Diseases of Bulbs 
In our last catalogue (1950) we wrote 
a short article on the subject of bulb 
diseases. We were somewhat disturbed 
over the matter as other growers were 
discussing this subject freely at society 
meetings, and articles were appearing 
on the subject in many publications. 
When we visited Florida growers last 
winter the first question asked us was 
usually something like this: “What do 
you have to offer to take the place of 
Picardy which is badly diseased here?” 
A rough question. Well, this season 
seemed to be better for our varieties and 
there was very little disease apparent 
at digging time, which has just ended. 
One man wrote us and criticized us 
sharply for even mentioning the subject! 
Thought it was bad advertising. After 
all, the Burma bulbs we wrote about held 
uv fine throughout the winter and we 
planted a great portion of our large 
stock and have never seen finer blooms. 
I have come to one conclusion, however, 
on the subject of disease. Many of the 
larger growers use mechanical equipment 
for digging, planting, and almost every- 
thing except filling orders. Most mechan- 
ical bulb lifters (or diggers) will dislodge 
and lose most of the better or larger 
bulblets that grow. Result: The following 
season we are forced to plant the smaller, 
or medium sized bulblets whatever we 
have been able to save; and from those 
we harvest the planting stock for the 
following season: We do not get to gath- 
er or plant the best bulblets, unless we 
have “hand-dug” a good portion of the 
crop. We are convinced that a reduction 
in vigor takes place as a result of this 
method of operation. 
The digging season just ended, found 
a crew with shovel and cutters at work 
throughout the fall, gathering in the 
best bulblets as well as the bulbs, just to 
prove whether or not my theory is cor- 
rect. We are now going to try a different 
method of “mechanical” bulb lifting. 
Will tell you about it in the next cata- 
logue, if it works well. It is almost im- 
possible to lift thirty acres with even a 
dozen shovels. Any comments on this 
fellows? Go ahead and write me—and 
I will answer as best I can. I am not too 
smart, but I am honest and enjoy your 
letters and criticisms. 
Seedling Thrills of 1950 
THE SEEDLING STORY we rublished 
in our last catalogue must have caused 
some of our customers to “have a try” 
at hybridizing. We have had a number 
of very interesting letters from folks 
who have become interested. Some tell 
us they did not get a “single lousy seed”’. 
One man asked me if I would visit his 
place, near our city and have a look at 
his seed. I did, and I found he had har- 
vested quite a large supply of seed pods 
but that the seeds contained very few 
solid kernels. It was mostly chaff. I 
was very happy over the fact that an- 
other “seed grower” was trying anyway. 
So I made up a few envelopes of my 
good seeds and gave them to him, hoping 
to lend encouragement to his efforts. 
‘The season of 1950 must have been a 
good year for seed production. Many 
varieties produced the most abundant 
seed we have ever seen. The plump seed 
capsules would contain from 65 to 125 
seeds each, and on most of the spikes 
we crossed five or six blooms, and often 
made up six to ten spikes of each cross; 
to make sure of ample seed. We have 
never seen such an abundant crop of 
seed. We had a cool summer, ideal for 
seed production; and we Were very care- 
ful to have fresh “pollen spikes” ready 
at all times for instant use- We mean by 
that remark, that we always kept our 
pollen parents indoors in a cool place so 
that pollen was always available and in 
fresh condition. 
We had a very late start with our seed 
growing in 1950. It was very cold until 
almost June 1st, and our seeds germin- 
ated very slowly. Many were more than 
