I'm glad you enjoy them Della. I encourage everyone to ask questions they might have. There are so many interesting stories of lily growing history in heydays of good times in America. Farmers could make good money growing lilies back then and there were lots of good stories that went right along with that. I was just looking at a 1960 catalog price list and OBF was getting $2.00/bulb back then. Taking inflation rate of 10 to 12 times into account, that translates to about $20 to $25 dollars per bulb today. In de Graaff's declining years he would often refer to them as 'the glory years'.
EDIT ADDED Concerning the relationship of Kirsch and Woodriff, there was a lot of talk in the trade circles that Kirsch really took advantage of Woodriff in that he knew all along that Woodriff had possibly several Stargazer like lilies from which he could make lots of money. They said Kirsch got what he had coming when he screwed up his grower protection agreement and lost his millions. Then there were those who happened to believe that Kirsch really was honestly trying to help the Woodriffs. I believe Kirsch meant well. I've never read nor heard of Kirsch being dishonest with anyone. The sad irony is that both men had a bulb worth millions and they let it slip right through their fingers.
