510 



il () KT I CU LTURE 



December 13, 1919 



RAMBLING OBSERVATIONS OF 

 A ROVING GARDENER 



If Solomon were alive today and 

 horticulturally inclined, he might 

 change his famous saying about 

 books to make it read, "Of the mak- 

 ing of new chrysanthemums there is 

 no end." As usual, there have been 

 a considerable number of introduc- 

 tions this season, and particular at- 

 tention has been given to those pro- 

 duced by the Department of Agricul- 

 ture at Washington. Perhaps this is 

 because of the famous names which 

 have been bestowed upon them, no 

 doubt in an effort to recognize new 

 international relationships. At any 

 rate, among the new mums we find 

 Queen Mary and General Foch, as 

 well as General Pershing and Mrs. 



Woodrow Wilson. Some of the 

 papers have given prominence to the 

 . e .in' and Wilson mums in a 

 rather unique way by printing photo- 

 graphs of these flowers with the faces 

 of the General and the President's 

 wife in the center of the b»ooms. 

 Among the new mums created by the 

 government horticulturists are three 

 plants almost exactly alike except for 

 their leaf formations, and which have 

 been named for the first three Ameri- 

 can soldiers to give their lives on the 

 battlefields of France? — Corp. James S. 

 Enwright, Private James Gresham. 

 and Private Merle Hay. The flowers 

 of these three plants are mixed light 

 red and gold. A very good mum seems 



to have beea chosen to bear General 

 Pershing's name, for the color is deep 

 red. It is described as a particularly 

 large and stately flower. Mrs. Wood- 

 row Wilson and Queen Mary are both 

 white. According to newspaper ac- 

 counts the names of the different new 

 mums were chosen by workers in the 

 government greenhouses. 



The chrysanthemum shows In Wash- 

 ington as elsewhere have been espe- 

 cially appreciated this year, judging by 

 the great numbers of people who have 

 flocked to see them. It is said that 

 during the first week of the Washing- 

 ton show more than 20,000 inspected 

 the new flowers. Exhibitions of this 

 kind have an educational value to the 

 public and they give private growers 

 and gardeners an opportunity to In- 

 spect the best of the new offerings. It 

 is a fact, though, that a great majority 

 of the new chrysanthemums, as with 

 other flowers, quickly pass Into the 

 discard, while some of the old favor- 



The Ever Popular Chrysanthemum Bob Pulling 



