GUIDEBOOK FOR 1943 
Page 11 

CANDID COMPARISONS 
(at random) 
With more bulbs of Harmau and Stella 
Antisdale at large this year, we expect their 
recognition as among the world’s best glads 
by all who see them. 
The patent glads have proven their worth 
for exhibition in the stiffest possible competi- 
tion. 
Our glads are 100% free of mosaic and 
fusarium., 
Our business is growing by leaps and 
bounds. Our ability to answer correspondence 
on relatively unessential subjects has almost 
reached the vanishing point. We pack our 
booklet with many pages of answers to many 
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. 
In an unguarded moment last February we 
took on the non-lucrative, volunteer job of 
chairman of our local ration board. The board 
has now expanded to cover nine towns, sub- 
urbs of Cleveland and, to illustrate, the recent 
gasolene rationing for a month almost stopped 
all activity on our own behalf, further narrow- 
ing our time for correspondence, preparation 
of cataiog, etc. 
No longer are we able to delegate to others, 
even at double recently going wage scales, all 
the detail and manual work we hitherto were 
able to sidestep for here in the center of a vast 
war industrial area both farm and horticul- 
tural labor has disappeared. 
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? 
A grower-cataloger of bulbs has certain in- 
escapable costs: planting stock, use of land, 
its preparation, planting, cultivating, digging, 
hauling, curing, cleaning, grading, storage 
quarters, fumigating or other processes to 
combat insects and bulb diseases, advertising 
of one form or another, catalogs, postage, 
packing and shipping. There may be addi- 
tional items of overhedd such as clerical, irri- 
gation, spraying, etc. 
Picardy has passed its peak. Probably we 
are the first cataloger to discard it. We have 
a few left and will dispose of them at last 
year’s prices, but there are not enough to 
warrant listing. If you want substantial lots 
they may easily be secured elsewhere. We 
offer H. B. Pitt in the Picardy color group 
without need of apology. Along with Picardy 
other reputable ‘‘standards’’ slip less osten- 
tatiously from our list to make way for im- 
proved varieties in their respective color 
classes. 
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 all bloom but medium 
bulbs almost always 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 smaller 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 % inch diameter and 
other sizes range up every 14 inch, the Num- 
ber 1 bulb being 11% inch up. Catalogs 
commonly offer bulbs as L (large) sizes 1 and 
2) (1144 inch up); M (medium) (sizes 3 and 4) 
(34 to 1144 inch); S (small) (sizes 5 and 6) 
(14 to 34 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 
you are starting to produce a given spike. 
TERMS OF SALE 
Cash with order. 
Delivery prepaid in U. S. Gladiolus ship- 
ments in February, March and April, or as 
soon as possible on orders arriving thereafter. 
Replacement or refund purchase price any 
bulb, root, plant or seed that does not prove 
true to name or does not arrive in condition 
herein represented. Bulblet germination is 
not guaranteed. 
No substitutions will be made. 
Orders received until planting but subject 
to stock being unsold. To get proper prop- 
agation of new sorts, it does not pay us to 
hold for further sale bulbs and blts priced 
only per each beyond May Ist. Order early. 
Our selling season is very short. 
Notice to Canadian Customers: Pre- 
sumably for the duration you will be able to 
continue making occasional (several months 
apart) small orders for bulbs costing “‘less 
than” 5 Canadian Dollars. Apply to the 
Secretary of Destructive Insect & Pest Act 
Advisory Board, Dept. of Agriculture, 
Ottawa, Ont., for permit and mailing label. 
Delivery prepaid to foreign countries in 
the Postal Union having the usual 14c per 
pound rate, provided war restrictions of one 
kind or another does not bar such delivery 
except that purchases at 100 rate prices should 
add at rate 50c per 100 for large bulbs and 
20c per 100 for medium sized bulbs. 
