72 



HORTICULTURE 



July 15, 1911 



RAILROAD GARDENING AS A PAY- 

 ING INVESTMENT. 



An Address by Paul Huebner, Landscape 



Gardener for the Reading R. R. Sys- 



tern, before the Florists' club <>r 



Philadelphia, .Inly 11th, 1911. 



Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen:— It 

 is a good many years now since I last 

 had the honor of addressing you on 

 the subject of "Railroad Gardening." 

 At that time — some eight or ten years 

 ago — there were not so many of the 

 railroad systems of the country that 

 had adopted this policy in which my 

 company was one of the pioneers. A 

 good many more have taken it up 

 since then, and you will no doubt be 

 glad to learn that the Reading has 

 taken no backward step, but has kept 

 steadily along on the same broad and 

 enlightened policy as it first mapped 

 out. You understand, of course, that 

 the hard-headed gentlemen who man- 

 age railroads, do so from a dollars 

 and cents standpoint — and look on 

 the embellishment of station grounds 

 and approaches from the dollars and 

 cents standpoint only — and not from 

 an aesthetic point of view. They real- 

 ize that it attracts travel and settle- 

 ment and by so doing not only helps 

 current revenue, but improves the 

 value of their real estate. Neverthe- 

 less, these managers are to be com- 

 mended for their breadth of view and 

 for their far-seeing good policy — even 

 from those of you who work for the 

 advancement of Horticulture in a 

 spirit of altruism for the public good. 

 The community which the Reading 

 serves are given constant pleasure by 

 this policy and are inspired thereby 

 to efforts of their own along horticul- 

 tural lines. The character of the ar- 

 chitecture of the stations has been 

 greatly improved of late years and 

 the surroundings have to conform. 

 Improved grounds and improved sta- 

 tions are two of the best advertise- 

 ments a road could have and worth 

 far more than their cost in that con- 

 nection. Safety and convenience come 

 first, of course; but elegance is equal- 

 ly desirable if the cost be not too 

 heavy. 



I am often asked which is best for 

 work of this kind — shrubbery or bed- 

 ding plants. In reply to that I al- 

 ways answer that there is plenty of 

 room for both, and I use both freely. 

 When and where, depends, of course, 

 on the size of the space to be planted 

 — also on the surroundings. Shrub- 

 bery is generally most effective when 

 used as a background. When in 

 flower it is very attractive. But for 

 glowing effects and striking pictures 

 that will make the passengers sit up 

 and take notice and carry with them 

 strong impressions — strong enough to 

 make them talk about when they go 

 home — be their home near or far- 

 there is nothing like the brilliant can- 

 nas and geraniums and other tender 

 plants which make these erstwhile 

 dull and unsightly locations a glory 

 all summer long and carry the fame 

 of the Reading to the ends of the 

 earth. I receive letters from all over 

 the country from passengers who 

 write the company asking as to what 

 canna that was or what geranium that 

 was and so forth, showing very clear- 

 ly the strong impression made (even 

 from a flying train at 60 miles an 

 hour), and the good advertisement the 

 company gets out of it. 



While there is no great change in 



Railroad Oardenln 



the policy of the road as to my depart- 

 ment nor in my management and 

 methods in same during the ten years 

 that have elapsed since I last ad- 

 dressed your club, there is some 

 change in the varieties of plants we 

 use. For instance: — in geraniums, we 

 used then, Madam Thibaut, for pink; 

 La Pilot, for scarlet; and La Favorite, 

 for white. Now these "best ones" of 

 their day, have been superseded by 

 La Glorieuse, as pink; John Doyle, as 

 scarlet; and Madame Buchner, as 

 white. We also use Abbe Schaeffer 

 as a scarlet, and Jean Viaud as a. 

 pink. These varieties not only have 



I'aul Huebner 

 better flowers than the old ones; but 

 they are also more constant bloom- 

 ers. Salleroi is still our standby as 

 an edging. 



In cannas we are now using Fuerst 

 Bismarck, King Humbert, Madame 

 Berat, Madame de Poitevine, Philadel- 

 phia, Admiral Avellan, Columbia, Ro- 

 busta and Italia. We still use Flor- 

 ence Vaughan a little; but for a good 

 yellow, Richard Wallace is the best 

 of them all. 



We have made recently some very 

 effective beds with a combination of 

 ricinus, caladium and abutilon; and, 

 of course, we still use the coleus very 

 largely. A big coleus bed laid out in 

 a design is certainly a very gorgeous 

 sight. The big bed at Trenton Junc- 

 tion, for instance, is a good example 

 of what can be done with the coleus. 



g at Reading, Pa. 



A bed like this will take three thou- 

 sand plants; but they are easy to 

 grow and are inexpensive. The shrub- 

 bery in the background helps this sit- 

 uation very much, and, of course, the 

 lively green of the surrounding lawn 

 is indispensable. Imagine what a 

 dreary, uninteresting place this would 

 be without this blaze of color framed 

 in green and harmoniously toned by 

 its background of shrubbery! Take 

 again, the little triangle at the Termi- 

 nal Station in Philadelphia. This is 

 but a little patch, but it is the glimpse 

 of the unexpected which catches the 

 eye and pleases the traveler. This 

 bed is made of coleus, caladiums, ach- 

 ryanthes and alocasia. The clover- 

 leaf bed in the same patch is of geran- 

 iums, edged with ageratum, with a 

 yucca in the center. The work at 

 Langhorne Station is distinctive, as it 

 has a fine perspective, and has an ex- 

 cellent background of privet hedging. 

 Geranium John Doyle is used very 

 freely here in conjunction with coleus 

 beds. 



I am still a strong believer in the 

 privet for hedging. We use the Cali- 

 fornia variety and find very little trou- 

 ble with its winter killing, about which 

 some complain. It has proven very 

 satisfactory with us, being a quick 

 grower, a beautiful glossy green, and 

 absolutely free from all insect pests. 

 We use this largely for wind-breaks 

 to prevent snow drifting in winter as 

 well as for ornamental purposes. 

 Even when it does freeze, it comes up 

 again from the roots. I do not use the 

 barberry except in mixed shrubberies. 

 I use the whole shrub family; but the 

 various spireas and deutzias are our 

 favorites. We also use the hardy hy- 

 drangea very profusely. Philadelphus, 

 weigela, hibiscus and Pyrus Japonica 

 are also freely used. In lilacs we 

 like Marie Le Graye best for white, 

 and for a dark one, Souvenir de An- 

 toine Spaeth. Madame Lemoine, a 

 double white one is also very fine. 



I generally mingle evergreens with 

 the shrubbery, which latter are cut 

 out gradually, leaving the evergreens. 

 Trees are not largely used, chiefly be- 

 cause they would obstruct signals — a 

 very important matter; but where 

 they are permissible the Norway 

 maple is the one preferred. It is the 

 most uniform and is not so apt to 

 break if kept reasonably trimmed. We 

 trim our hedges twice a season only 

 for outside points; but elsewhere, 

 where they have to be always neat 

 and uniform, three or four times at 

 least. 

 And now, gentlemen, coming back 



