WHY IS A GLAD BEAUTIFUL? 
Art is the way the parts of a thing are arranged to give us pleasure. The de- 
gree of our pleasure depends on how well the arrangement of the parts complies 
with the principles of beauty. A glad spike is beautiful because in the way its parts 
are arranged it does follow the simple laws of beauty. 
Whether it be a picture, a doorway, or a building, the ancient Greeks knew 
the proper proportions. The basis for good spacing which was their standard is the 
“Golden Oblong”’, or about two units on the short side and three on the long side. 
If this principle of space relationship is followed, the resulting object is far more 
interesting than otherwise. A glad spike with six open blooms has two one way and 
three the other. Even the individual floret complies by being not a square nor a 
circle nor a triangle, but a two-by-three object, approximately. 
The glad spike type is the spear-head, with the florets facing the front. The 
glad type is an openness without flatness, giving an impression of depth of char- 
acter, an impression of height rather than broadness, suggesting an air of state- 
liness and dignity. As the eye travels over a glad spike there is a restful impres- 
sion because there is balance of a high order. There is an equal attraction to the 
eye on each side of the stem axis, and every one of the florets is in place as well 
as petal edges and pistils of equal size and form on both sides. 
As the eye travels up a glad spike, the movement is easy and organized, and 
not restless and distracting, because there is related movement, or rhythm. There 
is a repetition of florets, petal edges, stamens, size of petal, direction of petal point- 
ing, and so forth, in a progression. We say that in its design the glad spike has 
rhythm. 
All the parts of a glad spike harmonize. The shapes of the petals and florets, 
their relative sizes as between petal and floret, and floret with cluster, the tex- 
ture of bloom and the spike as a whole, even the colors and markings, are all con- 
sistant parts of a harmonious whole. There is an impression of unity throughout 
the entire flower, a family resemblance among the florets, the leading lines follow- 
ing the general shape of the cluster, with a minimum of contradicting lines and 
plenty of transition lines. 
Emphasis is the art principle by which the eye is inevitably carried to the 
most important thing in any arrangement of lines and parts. It so happens, and it 
is a delightful coincidence, that the thing to be emphasized in a glad spike is exact- 
ly the thing for whch the glad is to be used, and that is the color. The easy flow of 
line and shape, the suggestion of broadness and openness and depth of character, 
the stateliness and dignity of the glad, all point to the one central idea, which is 
the presentation of the particular color to the best advantage. 
Briefly each of these five principles as described above may be expressed by 
a word, each word describing the effect upon the eye. The easy movement of lines 
in a harmonious arrangement is said to be pleasing. Proper proportions are in- 
teresting rather than dull and disagreeable. Rythmic movement of line is restful 
to the eye. Where there is proper balance there is dignity. When there is a unity of 
purpose as the culmination of the entire spike ensemble, the effect is impressive. 
That is why a modern glad spike is a thing of beauty. 
A BIT ABOUT ME 
For the last quarter of a Century the sale of glads has been my only source of 
income. Before that as a High School teacher I had glads for a hobby, but they got 
so thick around the house and yard that I had to make my hobby my business. My 
habit has always been to toss over the fence what I did not like. Of course, there 
are other resons why I discard varieties now, such as poor producers, disease and 
rogues, or a slow demand, Let it be said of me that I like glads, and that my busi- 
ness has always been a keen pleasure. 
PETZNICK PRINTING Co., CRESTON, IOWA 
