pleas | ==104 1 
In spite of a very severe winter the Iris has come through in excellent condition, 
and plenty of moisture in the soil this spring insures a good blooming season. So 
come to see us and our garden this spring—we shall be delighted to have you. Our 
height of bloom is usually about the last week in May. Beside our many fine named 
varieties, hundreds of selected and numbered seedlings and thousands of new ones 
blooming for the first time will be here to greet you. 
You will see that we have cut our lists severely this year. Because we are chiefly 
interested in newer and better irises we find that we do not have room to grow many 
of the older ones some of which are still good but which have been superceded by 
newer introductions. Our general list this year includes a few over a hundred of th- 
best irises we have ever grown and this in itself is a high recommendation to you of 
their value. 
We believe in the rating system of the American Iris Society, which although 
perhaps not perfect, is the best way we know, together with our own recommendation 
after growing the irises, of bringing to you their true evaluation. 
Each year we take new blooming season and growing season notes and write new 
descriptions of each individual variety. This is the only way we feel that we can 
give you up to the minute pictures. If a variety disappoints us in any way in bloom 
or growth it is marked and dealt with according to its just deserts. 
Each year we check carefully with the Bulletins so as to give you a record of the 
newest awards and ratings. As you know an iris is subject to a change in rating until 
it gets a permanent rating by twenty or more judges in any one year. Thus if an iris 
is rated by only a few judges at first and receives an average of 92, it will be rated 
again the next year, when, being seen by more judges and being in competition with 
still newer ones of its class, its average may drop a little—perhaps to 90. If it still 
does not receive the necessary twenty ratings it must be voted on again the following 
year. Then .t has still more competition and its average rating may drop still more, 
say to 88, which if twenty or more judges rate it, becomes its permanent rating, and 
should be, we think, a fair estimate of its value over a wide territory. Any iris that 
can get a permanent rating of over 85 is, we believe, a worthwhile ir.s, but of course 
the higher the rating ithe better, as long as it agrees with our own experience in grow- 
ing it. We list this year only those irises that have sustained a rat.ng of over 85, and 
that have made good growing and blooming records in our own garden. We recom- 
mend them to you as our unprejudiced choice of the hundreds of varieties that we 
have grown. We list a few that are semi-tender with careful suggestions for the_r 
care, because we consider them worth protection. If moisture can be withheld from 
them in the fall and winter so that out of season growth is kept to a minimum they 
will stand our winters well. Roof shelters of boards or boxes during the winter will 
keep them dry and dormant till settled weather in spring, 
In our hybridizing we use only the strong, hardy strains—those that have a natur- 
al dormant season. Irises will stand any amount of cold while they are dormant 
and established plantings of hardy kinds will not need any winter protection. Newly 
set plants should be covered lightly to keep the ground from alternate freezing and 
thawing which cracks the soil and sometimes heaves the plants out. Snow is a per- 
fect covcring for iris but ice is very injurious. 
We are working for firm substance in iris, better branching stems and stronger, 
hardier plants, as well as for new and clearer colors and graceful flower forms. New 
introduct.ons must have all of these good qualities to be worthy of a place in our 
catalogue or in your gardens. We are turning most of our attention now to hybridiz- 
ing and we hope to bring to you many of the fine new irises you have been waiting for. 
