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INTRODUCTORY 
GAIN, this booklet is planned for 
Av It adopts your point of view. 
It gives you hitherto unpublished 
facts upon which to base your own con- 
clusions. It is not cluttered up with 
fictitious values. 
This is our 25th annual catalog. A 
quarter century of effort to help build 
up the hundred or so gladiolus societies 
now scattered all over the continent; of 
effort to be first in U.S. to evaluate, 
select and catalog for sale as introducer 
or co-introducer when possible the 
superior sorts from world-wide sources, 
often one to three years before other 
catalogers. Examples: Shirley Temple, 
Peggy Lou, Greta Garbo, Rosa van 
Lima, Coutts’ Orchid, Big Top, Flying 
Fortress, Tunia’s Mahomet, Tivoli, 
Strathnaver, Ravel, Carnival, Salman’s 
Glory, Marshal Montgomery, General 
Eisenhower, Hugh Price, Morning Kiss, 
World Beater, Circe, Necia, Benjamin 
Britten, Silcherlied, Prof. Goudriaan, 
Aristocrat, Menelik, Polynesie, Catherine 
Beath, New York, Sans Souci, Pennant, 
Leif Ericsson and Miss Holland, (even 
the oldest of which are still standing 
the test of time) not to mention our 
own introductions of Boldface, Mid- 
America and Luxury. 
Now we feel time is taking its toll. 
Already we have cut our usual volume 
of production at least a third. This 
year we plan to reduce our plantings 
to about one-half the usual volume. And 
thereafter to further reduce. To accom- 
plish this more and more of the best 
standard sorts easy to locate and pur- 
chase from quantity price lists, will dis- 
appear from our listings. This could 
happen even to our Mid-America but 
our present reluctance is based upon 
the fact that there is no superior sort 
within our sights to take its place. 
We feel and hope that our current 
listings deserve your buying considera- 
tion because: (1) our background of 
selections of superior sorts evidences it. 
For the last four years we have had 
daily access to and participation in the 
judging of thousands of new sorts in 
the largest gladiolus trial grounds in 
North America. Equally important, we 
eliminate quickly and ethically without 
comment, as do the trial garden reports, 
the thousand and one other current and 
proposed offerings which we have come 
to believe have no promise in the future. 
We do not think the pocket book of the 
buying public is the proper trial ground 
for sorting out the sheep from the 
goats. It is the duty of the industry at 
large and we know we are doing 
our share. 
THE GLADIOLUS FANCIER’S GUIDEBOOK FOR 1953 
(2) Our bulbs are sound, 100%, are 
grown in heavy soil, entirely free of 
fusarium and other diseases and in- 
sect pests. 
(3) We are generous well beyond the 
expectation of initial purchasers, with 
overcount, sample bulbs frequently of 
sorts in same color chosen, newer or 
superior or both. 
‘We do not issue a fall list and we do 
not solicit ‘“pre-catalog” orders. Most of 
them require later revision because of 
abandoned varieties and price reductions. 
We do recommend that you place your 
order soon after receipt of this Guidebook 
to avoid, in so far as it is possible, the 
disappointment of sold out items. 
A variety has around thirty different 
characteristics to consider, relating to 
form, color, size, height, strength, sub- 
stance, season, bulb health, propaga- 
tion, etc. No cataloger can spare the 
time and space to describe them all, 
but we can and do report a glad’s most 
interesting features and you may defi- 
nitely assume, in the absence of specific 
mention of some undesirable traits, to the 
best of our knowledge and belief, the 
traits or habits not specifically mentioned 
are above the “satisfactory” level. 
We appreciate receiving a portion of 
your bulb purchases. We do not neces- 
sarily solicit it all. 
THE OHIO ANNUAL 
EXHIBITION, 1953 
The Ohio state show, again at the 
wonderful Higbee Co. Auditorium on 
Cleveland’s Public Square. Under same 
roof the R. R. Terminal Tower, the 
Cleveland Hotel and the Terminal 
Garage (largest in the world). Monday 
and Tuesday, August 24 and 25, 1953. 
Note this date has been moved back to 
the customary date. 
This show abounds with an extra- 
ordinary percentage of new varieties, 
the high quality of bloom is known far 
and wide, and it is one of the largest 
in the country. 
CHAGRIN FALLS, OHIO SHOW 
Saturday and Sunday, August 29-30, 
1953 at Orange School on U. S. 422, 
% mile west of Route 91. 
HERBERT ©. EVANS Farm, State Route 91 
SOLON, OHIO 
