September, 1918 
59 
i 
KEEPING THE CIVILIAN “FIT” 
an Advertisement by GEORGE H. PETERSON 
O UR Government is sparing neither 
pains nor expense, and rightly so, 
in providing entertainment and re¬ 
laxation for the soldier, to the end that 
his mind may be diverted from the task 
before him and so that he may not be¬ 
come “stale.” And while the world’s 
freedom from tyranny cannot be won 
without the soldier, he, important as he 
is in the destiny of mankind today, can¬ 
not fight without the backing and sup¬ 
port of the man and woman who stay 
behind and fight the*battle at home. 
In the excitement of preparation and 
of battle, the soldier, although his life 
may be at stake, does not begin to worry 
a tithe as much as the father, mother, 
wife, sister or sweetheart left at home. 
And so it seems fitting to me that be¬ 
cause of this inseparable worry, com¬ 
bined with ever-increasing privations, 
and the fact that without the best and 
continued effort of the civilian the war 
could not long be carried on, the ques¬ 
tion of his or her relaxation and diver¬ 
sion should be given serious thought— 
that such relaxation should be increased 
rather than diminished. 
There are, it is true, many things of 
which we should deny ourselves in whole 
or in part. We must eat less meat, 
wheat and sugar, so that our soldiers 
may have an abundance; so that our 
Allies, who for four years have been 
holding back the hordes who would de¬ 
stroy the freedom of mankind, may not 
suffer too severely. 
We must make a suit of clothes, a pair 
of shoes, last longer; so that the fighter 
of our battles will have wool and leather 
enough to clothe and shod him in his 
strenuous duties under great exposure. 
There are luxuries and non-essentials 
which benefit no one else but the buyer 
(if even they do him) which may well 
be dispensed with altogether for the time 
being. 
But what about flowers? Are they a 
luxury—a non-essential? 
Let us see. 
I call your attention to the picture and 
its caption on page three.* Do you sup¬ 
pose for a moment that these flowers 
were all used selfishly? Can you com¬ 
pass the possibilities of this one day’s 
cutting in cheering the sick, the grieved, 
or the soul aweary with life’s struggles? 
And what of the giver? Has she lost 
or has she gained? 
Has she not gained most of all? 
Think it over. 
Figure it out as you may, the fact re¬ 
mains that no other relaxation, diversion 
—call it what you will—will prove of 
such real benefit as the cultivation of 
flowers, a benefit not only to the grower, 
but to many less fortunate fellow 
creatures. 
With this thought in mind, it has been 
especially gratifying this year to learn of 
quite a number of cases where our 
Peonies were so useful in Red Cross 
and similar work. As a lover of this 
flower, even more than as a professional 
grower, it has been likewise gratifying 
to observe the liberal use of the Peony 
on Decoration or Memorial Day of this 
year—for which purpose it stands pre¬ 
eminent among flowers. And who can 
foresee the limit of its usefulness in this 
respect? The Decoration Day of the fu¬ 
ture is to hold a new meaning to many, 
if not to most, of us. 
This war will, I feel confident, renew 
the interest in flowers and sooner or later 
increase the demand for them. Many of 
us, I am sure, feel very much as did a 
woman customer who feelingly wrote me 
this spring as follows: 
“I can do without other things, 
but flowers I must have—now more 
than ever. They are a great consola¬ 
tion to me.” 
*77ie conclusion of this article and the 
most interesting part of it will be found 
in my beautiful 1918 Peony catalog—sent 
on request. 
GEORGE: h. pe:terson 
Rose and Peony Specialist 
Box 30 Fair Lawn, N. J. 
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