GUIDEBOOK FOR 1947 
Page 11 
SE 
CANDID COMPARISONS 
(at random) 
The one outstanding bargain in current 
Gladiolus literature is the Ohio-Canadian- 
New England-North American Gladiolus 
Council 4-way membership combination, 
bringing you two big year books, six maga- 
zines and eight bulletins, a $6.00 value, 
obtainable only through the Ohio Society, 
for $4.25. See page 38. 
Every year we receive many packages 
through the mails containing florets for iden- 
tification or observation. Practically all are 
mush on arrival and identification of color 
hopeless and impossible. The only hope for 
intelligent reply is to send a bud or two 
showing color with enough stem to open the 
bud in water after arrival. 
See new terms of sale as respects methods 
of delivery on page 16. 
In the Victory Garden no flower lends it- 
self better to row crop planting and cultiva- 
ting than the gladiolus, which are sure to 
produce beautiful bloom in an average of 80 
days from planting, before most of the vege- 
tables are ready to crop. 
It appears we scooped our catalog com- 
petitors in our 1946 Guidebook on up-to-the- 
minute information on DDT. 
The skilled show exhibitor realizes that his 
cultural care has less to do with the quality 
of the bloom secured than the quality of the 
bulb itself. That’s where we strive to outdo 
the other catalogers. In one more respect 
as well. We do not think there exists another 
gladiolus catalog which perennially lists so 
exclusively the really top outstanding vari- 
eties the world affords. We are not kidding 
our thousands of repeat customers. This is 
something they have come to understand 
and appreciate. From a catalog. just re- 
ceived from Holland—‘Every one thinks his 
own geese swans.’’ Our 18 years of show 
experience and new variety testing combine 
to exclude the ‘‘geese’’ from our listings. 
Our business is so heavily repeat that we 
have to abandon from our list every year 
many common better standards still worthy 
of being grown, though their place is usually 
taken in our list by newer and better ones. 
So, fallen by the wayside are such varieties 
as Acca Laurentia, Armada, Donna, H. B. 
. Pitt, High Finance, Jeanie, Mohawk, Perky, 
Rosa van Lima, Sunrise, Wanda. 
Just for the record, at the big Ohio show at 
Cleveland, ’46, for winning the most points 
(116) in classes available to commercial 
growers, we were awarded the New England 
Gladiolus Society Silver Medal. 
MID-AMERICA 
A Seed — Patience — Speed 
1942—Evans crosses his Snow Cruiser onto 
Red Charm. 
1943—Evans offers seed at 5 cents each— 
cross 486. Knierim buys 5 seeds, 
gets 8, grows 8 small bulbs, largest a 
bit over half inch diameter. 
1944—-Knierim’s 8 bulbs planted 2 inches 
apart, all bloom, all big florets on tall 
spikes, foliage heavier than anything 
else in the garden. All blooms red to 
light red. Second bulb (486B) better 
color than the rest. This bloom was 
longest flowerhead (34”) and grand 
champion at the Chagrin Falls, Ohio 
show. One large bulb and 45 bulb- 
lets cropped. 
1945—This bulb produced a bloom which 
became seedling champion, color cham- 
pion and grand champion at the 2nd 
Ohio show. Also the stock increased 
to 43 bulbs, mostly No. 2 and 3 and 
close to 700 bulblets. 
1946—Wet all May. Dry, cold July, most 
nights below 50 degrees. Blooms 
delayed until latest shows. At the 
Chagrin Falls show a one spike entry 
was seedling champion, grand cham- 
pion and 2nd day champion. A 3 
spike entry was section champion, 
champion 3 spike entry, scored 83 by 
O. S. G. S. judges for Award of Merit. 
Another 3 spike entry at the 2nd Ohio 
show was seedling champion, reserve 
champion and scored 84 for another 
Award of Merit by O. S. G. S. Bulbs 
dug 175 large, 400 medium, 150 small 
and about a quart of bulblets, about 
7000. 
1947—-What to do? We have a fast propa- 
gator and very powerful plant maker, 
with foliage heavier than that of White 
Gold. We have a glad with color 
much cleaner than Red Charm and 
fully as lively. Makes florets around 
7 inches diameter to Red Charm’s 5 
inches (about twice as big in square 
inches). Holds more open, 8-10 with 
ease. Has more buds than Red Charm 
24 average. Has a foot more height, 
all of the extra foot in Mid-America’s 
long flowerhead -which averages 34-36 
inches from large bulbs well grown. 
If Red Charm could stand as the 
world’s best glad through 1944-1945 
(supplanted 1946-1947 by Leading 
Lady), then Mid-America, its supe- 
rior in every respect of habit, growth, 
color, size, etc., by the widest of 
margins, then we conclude that, 
given a few years of fast propagation 
in the maximum number of hands, we 
have here indubitably another ‘world’s 
best glad”, all colors considered. 
