FOREWORD 
Inasmuch as the first introductions of this new American 
strain of Japanese iris were released after eighteen years of 
serious work in this section of the iris family a statement of the 
qualities sought for would seem to be in order, hence a listing 
of those things which the writer maintains to be essential 
to a considerable degree in a worthwhile Japanese iris variety. 
Since we are prone to consider size of flower or attractive 
coloring to the exclusion of other important attributes in our 
evaluation of their merit many varieties now offered in the 
trade are lacking in some of these desirable qualities. 
In my opinion first in importance in any plant or strain 
of plants is vigor, or the ability of the plant to withstand 
adverse growing conditions, as no matter how beautiful a 
flower may be if it is difficult most persons will not long 
consider it worth the effort of growing; consequently my first 
aim has been to develop a strain better adapted to our mid- 
western climatic and soil conditions which generally are not 
favorable to the growing of these iris. It is obvious a strain 
which originates under such conditions should perform even 
better in a locality more to its liking. 
Seedlings here are grown for at least three years closely 
spaced in trial beds which have been precision planted thus 
affording every plant an equal chance for development, this 
crowding of the plants is calculated to automatically eliminate 
many weaklings. Plants which show promise in these beds 
are given a seedling number and transplanted to nursery rows 
for further testing, here they are kept under close observation 
to determine their true worth. To begin with any variety 
which shows weakness or unwillingness to bloom is generally 
destroyed as soon as the fault is discovered, if further retained 
it may be held in an effort to correct the defect or possibly 
kept only for comparison purposes, in any case it is not 
allowed to leave my garden. All varieties listed here have 
proven good growers and generous bloomers under our condi- 
tions which are not the best it is possible to provide as my 
plants are not pampered but must prove their worth under 
moderately good cultural conditions. 
Next requirement after plant vigor the flowers must possess 
beauty. Beauty is manifested mostly in form and color, grace- 
ful carriage and a pleasing texture also add much to the 
attractiveness of a flower. Because of the very narrow color 
range in Japanese iris, which is within the limits of blue 
purple and red purple in their respective shades and tints 
and white, form is of primary importance. Of the very 
