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GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 



(OF AMERICA) 

 Devoted to the Science of Floriculture and Horticulture 



1 Vol. XXIV 



JANUARY, 1920 



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No. 1 I 



Things and Thoughts of the Garden 



THE ONLOOKER 



''Gardening w the purest of human pleasures, t»t 

 greatest refrcsliment to the spirit of man.'' 



— Fraiiiis Bacon. 



THK.se words, written some three hundred years ago, 

 should be emblazoned all over the land to-day, for 

 never perhaps in the history of the world has there 

 been such seeking after pleasure as now, nor has the 

 spirit of men ever been in greater need of refreshment. 

 For a long period of time gardening has been the study 

 and recreation of men m all stations of life. To many it 

 has been a life-work of absorbing interest, and to-day it 

 still offers a satisfying charm not exceeded by any other 

 occupation. Countless busy people seeking bodily recrea- 

 tion and mental rela.xation have found in it a fascinating 

 and delightful hobby, in the pursuit of which business 

 cares have been stripped of their baneful influence and 

 at the same time the spirit of youth has been renewed 

 once more. Of late years especially, many agencies have 

 been actively at work in the development of the home 

 garden movement, lectures, demonstrators, magazines 

 and catalogs, all are helping to "Make America Beauti- 

 ful." The advantages of nature study and school gar- 

 dening are being more widely recognized by those re- 

 sponsible for the up-bringing of the rising generation, 

 and there is no doubt of their being potent factors in the 

 development of good citizens. Yes, indeed, there is much 

 to be said in favor of gardening, whether followed as a 

 profession or taken up for purely sentimental or recre- 

 ational reasons, and a widespread love for the pleasure 

 and beauties of a garden would undoubtedly create a 

 more general feeling of contentment and happiness, of 

 which there is great need in the world to-day. 



* :;: * 



Nearly everybody has an innate feeling of regard for 

 ])lants and flowers which oftentimes struggles to ex- 

 press itself under adverse conditions, as we may see here 

 and there in the windows of a crowded tenement district. 

 How those people whose little gardens are limited by 

 the size of the window space must envy those who can 

 go out on the ground and dig and plant and cultivate a 

 real garden. No matter if it is but a few square feet in 

 extent, it may still be one of the very best of gardens 

 because of the pleasure it gives the owner and the person- 

 ality it expresses. The best Rose garden I know of is not 

 the biggest by any means, nor yet the best designed, but 

 the best because of the true spirit of gardening which it 

 portrays. The owner, an active business man, living in the 

 suburbs of a thriving industrial city, has in his leisure 



hours literally surrounded his home with beautiful Roses. 

 Starting with just a few plants, his enthusiasm was 

 aroused, and year by year new beds were made, and 

 really made the natural gravelly soil being removed to 

 a depth of three feet and replaced with loam and cow 

 manure. To-day practically every available foot of space 

 is devoted to Roses, some thirty or forty varieties in 

 separate beds of two to three dozen plants, while even 

 more varieties than that are represented by just one or 

 two plants in a trial bed to which new kinds are added 

 every year. It is a genuine delight to visit that garden 

 and spend an hour with this enthusiastic rosarian, and it 

 is his pleasure to welcome visitors and freely impart of 

 his knowledge and experiences. The influence of that 

 garden has shown itself in and beyond the immediate 

 neighborhood and our friend might well be regarded as a 

 first-class demonstrator. 



Something of that kind has happened many times, for 

 when the gardening fever gets well started the amateur 

 gardener may very likely develop into a keen and en- 

 thusiastic specialist with some one particular genus or 

 family. Roses, Sweet Peas, Gladioli, Peonies and Dahl- 

 ias are examples of popular flowers especially beloved by 

 amateur gardeners amongst which are to be found some 

 of the most successful cultivators. .•Xs a matter of fact, 

 our gardens have been enriched in large measure as a 

 I'esult of the labors of unprofessional gardeners, many of 

 whom have made for themselves an enviable record in 

 the matter of originating new varieties by hybridising 

 and selection, as a critical study of the development of 

 some of the races of garden plants will show. One of the 

 good points of gardening is the wide range of subjects 

 from which one may make a choice for sjiecialization if 

 so inclined — plants to suit any individual taste, as we find 

 expres.sed in this quaint old saying — 



"Difl^erent people has different opinions 

 .^omc likes horchids and some likes hinions." 



To speak of these two in the same breath might not be 

 considered good taste in some society, but a good deal of 

 wealth in this locality has been made by specializing in 

 the pungent onion and so making it possible for some to 

 gratify their desire for the aristocratic orchid. 



The work of originating and developing new plant 

 varieties makes a strong appeal to the imagination even 

 though the chances favor the drawing of more blanks 

 than prizes. In sjiiie of all that has been done there is a 



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