not bloom the following spring, 
unless a large ball of earth is 
taken with each clump. They 
should be planted eight inches 
apart. The rhizome (or root) 
should not be planted too deep; 
in fact, the top should be barely 
covered with soil. The same 
condition should apply when 
planting in soil under water. 
The soil must be acid and very 
rich in food value to get best re- 
sults. Aluminum sulphate, about 
a pound to a square yard, will 
be sufficient. A complete plant 
food with a neutral reaction may 
be used very liberally as a food. 
A four inch pot full, with an 
equal amount of cotton seed 
meal, is recommended for every 
twelve square feet of surface. 
It should be applied early in the 
spring, not later than the last 
of March. 
In a survey of the Louisiana 
Wild Iris, the curator of the 
New York Botanical Garden, the 
late Dr. John K. Small, found 
more than two hundred different 
shades of the blue, red, and 
purple in the vicinity of New 
Orleans. 
If you are a lover of the iris, 
and if you like to produce new 
shades, you should try your 
hand at pollination. 
New colors or shades may be 
produced during the blooming 
seasons by taking the pollen 
“dust of the bloom’’—from the 
stamens (the male organ) and 
transfering -it.to.the ovula. (fe- 
male organs) by means of a fine 
camel’s hair brush. The result- 
ing seed, when planted, will give 
you a shade between the two 
colors you have pollinated. These 
new seedlings will not bloom un- 
til their second year. You will 
find this experiment very inte- 
resting, educational, and in most 
cases successful. 
They are successfully grown 
as far north as Canada, but in 
these cold regions they should 
be planted in very rich soil, and 
heavily mulched during the win- 
ter. The New York Botanical 
Garden has a plantation of these 
irises of which they are very 
proud. 
So whether your land is low or 
high, your climate hot or cold, 
with practically no work on your 
part, you may grow flowers with 
all of the delicacy of the orchid 
and all the beauty of the rose. 

