You Need My New RA/NBOW IRIS MANUAL 
Since | offer such a wide variety of Iris of 20 distinct types, and having 
somewhat different cultural requirements, there has arisen a persistent de- 
mand for this comprehensive new MANUAL adequately covering the whole 
subject. In spite of the diversity of types of Iris, their culture is remarkably 
simple and easy to understand, as | have grouped them all under three 
general cultural procedures, with only minor special considerations in the 
handling of specific types. 
| have brought together for you in concentrated, verified form, a sum- 
mary of my own accumulated experiences and those of many of my custo- 
mers in dozens of different states. To this has been added valuable infor- 
mation from well over 100 books, bulletins and articles on Iris growing and 
hybridizing. In this way you can have practically everything you need to 
know, instantly available in one place without extensive searching, and with- 
out the expense of buying many different reference works. Included, for 
example, is various material directly from two of the most significant of all 
published works on Iris, namely, W. R. Dyke’s “Handbook of Garden Irises” 
and his monumental work ‘The Genus Iris.’ The latter is valued, when ob- 
tainable, at about $100 a copy. 
This 44 page booklet was written as a special service to those who obtain 
their Iris from me. So in spite of its size and the cost of publishing, | am 
making this MANUAL free-with orders of $15.00 or more, and for nominal 
amounts with smaller orders, or without an order, as explained adjacent to 
the first order blank. Since the average order | receive is around $15.00, this 
means that most of my customers will get the Manual entirely without cost. 
Whenever the Manual is to go to you it will be sent in acknowledging your 
order, so you will have all needed cultural information well in advance of 
planting time. If you would like to study it before making up your order, and 
still get the Manual without cost, just send a deposit of $15.00 or more. Your 
free Manual will be sent at once, and | will hold your entire deposit to your 
credit, pending the receipt of your Iris order. If you want both the Manual 
and the Supplement free, send a deposit of $18.00 or more . . . Without an 
order or a deposit the Manual is $1.25, on a guarantee of satisfaction or 
money refunded. 
Partial OUTLINE of MANUAL 
Legends of Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow; Year Round Iris Bloom. 
PART I—THE TWENTY TYPES OF IRIS 
Ancient History of Iris; the Iris Family; the Iris Genus. 
A Simple Key to the Types of Iris. 
PART II—IRIS CULTURE 
Handling Plants on Arrival; Hardiness and Mulching; Regulation of Sun 
and Moisture; Soils and Fertilizers; Soil Reaction; Cutting Back the Foliage; 
Pest Control; Dividing and Resetting; Pot Culture. 
A. BASIC SOIL AND DRY SUMMERS 
(Or digging and storing in dry sand in basement) 
. ARILS (Oncos, Regelias and Oncogelias): Cold Hardiness; Sun and Moisture; 
Digging and Storing; Soils and Fertilizers; Planting. 
2. BULBOUS IRIS—Reticulatas, Junos and Xiphiums, Moreas, Iris Sisyrinchium, 
Snake’s Head Iris. 
B. AVERAGE GARDEN CONDITIONS 
(Nearly neutral soil and moderate moisture) 
1. ARIL-BEARDED HYBRIDS—Onco-Bearded or Oncobreds; Regelia-Bearded and 
Oncogelia-Bearded. 
2. BEARDED IRIS—Tall Bearded, Dwarfs, Intermediates, Border, Table and 
3 
a 
Autumn Bloomers. 
. SUMMER BLOOMING IRIS—Vesper Iris and Blackberrylily. 
C. ACID SOIL AND MODERATE TO HIGH MOISTURE 
. CRESTED IRIS—Tectorum, Cristata, Japonica, Gracilipes. 
. ENGLISH IRIS—(Iris xiphioides). 
. BEARDLESS IRIS—Seven types discussed separately. 
PART IlI—IRIS HYBRIDIZNG 
Iris Hybridizing as Your New Hobby; What the Future Holds in Store for Us; 
Breeding for Good Traits. 
; A. PLANNING YOUR CROSSES 
Use Only Good Varieties as Parents; Selecting Your Goals. 
Varieties Recommended as Parents in Breeding for 26 Specific Objectives. 
How to Synchronize Blooming Periods. 
Chromosome Numbers for 156 varieties of 13 types of Iris. 
Use of Colchicine in Doubling Chromosome Numbers. 
Mendalian Inheritance—Dominent and Recessive Characters. 
B. TECHNIQUE FOR HYBRIDIZING TALL BEARDED IRIS 
The Parts of an Iris Flower (Illustrated); Collecting and Storing Pollen; 
Emasculation; Labelling the Crosses; Pollinating; Record Keeping Simplified; 
Care of Developing Pods; Harvesting and Storing Seeds; Sowing Hybrid Seeds; 
Selecting Hybrid Seedlings for Testing; Naming and Registering Your Hybrids. 
C. WAYS TO INCREASE YOUR SETS 
Selecting Parents by Past Behavior; Use of Hormones to Overcome Incom- 
patibilities; Pollinating in Bud Stage; Increasing Plant Vigor; Forcing Strength 
into One Stalk or Flower; Selecting Seed Parents Based on Ovary Size. 
D. HYBRIDIZING UNUSUAL IRIS 
The Limits of Hybridization. 
UNUSUAL BEARDED IRIS—5 types; ARIL IRIS and THEIR HYBRIDS (4 kinds); Des- 
ignating Hybrids of Aril Iris and Bearded Iris. 
BEARDLESS IRIS (7 types); IRIS ODDITIES (2 types). 
