GENERAL REMARKS 
Producing and selling top quality bulbs and cut gladiolus is the only business of 
Reliance Gardens. Since there is no other source of income you are assured of receiving 
the necessary service, courtesy, and quality stock, to insure your repeat business. 
Since the selection of varieties listed is one of the factors of customer satisfaction 
you may be certain that a business cannot afford to offer or boost inferior varieties. 
While opinions do not always agree, you, the customers, may depend on the fact that 
every variety listed is, when grown in sufficient numper to form a valid conclusion, a good 
variety. Reliance Gardens does not offer for sale the varieties that it finds wanting 
in merit. They, in spite of their cost, become a cash and labar cost loss. 
New varieties, the seedlings of yesterday, are added to the list after careful 
evaluation and testing by experts. Their opinions added to that of ours based on 18 
years of seedling growing experience, 19 years of growing glads, and 9 years in cut 
flower production, and that of the florist, who use the product, comprise the panel 
of opinion that decides whether or not a seedling is worthy of introduction. 
Reliance Gardens is proud of its introductions, the Krueger varieties, and its co- 
introductions. A few of the former are Variation, Badger Beauty, Miss Wisconsin and 
Dream Girl. - Red Rascal, Hearts Desire and Spic & Span illustrate the latter. 
It should be apparent to the reader that some good varieties of gladiolus must 
be dropped from the list when their price drops below a profitable price for a ‘‘one 
family’’ venture. They may be obtained from growers of larger acreage. 
It is also inevitable that good varieties must be deleted from our list when an 
introducer, who gives us his price for our early (October) catalogue, materially lowers 
his price for the same variety in his own list. 
The pictures in this catalogue are bon-a-fide reproductions of the variety named. 
Every variety herein listed has been grown by Reliance Gardens except Aloha, Miss 
Alberta, New Yorker. The judgment of the introducer is accepted in these cases as 
being sound. 
Reliance Gardens stock is of high quality, our generosity in filling orders, a 
measure of our appreciation of your business, is second to none. Our service to our 
customers is appreciated, and our promptness in answering inquiries or sending a 
copy of order is considered a necessary business courtesy. 
Please use the name Reliance Gardens, or street address in your correspondence, 
for there are three of us by the same name in this community. 
We are satisfied to let others ‘‘sell the sizzle instead of the steak.’’ Translated, 
we mean that we are satisfied to sell bulbs of quality and let others provide the frills 
of salesmanship. 
It is assumed that the buyer of bulbs knows that neither a living thing nor a 
mechanical contrivance of man’s handiwork is perfect, and that even every specimen 
of the best variety of gladiolus is not perfect. We of Reliance Gardens have not 
achieved perfection. 
Symposiums of varieties may only record distribution not merit. Symposiums of 
variety winnings can record only the winning data of varieties received by the compiler. 
Your early orders, which make for a more uniform monthly income, are much 
appreciated. 
We make no claims to having ‘‘grown them all’, but we do test more varieties than 
many who claim to do so. 
Since we cannot know in September, the sales inducing specials or discounts of 
our competitors we can only assure you, that your order placed here will be filled 
to equal or exceed any special of our competitor friends, or if you prefer Reliance 
Gardens will meet the price of its competitors who advertise in N.E.G.S. or N.A.G.C. 
publications, on all varieties introduced during 1946 or earlier, as long as my stock is 
adequate to do so. 
On your order enter the lower price and indicate in your letter the source of 
1949 OBSERVATIONS 
The outstanding observation of this past growing season was the extraordinary class 
of those seedlings selected for 1950 introduction and co-introduction. In this respect 
Bridal Orchid (Cosmopolitan Glad Gardens) heads the list, followed closely by Golden 
Crown (C. & G. Melk) Fashion (Gladmeadow), Miss Alberta (Torrie and Flad), and 
Keepsake and Cooney Miss from our own gardens. 
Miss Chicago was easily the favorite of garden visitors, and its major wins in 
competition brought on a wave of buying that will exhaust stocks very early in the 
selling season. 
From a commercial growers point of view the 1950 introductions meet their require- 
ments. 
I see no reason to change my mind, but rather have evidence to strengthen my 
conviction that Mauvie Rose is the best ‘‘market flower’’ of 1948 introduction, Miss 
Chicago the best ‘‘florist variety’’ introduced in ’'49, and that Spic & Spon and Tralee 
are commercial greats. 
ul 
