ciated the colorful view. It's really 
quite a job to get a little work done 
with the constant flow of visitors, but 
isn't it more fun to stand and chat and 
discuss flowers than it is to work? 
My garden often showed the results 
of some of this gab-festing. The roses 
finally were buried in the weeds, but 
they bloomed profusely and visitors 
had their fun in cutting them. Seems 
there’s no such real fun or pleasure 
like that which comes with giving 
away flowers and nothing so much 
appreciated by those who receive 
them. This doesn't apply only to my 
garden, but it always occurs when we 
have a flower show in Milwaukee and 
there are flowers to be given away; 
or when we hold our National Flower 
Week and give away 25,000 bouton- 
nieres on the streets. It’s marvelous 
how much joy just one such little 
flower can create. 
This always brings to my mind the 
one question ... if they create so much 
joy and happiness, why is it that peo- 
ple don't spend a few cents for them 
to bring this pleasure and beauty into 
their homes regularly! People will go 
to many extremes to beautify their 
homes and their yards, but when it 
comes to flowers, they seem to hit a 
weak spot. Doesn't it suggest, perhaps, 
that our promotion of flowers has been 
an incomplete job. I think it does. We 
have done a very poor job in selling 
flowers, in making people want them 
for their homes, to wear, to give to their 
friends. The flower business is a tre- 
mendous industry, yet one of the poor- 
est publicized. We hold in our hands 
an opportunity for great expansion, an 
opportunity to build one of the most 
profitable industries in the world. Some 
day we will blossom out and build it 
to these tremendous heights. 
I don't believe it is so much a fact 
that people don't cherish flowers, and 
really want them, as it is because they 
are a little too high priced for them to 
use regularly. We must find the means 
to grow them cheaper and merchan- 
dise them so that flower lovers can 
afford to take them home regularly. 
In all the world there’s nothing so 
beautiful as a flower, not in art, music 
nor song. We in the flower business 
are fortunate individuals indeed to 
have made this our profession, our 
hobby, or both. 
Well, I'm afraid that all of this dis- 
cussion won't be selling any bulbs. It 
costs money to have a little printing 
done, so guess I'll have to close the 
spout and get down to the business of 
talking glads. 
Iam proud to present to the gladiolus 
world my 1951 catalogue. I am actu- 
ally not so proud of the character or 
make-up of the book, as I am of the 
fact that it contains a high percentage 
of the very finest varieties grown. They 
are all tried and tested varieties. If 
you will study the show reports you 
will find that my list includes practical- 
ly all of the top winners. You will also 
find most of these varieties included in 
the symposiums and other ratings. I 
consider these facts a testimonial as 
to my judgment in appraising the gla- 
diolus, especially so for commercial or 
cut flower production. 
What's Yeu? 
On the following pages are illus- 
trated and described several new 
gladiolus which I have selected to 
add to my listings. I feel confident 
that every one of them is most 
worthy and fills a definite need — 
in color — style — for commercial 
growing — for the show table or 
for your own personal wants. 
Heading this list is King David, 
my own introduction, which you 
will find featured in the center 
spread. Others come from the Melk 
Bros., from Reliance Gardens; Ted 
Woods; Flad-Torrie; Wards Flower 
Ranch and several other of the best 
known hybridists I have been quite 
successful in the past in selecting 
worthy new varieties and I feel con- 
fident that I have exercised good 
judgment in choosing those which 
I am co-introducing this year. 
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