orange stripe down each fall. I am building up a stock for no other 
purpose than to have it for table decoration in my house. A silver 
bowl filled with some fifty or sixty stalks of this little gem is a 
pleasure to behold. 
Iris lovers of an older generation will remember many other 
varieties. here were the Spanish iris such as KING OF THE BLUES, 
THUNDERBOLT, a bronze one; CAJANUus, a tall and pure golden yel- 
low; FLora, white and lilac, etc., etc. All of these have succumbed 
to virus diseases and to the competition of the more vigorous, 
larger and taller Dutch iris. But even among the Dutch iris the 
mortality has been high. Breeders are constantly striving to improve 
them and new varieties, with clearer colors, larger flowers and 
better growing habits, are replacing the old standbys. Currently 
popular are the already mentioned WeEpGEWoop, IMPERATOR, YEL- 
LOW QUEEN and Whiter Excexsior. Another white, D. Harino, is 
taller, but not quite as well formed nor as pure in color. "THERESE 
SCHWARTZ is one of the very prettiest iris with a two-toned flower 
of white and light lilac. Pure lilac are MAUVE QUEEN and VIOLET 
QueEEN, while the already mentioned BLUE Horizon adequately 
fills the need for a medium-early light blue. 
Notable Newcomers 
This list would not be complete without two additions, not 
merely of varieties, but of families of hybrids. ‘The one is the result 
of crosses made by Mr. Carl Salbach who used various Dutch iris 
and combined them with the species I. fontanessi. The results of 
these crosses are a race of very dark pansy or violet-blue iris of a 
distinct velvety character. The first one to be marketed is called 
NATIONAL VELVET and promises to be immensely popular. The 
other family of new hybrids consists of a number of extremely deep- 
orange colored iris of which ORANGE KiNG is probably the best 
example. Princess BEATRIX is another iris that bears watching. 
Unfortunately the Holland growers have been raising a large 
number of new Dutch iris and are marketing them in this country 
without adequate trial. Many of the varieties promoted by them are 
simply variants of already existing types and are not worth a great 
deal more. Others are definitely good, but again they resemble each 
other too much. Some excellent new varieties will eventually emerge 
and possibly even a few that will be of merit for forcing. This would 
7 