On— 
You Also Need My First SUPPLEMENT To The Manual 
In a field as subject to constant development as Iris culture and hybridiz- 
ing, no publication can remain wholly complete and up-to-date for very long. 
Hence | propose to issue, from time to time, a series of SUPPLEMENTS to my 
MANUAL to provide you with latest information on various subjects of vital 
interest. The first will be published early this summer, and will be available 
as outlined next to first order blank. As this Supplement is only partially 
written, | cannot be certain at the moment as to just how much the 16 pages 
available will accommodate. The following outline shows the subjects | 
expect to cover. Most topics will undoubtedly be included; if any are crowded 
out, they will appear later. 
OUTLINE of SUPPLEMENT No. 1 
PART I—IRIS CULTURE and GARDEN UTILIZATION 
A. PLANNING YOUR IRIS GARDEN 
1. Utilizing the Six Types of Bearded Iris. 
Chart of Blooming Seasons and Heights. 
Harmonious Color Groupings. ¢ 
2. Utilizing Aril-Bearded Hybrids (Oncobreds, Regelia-Bearded, etc.) 
3. Utilizing the Exotic Aril Iris (Oncos, Regelias, Oncogelias) 
4. Utilizing the Six Types of Beardless Iris. 
Chart of Blooming Seasons and Heights. 
5. Utilizing the Fascinating Iris Oddities (Bulbous, Crested, etc.) 
B. CULTURE OF ARILS (New information since Manual was published.) 
1. Preventing premature fall growth. 
2. Handling in cold climates, or when received late. 
3. Pest control 4, Promising new cultural techniques. 
PART li—IRIS EXHIBITION 
A. HOW TO EXHIBIT IRIS AND WIN PRIZES 
1. Selection of varieties. 
2. Timing the bloom. 3. Transporting and exhibiting. 
B. JUDGING STANDARDS AND THEIR SIGNIFICANCE 
As a guide to the exhibitor in winning prizes. 
Cc. HOW TO STAGE AN IRIS SHOW 
Committees, responsibilities, containers, exhibition rules, awards, etc. 
PART Ili—IRIS HYBRIDIZING 
A. RECENT ADVANCES IN SPEEDING IRIS SEED GERMINATION 
(Especially useful for Arils.) 
te petted culture (Dr. Randolph's method). 
2. Refrigerated stratification (Based on tests at Boyce Thompson Research 
Institute). 
B. VARIETIES RECOMMENDED AS PARENTS IN BREEDING FOR SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES 
y first supplementary list, with new data on pollen production and seed 
setting. 
C. EVOLUTION OF THE MODERN TETRAPLOIDS 
How and when the tetraploid garden Iris originated. 
2. Origin of the rare triploids and pentaploids. 
3. Futility of hybridizing with diploids. 
D. PARENTAGES OF ARIL HYBRIDS (Oncogelias, Onco and Regelia Hybrids) 
As a guide to the hybridizer interested in this field. 
The EXPERTS’ Evaluation of the MANUAL 
“Though the above are in the main my own recommendations I have drawn 
on the lists included in the very new Rainbow Iris Manual, by Lloyd Austin... 
Every serious breeder should have it, for Mr. Austin, a geneticist, iris collector, 
dealer and breeder, has put into it a great fund of observation and of the experi- 
ence of breeders.’—Prof. Sydney B. Mitchell in 1950 Yearbook of the Iris 
Society of England. 
“I have found your Manual of much interest, and have absorbed ideas there- 
from which I shall not hesitate to put into practice. I know of nothing offered 
like your course and tools of the trade, and I am sure it will prove and has 
proved of very great help and inspiration to many an embryo iris hybridist and 
of much profit, too, to the breeder of long standing. | have been at it for over 
a quarter of a century, and there is a whole lot yet for me to learn.’—Greig 
Lapham, Iris Breeder, famous for his outstanding reds and pinks. 
“For a long time now I have intended to write and tell you what a really 
superlative job your Rainbow Iris Manual is. It is compendium of Iris knowl- 
edge of such general usefulness that you are to be congratulated on making the 
information contained therein generally available. As far as I can determine it is 
unique in the horticultural field.’—Robert E. Allen, Scientific Committee and 
in charge of Registration of New Varieties, American Iris Society. 
SS ES 
MY HARDY MOUNTAIN-GROWN STOCK 
I send you large, husky rhizomes freshly dug from my gardens just before 
shipping to you—not battered half-dried-up plants that have been stored in 
bins. My nursery is in the mountains of Northern California, at an elevation 
of nearly 3,000 feet. My stock is all grown out of doors. The nursery is often 
under snow; ground remains frozen for months at a time. So my stock is 
fully winter-conditioned, which not only hardens it for growth in any state, 
but puts it through a conditioning process, making the rhizomes more flori- 
ferous. Most kinds of Iris are perfectly hardy—in fact, many of the varieties 
| grow originated in New England or Canada. If there are a few kinds that 
you are in doubt about for your locality, you can easily grow most of them 
out-of-doors with adequate mulching or soil covering; or indoors in pots or ~ 
window boxes, or in a cold frame. My MANUAL tells how. Iris are not par- 
ticular as to the texture of soil, and most will thrive whether you have sandy 
soil, loam or clay. 
ee ee 
RUFFLED SATIN POPPY SEED (Papaver schinzianum) Packet 25¢; 3 for 50¢ 
A delightful perennial poppy, bright salmon, like ruffled satin. 
“We have learned that plant life is as plastic in our hands as clay in the hands of the artist. Plants can be readily moulded 
30 into more beautiful forms and colors than any sculptor can hope to equal.” 
LUTHER BURBANK. 
