November 23, 1912 



HORTICULTURE 



709 



INDIVrOUALITY A FACTOR IN THE 

 ADVANCE OF HORTICULTURE. 



A Paper by Richard Rothe, read before the 

 Bar Harbor Horticultural Society, 

 March Meeting. 

 "This forms a man's chief attribute. 



And reason is to him assigned, 

 That what his hands may execute. 



Within his heart, too, he should find," 

 Thus wrote Friedrich von Schiller in 

 his famous "Song of the Bell." The 

 meaning of the sentences quoted leads 

 to individuality; the working of each 

 individual with hands and personal in- 

 genuity for his own ends. The oppor- 

 tunities for the exertion of individual- 

 ity in our age of manufacture by 

 machine-craft have greatly diminished, 

 the consequences of this state from 

 the purely ethical standpoint being by 

 no means extraordinary happy ones 

 to mankind. We, therefore, have first 

 of all good cause to congratulate our- 

 selves upon the fact that our calling 

 as practical horticulturists hot only 

 leaves ample freedom for personal 

 thought, but also that success to a 

 large extent depends on the skill and 

 the intellect of the individual. A vo- 

 cation taxing physical and mental fac- 

 ulties equally is wholesome, and the 

 conditions for development of strong 

 individualities are, indeed, from the 

 very outset favorable. No two men 

 are alike. Both have their strong 

 points and appear weaker in others. 

 Speaking in a general way, it is of im- 

 portance for a young man to become 

 in time aware of his individual trends 

 and inclinations, and as far as they 

 appear advantageous in horticultural 

 pursuits, cultivate them. We all know 

 the value of handicraft. The wizard 

 in swift potting, the champion in 

 quick and accurate budding and graft- 

 ing, and the man with an eye for even 

 grading, are in keen demand and com- 

 mand good pay. The founder of a 

 business in monetary affairs, in plan- 

 ning and overseeing the technical part 

 of his structures, in the decision on 

 what to grow, to find a profitable mar- 

 ket; the foreman of a large range, as 

 experienced grower, capable of hand- 

 ling men, alert to sudden weather 

 changes and ever watchful to produce 

 quality and quantity at the lowest ex- 

 pense; the retailer in studying the 

 possibilities of the market, in timely 

 securing the best assortment of stock 

 and in attracting and satisfying his 

 customers; all these men, perhaps, 

 well experienced in their respective 

 lines are nevertheless almost daily 

 confronted with new problems or in- 

 cidents, necessitating immediate per- 

 sonal disposal. It is here where indi- 

 vidual strength in judgment, foresight, 

 calmness, presence of mind, timely 

 action, tact, etc., is invaluable. We 

 can to some extent acquire these 

 qualities by training, still, superior to 

 us is the party talented with individ- 

 uality, providing this talent has been 

 awakened and cultivated. The experi- 

 enced craftsman will in many in- 

 stances produce quality of standard 

 plants, or cut flowers, eclipsing medi- 

 ocrity, but he will very rarely dis- 

 cover or venture upon unknown ave- 

 nues. 



Mark Twain says. "The man with 

 a new idea is a crank, until his idea 

 succeeds." There are plenty of indi- 

 vidualities airing new ideas which 

 never can succeed. As cranks they 

 prove boresome, annoying; good-na- 

 tured, they represent that class which 

 the German calls "Originale." It is 

 individuality non-productive, save that 

 by freaks and whims it frequently 



turns out to be an everlasting source 

 of amusement. The negative, how- 

 ever, does not in the least reflect on 

 the stimulating strength of individual- 

 ism as a factor in all sound progress. 



In no other horticultural branches 

 is personal ingenuity esteemed and 

 needed as in its purely artistic ones. 

 The floral designer and decorator 

 without individual taste and inventive 

 power is not only a failure, but also 

 frequently an obstacle in the path of 

 advance. For the talented and gifted 

 individuality there is hardly a richer 

 field in which to work than floral de- 

 signing. We have in most of our 

 large cities certain artists whose crea- 

 tive originality is so telling that their 

 work can be distinguished at sight. 

 It bears a certain characteristic stamp 

 of their personality extremely hard, if 

 not impossible, to imitate. Such cases 

 illustrate the individualism of the 

 pathfinder, the educator, the refiner of 

 public taste and the promoter of trade. 

 Let us hope that the same tendency 

 may grow and become a discernible 

 feature of the achievements of land- 

 scape gardeners and garden architects. 

 Garden designing as an art has been 

 discussed in this country for over half 

 a century, still the artistic opportuni- 

 ties the American garden offers today 

 remain vaguely realized and, in prac- 

 tice, rarely exhausted. Less traveling 

 on the well trodden road of conven- 

 tionality and the more personal con- 

 triving, individual conception and in- 

 dependent thinking will soon elevate, 

 especially our suburban gardens, to a 

 higher artistic level and increase ac- 

 tivity and business wonderfully. 



