GUIDEBOOK FOR 1942 
questions we get nevertheless. Every question 
vital to the selection and growing of good glads 
we think we have already answered some- 
where in this booklet. If you seek and find 
a formula for some treatment of bulb or plant, 
read it all carefully. Not a word or sentence 
is surplus verbiage. We couldn’t afford the 
room. 
Horticultural costs have gone up and will go 
higher. Paper and printing and cartons, too. 
But, except the so-called standards our prices 
are down. Just a bit dumb, to put it mildly? 
The interesting excerpts from customer 
letters scattered throughout this guidebook 
(in small italics) are mostly selected from 
individuals prominent in the industry or 
society officers. Had we time and space we 
could add hundreds more as interesting. 
It’s a rare glad if we can find no fault with 
it or at least some feature leaving room for 
some improvement. If we list a glad its good 
points have to be sufficiently outstanding to 
far outweigh any more or less serious fault, 
This year we have reclassified our varieties 
into the more numerous color classifications 
adopted by the N. E. G. S. and Midwest. 
Many alterations are about to be made and 
likely not all our guesses will be followed. And 
because of our carrying the new tabulation 
of prize winners (page 4) there will be less 
mention of prize winnings in our variety 
descriptions. 
Let us consider the bulk of bloom on a 
given flowerhead. Say 4 inches diameter and 
up. Plenty of 4 inch glads. Can it be possible 
that of two spikes with equal number of 
open florets, one can have twice the bulk of 
bloom of the other? Yes, you can imagine 
that to be possible. But, four times the bulk 
of bloom? No, impossible you say. Perhaps 
you counter—A floret just twice the diameter 
of another couldn’t be four times as big. 
But you are wrong. Let us compare 2 
spikes, one with five open 4 inch florets, the 
other with five open 8 inch florets. Here 
are the cold facts: 
Diameter 4 inches, area 12.57 square inches. 
5 inches 19.64 
6 inches 28.27 
7 inches 38.50 
8 inches 5027 
For a listing of the giants see the 100 series 
column in the tabulation of 1941 winners, 
page 4. 
“Well, you did it again, only better. I refer to your catalog. 
It arrived today. It’s just cram full of most everything a 
‘gladman’ wants.’”’ 2-1-40. O. P. S., Athens, Mich. 
“‘Have again received your catalog. Find more wealth of 
information in it than in any others and thank you for sending 
it.” 2-840. E. A. L., Spring Green, Wisc. 
“As usual, your guide book is tops. Informative and com- 
prehensive in its special features, highly selective in its listing 
of varieties, discerning in its descriptions and comments, 
it isa valuable reference book as well as a catalog.”’ 4-5-40. 
Prof. C. F. K., Detroit, Mich. 
Page 11 


SIZE OF BULB TO BUY 
If economy be the aim, do not rely on small 
bulbs to give wholly satisfactory blooms. 
The small bulbs will al! bloom but medium 
bulbs almost alwavs give far better than 
‘“‘medium” sized spikes of the given variety. 
Our descriptions usually indicate whether or 
not the variety is an exceptionally fine pro- 
ducer of blooms from the smaller sizes. 
A number of varieties either have come 
into sufficient world production to warrant 
low price for large bulbs or bloom so un- 
satisfactorily from medium size bulbs that, 
for the protection of our customer, we omit 
the smailer sizes from our pricing. Likely, 
we have them if you insist but we recommend 
only the sizes offered. 
Commercially, bulbs are graded into 6 
sizes. Size 6 is under 1% inch diameter and 
other sizes range up every 4 inch, the Num- 
ber 1 bulb being 1% inch up. Catalogs 
commonly offer bulbs as L (large) sizes 1 and 
2) (114 inch up); M (medium) (sizes 3 and 4) 
(34 to 1144 inch); S (small) (sizes 5 and 6) 
(144 to 8 inch) and Blts (bulblets, the little 
hard shelled corme!s which cling at the roots 
of the bulb). 
The size (bulk) of bulb you purchase 
determines the amount of food with which 
vou are starting to produce a given spike. 
Below is a table giving the cubic inch of food 
content of the various sizes, figured at a dia- 
meter average for the given size, i.e., half 
way between its maximum and minimum 
size: 
No. 6, upto %in., aver. 3%, .027 cu. in. 
Nor 57) tomcat, aver a oe, eel27curin, 
Nor4et soto ll einiwiaver.7e}) G50 cusin. 
No. 3,1 toiM4in.,aver.14%, .745 cu. in. 
No. 2,14 to 1% in., aver. 13%, 1.361 cu. in. 
No. 1, 1% up, aver. 15, 2.247 cu. in. 
2 in. up Jumbo, aver. 21%, 5.021 cu. in. 
Note, curiously enough, that the big 


differences are between sizes No. 5 and No. 6 
and between Number 1 and Jumbos which 
really average more than 2% inches. Norm- 
ally, it is not until a bulb reaches large size 
that it loses its spherical form. A 3 in. 
Jumbo bulb may approximate a half sphere 
but such a bulb would contain 7.07 cu. in., 
about 5 times the food bulb of a No. 2 large 
bulb. 
“Received my order of bulbs in fine shape. Had expected 
some extras but was astonished and also pleased with extras, 
overcounts and oversize equal to my original order.’ 3-25-40. 
R. R. S., Hagerstown, Md. 
"While in Customs getting the lot of bulbs from you I met 
our Canadian Inspector and he told me that the lot I was in 
for (your shipment) was as fine a lot as he had ever examined 
and every corm a perfect one in being absolutely free from 
defect, thrips or disease of any kind. That was getting real 
value for my money, particularly in view of the fact that 
your overcount and extras more than made up for the exchange, 
duty and express incurred.”’ 5-26-40. J. W. McL., Ottawa 
Ont. 
