treated with 
hydrated lime to prevent mold and 
rot and all roots are stamped with 
varietal number before being placed 
in our stock room where they remain 
until time for shipment. As we keep 
this room dark, cool and at a very 
high humidity point—just below the 
point of drip—we are thus able to 
carry our stock through in perfect 
condition without having roots rot 
or shrivel before spring. 
Once in a while a customer wi’l 
ask us to send him roots which have 
not been trimmed, treated or stamp¬ 
ed. Where order is given early we 
can prepare roots in this manner 
but we really believe it is to the in- 
tere.st of our customers that we pro¬ 
cess roots in our regular manner 
because by trimming off unnecessary 
povts of the root we save on storage 
space, by treating each root we in¬ 
sure against all danger from decay 
a^d bv stamping variotal number on 
all roots we avoid all possibility of 
varieties becoming mixed in handl¬ 
ing. 
As to the practice of treating the 
roofs with hydrated lime. Mr. Luck, 
of the Isbell Seed Company, asked 
us if we did not think this tended 
to retard the growth of the roots. 
In our own planting we use plenfy 
of lime—in fact, we pour a basin¬ 
ful over each crate when it leaves 
for the field—and we believe our 
fields will furnish a practical proof 
of the benefit to be derived from 
this treatment. Our plants are always 
uniform, thrifty and so free from 
aphis, thrip, etc., that we have never 
yet had to spray a single plant for 
these pests; and when we come to 
dig the clumps in the fall we very 
seldom find one of the mother roots 
which shows any sign of decay or 
deterioration in any way. 
With so many years of experience 
and with such extensive plantings to 
back up our methods we believe all 
our customers can feel assured that 
stock is handled absolutely right at 
our point, especially when it is con¬ 
sidered that all this extra work on 
our part costs money which we cer¬ 
tainly would not spend if we did not 
think it necessary. 
Another point regarding the divid¬ 
ing of clumps. Many growers use 
clippers in this work because with¬ 
out question clumps can be divided 
much faster with clippers than by 
any other method; but we prefer the 
use of sharp knives in this work be¬ 
cause a knife makes a clean cut 
without haggling and without danger 
of bruising the eye which cannot be 
avoided when clippers are used. 
Many of our customers have us 
ship their orders direct in which 
case we assume full responsibility 
for all replacements. During our 
years of experience these replace¬ 
ments have actually averaged less 
than 1%, so we know positively just 
what results our stock is giving in 
the hands of the planters. All orders 
are filled with exactly |the same grade 
of stock and where you fill orders 
direct from your place you may be 
certain that if the roots are handled 
carefully at your point you will get 
the same satisfactory results as we 
gat on direct shipment. 
Most of our seed house customers 
depend largely upon us to suggest 
varieties suitable for their list. In 
making such suggestions we consider 
not only the quantity of stock avail¬ 
able but also the lists of varieties 
which are being used by other cus¬ 
tomers, thereby avoiding duplica¬ 
tion so far as possible. We regard 
your interests as of vital concern to 
ourselves because our business de¬ 
pends entirely upon yours. If you 
don’t sell dahlias to your customers, 
you certainly won’t buy them from 
us. 
Ws took a load of “sweet young 
things” down the main street of a 
nearby city just to note their reac¬ 
tions on the window displays. Going 
at 25 miles per hour the first thing 
that caught their attention was price, 
next style and last color. 
HAZEL RYNO 
New Cream and Lavender Sport of Laura Morris 
Last year in roguing our fields we discovered a sport of Laura Morris 
that was so striking that it immediately attracted the attention of everyone 
who visited our gardens. It was placed in our propagating house and we 
were successful in obtaining about forty plants of it, and these are now in 
bloom at our gardens showing the true color of the sport without any 
tendency to reveit to the color of the parent. It is identical to Laura Morris 
in form and manner of growth, but instead of having the deep yellow blooms 
which are characteristic of Laura Morris it is a beautiful shade of lavender 
pink with creamy white center. This dahlia is being gi’own among the Honor 
Roll varieties in our gardens this year and those who have seen it so far 
have not hesitated in pronouncing it the most beautiful dahlia in the lot. 
We are calling your attention to Hazel Ryno so you will keep it in 
mind when you call this fall; but stock is so limited that we cannot offer 
it to our customers this year. For the benefit of those who wish to get 
started on it while new, however, we have arranged with Zant’s Wildwood 
Gardens, 2,160 E. Fulton St., Grand Rapids., Mich., to supply sturdy green 
plants of the variety at $5. each. Those of you who have an outlet for 
strictly new varieties will find Hazel Ryno one of the finest additions you 
can possibly make to your list. 
