March 30, 1918 



HORTICULTURE 



313 



Creating More Wealth 



Every Saturday, millions of dollars are taken out of 

 our banks and spent. By the next Friday, the whole of 

 that money is back in the banks again. In that short 

 interval it has performed a miracle. It has kept a 

 nation hard at work, producing food, clothes, munitions, 

 furniture, Howers, and what not. The nation is richer 

 by all this wealth, created by raw materials, and not 

 one dollar of the money has been lost. It is all back 

 in the banks again, ready to be paid out once more. 

 Part of the goods it has produced we consume. The 

 rest remains in the shape of wealth, iloney is not 

 wealth — it is the symbol of wealth. 



But suppose we were to slow up the process. Sup- 

 pose, instead of paying out the money every Saturday 

 and getting it back within a week, we were to pay it 

 out on the first of every month and get it back by the 

 end of the month. In that case, it would circulate only 

 twelve times during the year, instead of fifty-two, and 

 the wealth it w-ould produce would be e.xactly forty 

 times less than the wealth now being produced. In other 

 words, the products of the labor of the nation would be 

 the same as though the nation only worked for twelve 

 weeks, instead of fifty-two. That, of course, would 

 mean nothing but stark poverty. Yet they tell us to 

 stop spending money on anything but the barest neces- 

 sities of life and keep that money in the banks doing 

 nothing. Xo more new clothes should be bought, we 

 should wear the old ones till they are in rags; no new- 

 shoes — we should patch the old ones, as long as they 

 will hold together. Don't buy flow-ers, we can do with- 

 out, and so on, down the line. We should save the 

 money, keep it out of circulation, and stop the nation's 

 turning out raw materials in wealth by means of labor. 



In that case, we should have to pay for the war out 

 of accumulated savings, and if we attemjjted to do that, 

 w^e should soon be bankrupt. What we have to kee]) in 

 our minds is that the only way in which we can pay 

 for the war and preserve our prosperity as a people, is 

 by bringing our productive capacity up to the highest 

 possible standard, and the way to keep the lalior and 

 machinery of the country at its highest producing 

 capacity is to keep our money in circulation, instead of 

 hoarding it. The more often our money is circulated, 

 the harder people work, the greater will be the surplus 

 wealth we shall produce. Every day sees us a richer 

 nation. Every day sees us able to take a bigger part in 

 paying for the war out of newly created wealth. 



Xow, there is one way to kill this present prosperity, 

 and that is to stop spending our money and keep it 

 locked up. Keep your money from working and you 

 stop an equal proportion of labor and machineiy from 

 producing the wealth out of which the cost of the war 

 must liP paid. The less you s[iend on other people's 

 products, the less other people can spend on yours, and 

 so we, in the flower business, must keep the wheels 

 moving, doing everything possible to keep up the qual- 

 ity and volume, so as to be able to say that we have done 

 our share in the world's work, and who among us here 

 can say that the florists have shirked in doing their duty 

 by being contributors to the Red Cross, Liberty Loan, 

 Y. M. ('. A., Red Tiiangle, and similar worthy object^s? 



Xow we have started our first ]iul)licity eampaign — 

 do your share toward it and \vc will ultimately get 

 our returns ten for everv dollar we have put into it. 



Ranunculus 



UKHAi 

 NEW YO 



RA.NUNClI.rs Atd.Ml [KOMI'S I I.ORK I'I.ENO. 



The few garden species of the genus Ranunculus, 

 commonly called crow-foot ar buttercup, listed in 

 American trade catalogues so far remain conspicuous by 

 their absence in our gardens. Not that they lack in 

 attractiveness nor that under congenial treatment they 

 are hard to succeed with. The bulbous section, for the 

 jn-incipal part natives of Asia, when planted during 

 February and early March in a sandy loam mixed with 

 some leaf mould or peat enriched by well decayed cow 

 manure amply compensate our care by freely producing 

 beautiful single and double flowers in white, red and 

 yellow shades. In European gardens we see the Per- 

 sian, Turban and French mixed hybrids of bulbous 

 ranunculus frequently grown in pots or for cutting 

 [ilanted out in cold frames. 



The perennial species — Ranunculus amplexicaulis, 

 gramineus, alpestris, repens fl. pi., and the very showy 

 double white form of Ranunculus aconitifolius depicted 

 by the accompanying illustration are most desirable 

 acquisitions for the rock garden. All, however, prefer 

 more or less moist situations and may be used to ad- 

 vantage near running water courses or close to the edge 

 of pond and pool. The European home-ground owner is 

 fully awa.re of the great po-ssibilities for choice orna- 

 mental garden effects in connection with the natural 

 spring rivulet and brook. He knows the wide scope at 

 hand for the emi)loyment of a wonderful variety in 

 plant material distinguished by luxuriant foliage and 

 beautiful flowers. He has learned to appreciate the 

 longevity of senecios, funkias and Spiraea Aruncus. 

 He enjoys the incomparable mass-effect of Japanese 

 and Siberian iris and to him the gracefulness of st-fitely 

 spikes of tbe new astilbes in white, pink and lavender 

 hues .seem outright indispensable. As soon as wo have 

 the American home-ground owner and garden amateur 

 educated up to that ]ioint the demand and space for the 

 garden forms of ranunculus will also be there. 



South of the New England States I would advise for 

 plantations of both the bulbous and perennial kinds, 

 partial shade. For winter protection leaf-covering is 

 ])ieferable to straw and manure. The bulbous class 

 sliould be covered thick enough to keep the roots under 

 <;round entirely out of danger of frost. 



Boston. 



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