January, 1920 
£3l)£ Slower (Brower 
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MRS. AUSTIN’S TALKS 
r [ IV rttten expressly for The Viewer Grower. ] 
The Woman’s National 
Farm and Garden 
Association. 
W AS IT a farmer who 
said that “Wimmen 
air cur’uscreeters ?” 
Well, perhaps we do 
seem “cur’us” in some ways 
and to some people, and 
possibly there is more truth 
than fiction in the old saying: “When 
a woman will, she will, and when she 
wont, she wont. However, in 1914, 12 
women met and organized an associa- 
tion that now has a membership of 
over 2,000, and increasing rapidly. 
Those women, as well as their follow- 
ers, must possess strong will powers 
and have a worthy aim. 
When the war came with the short- 
age of food, in response to the call of 
the President for increased production, 
women all over the country took up 
farm and garden work. They got 
down on their knees and planted seed 
and pulled weeds, which is real work. 
By-the-way it isn’t always necessary 
to have many weeds to pull, if by the 
right kind of cultivation they are pre- 
vented from growing. 
Their work and the spirit in which 
it was done won praise and more, for 
in many cases it won a love for out of 
door life that will never be given up. 
Their health was improved rather than 
impaired, and I doubt if any became 
especially lean and angular, which I 
mention because, not long ago a new 
acquaintance remarked to me quite con- 
fidentially, “Do you know when I heard 
that you worked with flowers, I pic- 
tured you as lean and angular.” 
In May, 1917, the Mayor’s Committee 
of Women on National Defense (New 
York) appointed a Standing Committee 
on Agriculture, which formed itself 
into a clearing house for placing wo- 
men in units on farms as a useful form 
of patriotic service. At the suggestion 
of the Woman’s Committee of the 
Council of National Defense, the Wo- 
man’s Farm and Garden Association 
called a conference in New York City 
in the following December. This con- 
ference resolved itself into an Advisory 
Council of the Woman’s Land Army 
of America, the purpose of which was 
to stimulate the formation of a land 
army of women to take the place on 
the farms of men who were being 
drafted for active service. At this and 
subsequent meetings, representatives 
of the following organizations were 
present : The Woman’s Committee of 
State Council of Defense ; The Wo- 
man’s National Farm and Garden As- 
sociation; the Garden Club of America; 
the Federal Food Administration ; the 
National Board of Young Women’s 
Associations ; the College of Agricul- 
ture, Cornell University; the New York 
State School of Agriculture, Farming- 
dale ; the Women’s College of Dela- 
ware; the New York State Grange; 
the New York State Labor 
Bureau ; the Westchester 
County Farm Bureau ; the 
Committee of Women in 
Industry; the Intercollegi- 
ate Bureau of Occupations ; 
the New York Suffrage 
Party ; the Association of 
Collegiate Alumnae ; the 
Woman’s University Club ; 
Committee of Agriculture 
of the Mayor’s Committee 
of Women ; Agricultural Camp at Bed- 
ford ; and the Scarsdale Community 
Farm. Representatives of other or- 
ganizations are, from time to time, be- 
ing added to the Council. 
The Woman’s National Farm and 
Garden Association became the prime 
mover in starting the Woman’s Land 
Army of America as a wartime meas- 
ure, furnishing data of work done in 
England, Canada and America. More 
than fifty of its members were among 
the most active workers in carrying 
on the Land Army work, that not in- 
cluding other members who were most 
valuable as members, leaders, or super- 
visors of units. It had entire charge 
of the Land Army work in Massa- 
chusetts, Rhode Island, Southern Cali- 
fornia and the Gulf States, through its 
branches in those sections. 
The war is over but there is a place 
and need for woman on the land, and 
to accomplish the ends for which the 
Association stands it is necessary to 
have a greater membership. 
At its conferences it has given pub- 
licity to horticultural and agricultural 
work for women. It has been an ef- 
fective agency, without fees, for wo- 
men wishing positions on farms or 
work in greenhouses and is a valuable 
assistant to those primarily interested 
in flowers. 
It has furnished women markets for 
their products through sales at the 
National headquarters (New York) 
through Branch Associations, and 
through the columns of its own publi- 
cation. 
Few women can work on the land 
very long without becoming interested 
in flowers, and almost before they real- 
ize it a large part of the garden is de- 
voted to flowers, and the flowers bring 
fully as good returns financially as the 
vegetables. Flowers are now being 
used more than ever before. The war 
taught us need of flowers as well as 
vegetables and although they were 
among the so-called nonessentials, 
when hearts were stricken by loss of 
loved ones in foreign lands, and deadly 
disease swept our own country like 
wildfire, people, and many of whom 
had scarcely ever given a thought to 
flowers before, bought them and are 
still buying for they have learned to 
love them and they have also learned 
that there are some things that words 
cannot express but that can be said 
with flowers. 
During our several years of selling 
Gladiolus bulbs through the mails I 
have received many interesting letters 
from women who wish to do something 
out of doors, asking for cultural in- 
struction in growing Gladioli, and I 
feel that there is a great opening for 
that class by becoming members of 
both the American Gladiolus Society 
and the National Farm and Garden As- 
sociation. Membership in the former 
would furnish— through its official or- 
gan, The Flower Grower— knowl- 
edge of the culture of Gladioli from 
experienced growers, and in the latter 
the almost necessary light farming 
that goes with it to make up success. 
Mrs. Francis King, whose name, 
through the medium of a beautiful 
flower, has gone, practically, around 
the world, is the President and Leader 
of this National Farm and Garden As- 
sociation. 
Mrs. A. H. Austin. 
I am indebted to Mrs. King and 
the Bulletins of the National Farm 
and Garden Association for informa- 
tion used in the above. 
Mrs. A. H. A. 
Massachusetts Agri- 
cultural College. 
WINTER COURSE IN FLORICULTURE. 
The Winter Course at the Massa- 
chusetts Agricultural College begins 
on December 30 and continues for a 
period of ten weeks. The course 
offered in floriculture is designed to 
furnish those who have not the time to 
devote to a longer course with the the- 
oretical and practical considerations 
essential to success in floricultural 
work. The course covers as thorough- 
ly as time will permit those aspects of 
the work which are of especial interest 
to the commercial florist. Some of 
the topics considered are greenhouse 
construction, greenhouse management, 
and methods used in growing impor- 
tant commercial crops. A portion of 
the course will also be devoted to a 
consideration of gardening and garden 
flowers. Special trips are taken to 
study floricultural establishments in 
the State. Courses in soils, plant dis- 
eases and insect pests accompany the 
work in floriculture. 
Further information concerning the 
course may be obtained by writing for 
an Announcement either to the De- 
partment of Floriculture or the Short 
Course Office, Massachusetts Agricul- 
tural College, Amherst, Mass. 
One of the greatest rosarians in 
England states that he has often found 
that the less double a Rose is the more 
easily it produces seed. This state- 
ment was made in connection with the 
Rose Ophelia which he states was not 
produced from artificially fertilized 
seed, but came from a pod gathered 
at hazard in the nursery. 
Ophelia seems to be very prolific of 
sports and seedlings. If the parentage 
of Ophelia could be known beyond 
question it would be of much in- 
terest. 
