L90 



HORTIC ULTURE 



August 30, 1919 



With hardy sorts which bloom pro- 

 fusely. 



One of the remarkable plants is a 

 hybrid form of Rosa Rugosa. The in- 

 florescence in this hybrid consists of 

 a large number of small perfect roses 

 from % of an inch to an inch in 

 diameter borne in clusters of from 12 

 to 20 roses each and the great number 

 of flowers borne by the plant give them 

 the appearance of a large bouquet. 

 Another of the new form carries a 

 flower considerably brighter, some- 

 what larger, but with markings quite 

 similar to that of the American Pillar. 

 As this is a bush type of plant and is 

 very floriferous, it promises much. 

 These two sorts are outstanding in 

 their inflorescence but others are very 

 excellent for their class. 



The Rose Garden which Is jointly 

 maintained by the Department of 

 Agriculture and the American Rose 

 Society is distinctively a test garden. 

 The arrangements entered into be- 

 tween the Department of Agriculture 

 and the Society were for the express 

 purpose of determining the adapt- 

 ability of varieties of roses to the soil 

 and environmental conditions of Wash- 

 ington and for the purpose of afford- 

 ing the Department material to study 

 roses in general, as well as for breed- 

 ing purposes. As a result many have 

 been disappointed in the appearance 

 of the rose garden maintained at the 

 Arlington Farm. 



Those who visit the farm in the 

 future should distinctly understand 

 that the garden is a test garden for 

 the purpose as above stated of deter- 

 mining the relative hardiness and 

 adaptability of varieties and not a 

 show garden. Acting upon this view- 

 point the Executive Committee of the 

 Rose Society at its annual meeting in 

 June considered the plan of attempt- 

 ing to establish in the parks of Wash- 

 ington a show garden which should be 

 based upon the results of the test work 

 carried on at the Arlington Farm. It 

 is believed that this plan of maintain- 

 ing test plots and show gardens will 

 yield the largest return to the inter- 

 ested rosarians of the country. 



It is a significant fact that a con- 

 siderable portion of the correspond- 

 ence growing out of the publication of 

 the Rose Annual has to do with the re- 

 port of the committee on the behavior 

 of the varieties of roses in the several 

 field test gardens. Mr. McFarland 

 clearly brought this out in his discus- 

 sion of the matter and commented 

 upon it as a significant indication of 

 the character of information which ap- 

 pealed to rosarians the country over. 

 The importance, therefore of the main- 

 tenance of the test gardens as the one 



at Arlington is clearly indicated in the 

 reaction by the public the information 

 can icd in the Rose Annual. 



Experimental Work. 

 There will be submitted to the Chief 

 of Bureau, who we hope will transmit 

 it to the Secretary of Agriculture, an 

 estimate and request for $35,000, to 

 undertake work under glass with the 

 standard florists crops, including roses 

 and carnations in particular, and for 

 the purpose of erecting and maintain- 

 ing a small bank of greenhouses to be 

 devoted to investigational work, which 

 may be of benefit to the florists of the 

 country. In addition to this, we are 

 also making for a small fund to be 



William F. Gude 



used in conducting efficiency test on 

 the heating plants used by the florists 

 throughout this country, in order that 

 we may co-operate with them in an 

 effort to make their fuel consumption 

 more efficient and economical. 



A preliminary study has been made 

 of the results obtained by the florists 

 and vegetable forcing industries and 

 we are convinced that changes could 

 be made in many plants which would 

 affect inportant advice to the owners 

 and operators of these plants, and it 

 is this type of work which we feel, in 

 addition to the actual investigational 

 work in connection with florists' in- 

 dustries that could be undertaken by 

 the Department with great profit to 

 the industry. 



ADVERTISING FLOWERS. 



In part Major O'Keefe's address 

 follows: 



Flowers come under the head of 

 articles requiring comparatively small 

 outlay. We must therefore keep our 

 advertising going. To popularize any- 

 thing, it requires persistent and in- 

 sistent reiteration, not repetition of 



the same thought expressed in differ- 

 ent ways but nationalizing a thought 

 by continuous advertising. 



We are popularizing very rapidly in- 

 deed our slogan "Say it with flowers." 

 It is fast becoming one of our national 

 sayings- a national institution and is 

 today without question an asset which 

 you gentlemen posses that is worth 

 hundreds of thousands of dollars. 



It is an asset which, unlike any 

 other that I can think of has the 

 practical ability of being divisable 

 among a lot of business men scattered 

 over our entire country. The example 

 which it sets is one that, once culti- 

 vated, grows from one person to 

 another in each community and from 

 one community to another. 



More Advertising Needed. 



But — yes there is always a but — 

 but we have been too lenient with our 

 ammunition. Our aim has been ex- 

 cellent and results good but our shots 

 too small and far between to really 

 get a good rich reward. Remember 

 that while it is true that in our field, 

 we are without competition, we have 

 not, like the automobile people hun- 

 dreds of others working on the senti- 

 ments of people to stir them to action 

 and buy flowers. 



That is up to us to do. 



I do not however, want you to think 

 that we have not, even in the short 

 time we have been conducting our 

 National Publicity Campaign attracted 

 some outside help. We have. And it 

 has been of much assistance. 



We have brought about a use of 

 flowers in pictures. You must have 

 noticed among the magazines you read 

 the tendency of artists to introduce 

 flowers into their "Copy." Magazine 

 Covers, advertising displays, illustra- 

 tions for fiction — all this has helped. 



President Wilson advised flowers for 

 the proper celebration of our National 

 Glorification of Peace Day. The Mayor 

 of Baltimore in public proclamation, 

 has taken up the thought and it rests 

 with the florists in each community to 

 do his part to keep this praiseworthy 

 movement going. 



But we will be expected to supply 

 more and more material to this grow- 

 ing demand for more news about 

 flowers — more ways to "Say it with 

 flowers." 



The Cost of a National Campaign. 



We should go with a few words of 

 greeting to every family in the United 

 States every little while. Perhaps 

 you may think this would require a 

 fortune. What does it cost to adver- 

 tise? It costs really less to advertise 

 nationally than you gentlemen pay in- 

 dividually in your own community — 

 that is per capita. 



