10 THE 7A UDB ONG EB UL TS hari 
Live Fence a Wildlife Refuge 
By RicHArp T. ORR 
A ROSE, CULTIVATED in Japan for centuries as an ornamental, today is spear- 
heading a crusade for conservation among Illinois farmers. Scientists call 
it Rosa Multiflora. It’s known commonly as the multiflora rose. 
The rose first appeared on Illinois farms a decade ago. Before that it 
had been used in this country for some years as an ornamental and as a 
hardy rootstalk on which growers could bud other ornamental varieties 
of roses. Then the soil conservation service of the United States depart- 
ment of agriculture found it could be used for soil conservation and ero- 
sion control. 
In the last decade an estimated 10 million plants have been set out on 
farms of this state in a program directed by the Illinois department of 
conservation. Lack of sufficient planting stock has held back the work. Dis- 
interest and lack of information about the rose among farmers had to be 
overcome. 
These problems still exist. But the rose is winning out. In the fall of 
1950 and the spring of 1951 another 10 million rose plants will have been 
planted on Illinois farms — double the number of the last decade! 
By next spring 25,000 to 30,000 Illinois farms will have rose plantings. 
Three state nurseries going full blast can’t supply the demand. The largest 
of these is at Jonesboro. Another is at the Rice Lake wildlife area near 
Peoria. A third is at the Pontiac state prison. \The three will account for 
roughly 60 per cent of the roses for planting this fall and next spring. 
Private nurseries will supply the rest. 
Farmers, it must be admitted, are like a lot of city people. They have 
to be sold on conservation. That’s where multiflora rose comes in. 
“It’s the one plant we can sell to farmers on its practical value,” ex- 
plains Bruce Diehl, northern zone biologist for the state conservation de- 
partment. 
‘What’s practical about a rose? 
Sales talks that are winning new adherents among farmers every day 
center about the value of multiflora as a “living fence.” A statement by 
Wallace L. Anderson and Frank C. Edminster, respective chiefs of the 
biology divisions of the upper Mississippi and northeastern regions of the 
United States department of agriculture, is a typical approach: 
“Only recently have farmers come to realize the many advantages of 
this plant. Chief among these is the fact that it will make a living fence 
that will keep both your live stock and your soil within its boundaries. 
“It is also the least expensive fence that you can establish and the ~ 
cheapest to maintain. One thousand plants will give you 1,000 feet of liv- 
ing fence. Where fences of wire or wood do not shelter birds or rabbits, 
multiflora rose furnishes weleome cover for farm wildlife. 
“As compared with the usual fence, a living fence of multiflora rose 
is a thing of lasting beauty. In the spring it carries masses of white blooms; 
in the winter its red fruits brighten the fields. Unlike other fences that 
