'.OS 



H inM C U L T U R E 



December 8, 191" 



THE FUTURE OF FLOWER GAR- I 

 DENING IN AMERICA 



I'lllMT b.V I'ilW 



Niitluiiul .V- 



f (iiinlciiiTH, 



Si'vornl months ago your secretary 

 Invited mo to attend llils Convention 

 of AnuTli-an Gunlenora and I liosltated 

 In niy ui-ceptani-e bt'i-ause, oven then, 1 

 was afraid that It would be Impossible 

 for me to be Jn Chliago the early pari 

 of December. The great rush of work 

 at this time preparatory to our busy 

 season prevents my leaving Philadel- 

 phia, and It Is with great regret that 

 I send this paper Instead of appearing 

 before you in person. 



.My whole heart is with the work of 

 the American gardener and if it were 

 not that we are just now incorporating 

 the tirm of W. Atlee Purpee & Co., 1 

 would feel inclined to break away from 

 the busy routine of work and to afford 

 myself the pleasure of a day with you 

 In Chicago. 



When I told my uncle, Alex. Scott, 1 

 was going to deliver an address to 

 some gardener friends on Ihe "Future 

 of Flower Gardening in America," he 

 said, •David, you better get Kerr or 

 Rockwell to write that paper for you." 

 But I decided that I would talk to you 

 myself, — that there was something 

 more than the mere methods of gar- 

 dening of which I wanted to speak. 



With us all it is the same— our 

 "hindsight ■ is better than our fore- 

 sight — we can read the past more 

 clearly than the future. Nevertheless, 

 by the study of the past and the pres 

 ent tendencies of progress, we can to 

 some extent predict what those tenden- 

 cies will bring forth in the years to 

 come. 



There are two important phases 

 to the development of flower garden- 

 ing which 1 want to emphasize. We 

 might call them the practical and the 

 popular. By the practical side of the 

 flower gardening I mean the develop- 

 ment of actual gardening itself, — the 

 science and the art of gardening, not 

 only the improvement in methods of 

 culture, but also the development of 

 new and improved types of flowers 

 and ornamental plants. The develop- 

 ment of the art of flower gardening 

 through the ages past has followed 

 closely the development of the human 

 race itself. As mankind has become 

 more civilized and more refined, as we 

 have gotten away more and more from 

 the caveman stage, the aesthetic side 

 of our nature has developed and our 

 spirit has cried out more and more 

 for that which is beautiful. It is this 

 ever increasing desire for the delicate 

 beauty expressed only by flowers that 

 has justified and has even compelled 

 the development of flower gardening 

 to its present stage. 



I believe, therefore, that the popular 

 side of flower gardening is more im- 



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portant than the practical— the desire 

 for the beautiful is more fundamental 

 than the means by which w-e may ob- 

 tain it. It would be ridiculous to sup- 

 pose that progress could be made in 

 any line of endeavor without first hav- 

 ing' kindled the fire of desire. 



In years past great mystery sur- 

 rounded the work of the professional 

 gardener. He had gotten lils experi- 

 ence throiiph long years of hard 

 knocks and he was loath to tell the 

 amateur the whys and wherefores of 

 his art. The practical side of flower 

 gardening was left almost entirely in 

 I he hands of the professionals. But 

 as the desire on the part of the ama- 

 teur became greater and greater, he 

 began to delve more and more into 

 the mysteries of flower gardening. 

 Some professionals seemed to think 

 that this would work hardships on 

 them, hut in reality it has broadened 

 the field for their profession. 



This general tendency towards the 

 growing of flowers should be en- 

 couraged by all. It is merely the ex- 

 pression of a great desire on the part 

 of the lumian race which must be met 

 and it grows stronger year by year. 

 It is like a snowball that starts to roll 

 at the top of a hill and grows greater 

 the further it rolls. There is a cumu- 

 lative effect. The more we grow flow- 

 ers the more demand there will be for 

 flowers and the more demand there 

 will be for the service of the profes- 

 sional flower gardener. And as this 

 desire for the beautiful grows greater, 

 the number of flower gardens through- 

 out the country will increase until the 

 stipply meets the demand. But that 

 will be a long distance in the future, 

 and I even 'question if the supply will 

 ever equal the demand, for there must 

 always be more people who would like 

 to have flower gardens around their 

 homes than there are those who 

 actually have them. Who was it that 

 .said, "Every Garden Cleans a Home? ' 



1 might go further and say, "Surely 

 every Flower Garden means a happy 

 home." 



Nine or ten years ago I first went to 

 Kurope to inspect seed crops with my 

 father. We traveled through Fngland. 

 Scotland, Ireland. Holland, France and 

 Germany and got out into the rural 

 districts of each country. I was 

 greatly impressed that in every little 

 town the homes were surrounded, not 

 by the lawns that one find in America, 

 Init wherever space permitted there 

 was a flower garden. Rambler Roses, 

 Wistaria, or other climbers were to be 

 found over the doorways, and on the 

 small plots of ground either side of 

 the little path leading to the bouse 

 were old familiar flowers. It is need- 

 less to say that this warmth and 

 l>eauty about the homes has added 

 much to the happiness and content- 

 ment of the national life. 



In America, and all new countries, 

 we have been so busy developing our 

 national resources and material wealth 

 that we have neglected some of these 

 finer things that we are now learning 

 more to appreciate. Flower Gardening 

 in America has not yet reached its 

 normal level. The people of America 

 are just beginning to awaken to the 

 advantages and charms of the flower 

 garden. So in the future we can ex- 

 pect to see far greater progress made 



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