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THE GLADIOLUS FANCIER’S 
INTRODUCTORY 
A gain, this booklet is planned for you. 
It adopts your point of view. It gives 
you hitherto unpublished facts upon 
which to base your own conclusions. It is 
not cluttered up with fictitious values. 
A small portion of the information in this 
booklet is repeated from last year. In such 
instances, the data is still so valuable that 
we cannot possibly leave it out. 
Of course, all information concerning prize 
winnings, voting symposiums, newly reborn- 
mended formulas for bulb disease and thrips 
prevention is brought right up-to-date. 
New matter begins on the next page. 
SYMPOSIUM RATINGS 
This copyrighted booklet again contains 
the principal current Symposiums. This with 
the special permission of the Canadian 
Gladiolus Society and the New England 
Gladiolus Society, copyright owners. 
BEHIND US—EXPERIENCE 
Twelve years of informative cataloging. 
About five years each as Executive Chair¬ 
man of the American Gladiolus Society and 
the Ohio State Gladiolus Society, with general 
duties of determining editorial policy, ne¬ 
gotiating, drafting and executing show con¬ 
tracts, improving variety classification, de¬ 
vising scoring methods, now used with minor 
variations about the world. 
Ten years of competitive exhibiting of 
blooms in A.G.S., Ohio, and other state and 
regional shows. Beaten but once on commercial 
display and consistently unbeatable for point 
accumulation in the three spike, competitive 
color classes. Usually Achievement Award 
for most points in the Commercial Division. 
Nine years of importing the finest varieties 
offered overseas. 
Never licked by the thrips, thanks to 
corrosive sublimate, ethylene dichloride and 
Rototox. 
Member of practically every Gladiolus 
Society in the world with publications in 
English. 
Thus we keep abreast of the times and it 
is small wonder that, as the Symposium lists 
change every couple years, we have already 
been cataloging almost all of them years 
before they attained their peak of popularity. 
We take no special credit for growing a 
variety better than the other fellow. In 
fact, most of our show exhibiting amateur 
customers grow any variety they buy of us 
better than we. Rather, we win in the shows 
because we have the cream of the latest 
introductions from all parts of the world. 
Selection of the right ones for you to purchase 
be the ultimate aim of our experience. 
Likewise, it is our aim to aid our customers 
both amateur and commercial, in the saving 
of unnecessary expense and experimentation. 
Skill and care alone will not make plants 
yield rich and abundant flowers. The varie¬ 
ties must be inherently capable of it and the 
bulbs healthy and the plants insect pest free 
to permit their best performance. Printers’ 
ink can do a lot but it cannot make a good 
variety out of a poor one. 
A WORD TO THE WISE 
Disappointment can be minimized by leav¬ 
ing'to the highly trained gladiolus specialist 
the experimentation and cash investment 
necessary to try out all the new offerings of 
the many hybridizers. Those who know the 
quality of competition in national, state and 
regional shows in the last few years have come 
to realize that inferior sorts rarely win. We 
list only those varieties currently winning 
first prize awards and, on occasion, a limited 
few new ones which we have grown and which, 
in our opinion, are about to take their place 
in the winning ranks. We have almost no 
errors to acknowledge, 
“Has beens” and varieties that have been 
kicking around in catalogs for years without 
being able to win in current major shows are 
omitted. You do not have to sift them care¬ 
fully from our offerings. We have tried to 
lead you out of the usual labyrinth of a list¬ 
ing of hundreds of varieties where it would 
be next to hopeless to differentiate the best 
from the commonplace. By our method of 
listing the latter are automatically sifted out. 
We have no knowledge of the existence of 
any other gladiolus catalog in the world that 
even closely approaches so exclusive a list of 
prize-winners. 
Also, it is well to leave to the federal, state 
and university entomologists, pathologists 
and to gladiolus specialists cooperating with 
them, the determination of best usages for the 
control of insect pests and bulb and plant 
diseases. Experimentation by others with 
poisons, poisonous gases and with insecticides, 
the component parts of which are not under¬ 
stood by the user, and with unapproved meth¬ 
ods of fertilization, usually leads to trouble. 
Copyright 1940 
HERBERT O. EVANS 
Farm, S. O. M. Center Road, SOLON, OHIO P. O. Address, BEDFORD, OHIO 
