Give a pessimist a piece of rope 
and he’ll hang himself. 
* * * 
Give an optimist a piece of rope 
and he’ll start a cigar factory. 
*k 3 * 
The gladiolus industry, during and since the war, has been very seriously affected 
by a very large group of optimists. Both in the hybridizing, growing and cataloging por- 
tions of the industry. Many seedlings are being offered to the public that are not worth 
a dime a dozen. They are untested, or have never been grown except by high-pressure, 
exhibition culture. A seedling may show to advantage under these conditions, but prove 
very unsatisfactory to the customer in his garden. Some catalogers will offer these un- 
tested seedlings to the public, with no regrets. Also, some of the newer, inexperienced 
growers (and a few of the larger ones, too) are guilty of widespread distribution of disease. 
These diseased conditions are seriously affecting the values of disease-free stocks of 
experienced growers. Is our present system of gladiolus inspections sufficient to eliminate 
diseased bulbs from inter-state commerce? Not unless the inspectors are given the power 
to destroy diseased stocks at their source. The most vigorous objectors to rigid controls 
come from the growers of diseased stocks. If he is compelled to absorb the loss of 
diseased stocks, he will discontinue growing them. Will the glad fans, and the beginners, 
continue to finance the grower of worthless bulbs? Until our gladiolus societies bring 
pressure upon our inspection services, we will continue to have a progressively serious 
condition. We are conscientious in our responsibilities to our customers, and to be- 
ginners. A beginner is unable to recognize disease. When YOU receive diseased bulbs 
in your order, do you file a complaint with your state inspection department? Will your 
gladiolus society urge more rigid controls from your state department of agriculture? 
LARGE BULBS ONLY—#10.00 EACH. NO BULBLETS. 
Another malpractice of some of our optimistic hybridists. This type of introduction 
produces a very meager income for the hybridist; the customer is very much dissatisfied; 
and the seedlings circulation is practically nil. The rosy future of adequate income from 
a seedling lies in the $1 class of introductions. To do this, a hybridist and a grower must 
“team-up,” and form a co-operative enterprise. A hybridist should devote his time and 
talent to crossing and selecting seedlings. His grower should propagate and market 
the introductions of the hybridist. This type of co-operative marketing will prove more 
satisfactory to the hybridist, the grower, the public, and the seedling itself. A hybridist 
is wasting his valuable time to continue to grow his releases after they are in the hands 
of the gladiolus industry and the public. He should realize his total income from his 
seedling within two years after its release, and that income should total many times his 
present revenue. There are many honest, reliable growers available for the selection of 
the hybridist. The Carlson-Puerner team is an idal example of this type of co-operative 
team-work. Does the public want more thoroughly tested seedlings in the $1 price range? 
Can we salvage some semblance of order from the maze of unrestricted introductions? 
We hear many complaints each year, of disappointments from high priced new 
varieties. Many times we have been asked, “How much should I pay for a bulb?”? Do 
you want the answer straight from the shoulder? O.K. Unless you are an advanced 
amateur, and can afford to accept the “duds” along with the worthy introductions, you are 
crazy to pay more than one dollar for a bulb. Let the advanced amateurs and commercial 
growers give a new variety its trial period. If you still wish to buy the new varieties as 
soon as possible, a good rule to follow is variety reports. Chas. Larus lists the 10 best 
introductions of the year in NEGS yearbook. Again, we stress, if you pay more than a 
dollar for a bulb, and are disappointed, charge it up to experience. We are listing 
a few of the late introductions, but if you cannot afford them, wait for the price to come 
down. If you are certain that a variety is a good one, and wish to get a start in the variety, 
it is cheaper to buy the variety while still new. 
We have been very careful in selecting varieties for co-introduction. We, like all 
other glad fans, can and do make mistakes. And we hope that our mistakes are all behind 
us. We have found that very, very few hybridists are consistant in producing first-class 
seedlings. Our advice is to patronize the hybridists that are releasing only the very 
finest seedlings. For this reason, we have accepted the responsibility of advertising and 
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