Our country could never have be- 

 come the leader among nations in the 

 production of high quality roses and 

 carnations under glass if it were not 

 for the individualism of our veterans 

 in the field. With no literature, no 

 trade press, no market, they began 

 working, devising and experimenting 

 with nothing to rely on, but their own 

 personal enterprise and intellect. The 

 present generation well equipped with 

 all expedients should keep this in 

 mind. The opportunities of our call- 

 ing, while in its infancy, were not 

 even plainly in sight and, at all events, 

 limited. Now they appear almost un- 

 limited. Individual cunning and strife 

 is more important in our day than it 

 ever was before. The question before 

 each of us is: Am I going to be led 

 by a conventional herd-instinct to 

 merely imitate, or have I a footing on 

 something stronger? Am I to be only 

 the receiver of the fruits of intellect 

 and experience of my fellow crafts- 

 man, or do I possess that amount of 

 individual resourcefulness to contrib- 

 ute toward the fund of knowledge of 

 my profession and thus become a re- 

 paying giver? 



The most progressive nations of the 

 world, our country, Great Britain and 

 Germany, firmly believe in individual- 

 ism as one of their vital powers. Out 

 of it cropped all that they have to 

 show of greatness, in statesmanship, 

 science, art, inventions and commer- 

 cial and industrial enterprise. Gus- 

 tav Freytag in his classic novel "Soil 

 und Haben," written over half a cen- 

 tury ago, gives the Germans a monu- 

 mental pen-picture of a successful 

 wholesale merchant. There is nothing 

 sensational about it: no mushroom 

 growth, no daring stock manipula- 

 tions, but the struggles of a dauntless 

 personality, who, as master of a large 

 firm with interests all over the Euro- 



pean continent, through prosperous 

 and peaceful eras and turbulent peri- 

 ods of adversity, wins by persever- 

 ance and honest principles. An abso- 

 lute king within his realm, calm, un- 

 assuming, big-hearted, still shrewd and 

 having immovable will power based 

 on individual conviction. 



Some six or seven years ago I 

 wished to call on a friend, who is di- 

 rector of a department of one of our 

 largest incorporated horticultural 

 firms and asked for an appointment. 

 "Not tomorrow, Mr. Rothe. That is 

 the day of our annual business meet- 

 ing at our president's house and oflace. 

 Review of the past year's campaign 

 and planning for the coming season, 

 you know." There was a certain un- 

 dertone in his voice and a certain 

 sparkling in his eyes that spoke vol- 

 umes. A meeting of generals, at the 

 intervals of great business battles, 

 keeping millions rolling. A meeting 

 of gentlemen and individualities of re- 

 spect, and immense executive power, 

 resourceful in device and imbued with 

 that enthusiasm which is bound to 

 conquer. Receivers of dividends, 

 which no honest thinking mind can 

 begrudge. On the other end of the 

 line, busy young assistants plant-pro- 

 pagating, budding, hybridizing, pack- 

 ing, labelling, doing a hundred and one 

 things, none among which should be 

 done automatically, none where leth- 

 argy of thought can be tolerated. Are 

 they going to cultivate their latent 

 talents and gradually climb up the 

 steep ladder of success, or, will they 

 join the great army of discontented? 



Hitherto I have chiefly dwelt on the 

 commercial side of horticulture. In ad- 

 dition I wish to say that there is 

 hardly a single private gardener in this 

 country without some leeway for de- 

 velopment and exertion of specific in- 

 dividual faculties. In many cases his 

 liberties and facilities are even away 

 ahead of those at the command of his 

 commercial fellow-craftsman. 



And now before I close this paper, 

 let us step out of the professional 

 sphere for a few minutes and take in- 

 to consideration the vast army of ama- 

 teur horticulturists with little gardens 

 of their own. Does not here indi- 

 viduality mean everything as far as 

 pleasure is concerned? Last spring I 

 had started some flower beds, which 

 were left In care of the lady who had 

 ordered them, on her arrival. Some 

 months later on seeing everything in 

 bioom, looking gay and bright, I con- 

 gratulated her on her success. "Thank 

 you, but, oh, did it not keep us busy! 

 We had to work like beavers all 

 along." Upon expressing regret and 

 the willingness to supply help, it 

 wanted, she said: "Oh, no; you misun- 

 derstand me. Don't you know that it 

 is one of my greatest pleasures to 

 fuss with my flower beds?" Here we 

 meet with individualism of purely 

 idealistic type — horticultural activity 

 as a source of happiness. The profes- 

 sional grower naturally looks at the 

 flowers from an entirely different 

 standpoint than the amateur. With 

 the former, commercial value, perfec- 

 tion in shape and color, lasting qual- 

 ity in a cut state, etc., render the 

 decision; the latter is simply en- 

 joying beauty. To us gardening is 

 simply a means of livelihood; to the 

 amateur his flowers are objects near 

 to his heart. Let it therefore be our 

 steadfast aim to awaken and 

 strengthen individualism among our 

 garden owners. 



