ROSE SOCIETY AT 



<;^ ARLINGTON FARM 



Fijty members of the American Rose Society braved the rain and mud 

 June 2 to inspect the test garden at Arlington farm on the occasion of its 

 dedication. Four hundred varieties of rose bushes, the gifts of members 

 of the society, were formally present ed to the federal government. 



N spite of the fact that, 

 as Eobert Pyle said, the 

 ceremony turned out to be 

 more of a christening than 

 a dedication, a party of 

 over fifty braved the wet 

 weather in order to at- 

 tend the American Rose 

 Society's trip of inspec- 

 tion to the Washington 

 rose test garden, at Arlington farm, 

 the experiment station of the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, about ten miles 

 from the national capital across the line 

 into Virginia. On this tract of two 

 acres, set aside for the garden two 

 years ago by the federal government, 

 have been planted over 400 rose bushes 

 furnished by members of the society. 



The visitors gathered at 1 o'clock at 

 the store of Gude Bros. Co. and took 

 automobiles to Arlington. The contin- 

 ued rains had made conditions such 

 that thorough inspection was impossi- 

 ble, and the automobile ride about the 

 city had to be foregone for the same 

 reason. Before returning, however, the 

 party visited Arlington cemetery, the 

 soldiers' burying ground. 



The Meeting. 



Upon reconvening at the hall, the 

 members of the party were welcomed by 

 William F. Gude on 

 behalf of the florists 

 of the city. Wallace 

 R. Pierson, retiring 

 president of the so- 

 ciety, told of the in- 

 ception of test gar- 

 dens by the organiza- 

 tion with the plant- 

 ing of the rose 

 bushes at Elizabeth 

 park, at Hartford, 

 Conn., at the invita- 

 tion of Alex. Cum- 

 mings, Jr., then su- 

 perintendent of that 

 park. He spoke of 

 the work of the 

 Washington test gar- 

 den committee and 

 surrendered the gavel 

 to Chairman Eobert 

 Pyle, in acknowledg- 

 ment of his commit- 

 tee's efforts in plan- 

 ning the meeting. 

 When Mr. Pyle had 

 taken the chair, Com- 

 missioner Louis 

 Brownlow welcomed 

 the guests on behalf 

 of the District of 

 Columbia. 



In response to the speech of President 

 Pierson formally presenting to the na- 

 tional government the rose bushes 

 planted in the garden, Dr. William 

 Taylor, chief of the Bureau of Plant 

 Industry of the Department of Agricul- 

 ture, spoke in place of the Secretary 

 of Agriculture. Following him, F. L. 

 Mulford explained the general plan of 

 the garden and the features to be de- 

 veloped. In regard to the latter, he 

 said: 



"On the left as we went in, the 

 first five beds all the way across will 

 be devoted to tea and hybrid tea roses. 

 Some of you got over to the sixth bed, 

 and it is there the purpose to develop 

 Wichuraiana hybrids. We have not 

 as yet worked out a scheme that is en- 

 tirely satisfactory to us. Some of you 

 may have noticed what we are doing 

 with the moss roses. On the fences all 

 around are the climbing roses of the 

 various types, and on each side the 

 hybrids have been grouped. On the 

 other side we grouped many of the 

 other varieties. Just inside and, in 

 fact, on both sides, we propose using 

 the climbing tea. You may have no- 

 ticed on the fence two heights of posts. 

 On the taller. ones we have endeavored 

 to plant the tallest and most vigorous 

 growing, and on the inside of the posts 





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Cotaer of U. S. Rose Gardens at Arlingtoa Farm. 



we have planted some of the same kind 

 and will eventually throw them over 

 the wall and get the effect of the roses 

 over the walks just where the tall posts 

 are and at the corners. It is also hoped 

 eventually to cover the entrance with 

 some formal design, with a light frame- 

 work which will be covered with roses. 

 Other embellishments are in mind, and 

 we propose to erect a simple structure 

 and also cover it with roses. We are 

 going to use the Dr. Van Fleet. 



More Boses Wanted. 



"I want to appeal to the members 

 of the American Rose Society to use 

 more strenuous efforts to provide addi- 

 tional roses, which we should have in 

 the garden. This year we have only 

 increased the number of roses by about 

 100. I feel strongly we should have 

 300 or 400 more at this stage of devel- 

 ment. We should have a large number 

 of varieties here, and we can only get 

 them by the members each feeling a 

 personal responsibility to provide these 

 and spreading the idea that others 

 should provide them. We want roses, 

 the rare varieties and the more com- 

 mon kinds. 



''The test of the new varieties is an 

 important feature, and, of course, that 

 means that the new varieties must be 

 provided in order to 

 have them to test. 

 We have had two 

 shipments and are 

 testing them in the 

 garden now, but it 

 ought to be the natu- 

 ral thing to have 

 every new rose come 

 to the garden to be 

 tested. We need fre- 

 quent visits from the 

 members of the so- 

 ciety to check up the 

 roses as we have 

 them entered. As you 

 probably remember, 

 the American Rose 

 Society has agreed to 

 label the roses, and 

 an important part of 

 its task, we consider, 

 is the checking up of 

 the names as we 

 have them in the 

 garden." 



L. C. Corbett, of 

 the Department of 

 Agriculture, told of 

 laying out the farm 

 in 1901 and of plans 

 for its future devel- 

 opment. Dr. Van 





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