Newspaper Page Text
1
THE ATLANTA SEMI-WEEKLY JOURNAL, ATLANTA, GA., FRIDAY, MARCH 28, 1913.
THE SEMi-WEEKLY JOURNAL
ATLANTA, GA., 5 NORTH FORSYTH ST.
Entered at the Atlanta Pos # toffice as Mail Matter of
the s Second Class.
JAMES R. GRAY,
President and Editor.
SUBSCRIPTION PRICE
Twelve months 75c
Six months ‘ l 0c
Three months -5c
The Semi-Weekly Journal is published on Tuesday (
and Friday, and is mailed by the shortest routes for
early delivery.
* It contains news from all over the world, brought
by special leased wires into our office. It has a stafr
of distinguished contributors, with strong departments
of special value to the home and the farm.
Agents warted at every postoffice. Liberal com
mission allowed. “Outfit free. Write R. R- BRAD
LEY. Circulation Manager.
The only traveling representatives we have are
J. A. Bryan, R. F. Bolton. C. C. Covle, L. H. Kim
brough and C. T. Yates. We will be responsible only
for money paid to the above named traveling repre
sentatives.
Diversified Crops in Georgia.
Reports received by the State College of Agricul
ture from its farm demonstrat. agents throughout
Georgia indicate that this is to he a-year of un
usually varied crops. In most of the counties there
is a marked tendency toward more modern and eco
nomical methods of cultivation and also toward the
home production of farm supplies. The ‘yranny of
the one-crop idea 1 vanishing and in its place there
is arising a movement to utilize all the generous re
sources of the soil. v
Especially notabl; is the increasing interest in
corn and truck products. The work of the Boys’
Corn clubs and also that of the Girls’ Canning clubs
is thriving as never before. These progressive insti
tutions have already been organized in a majority of
the counties and there is reason to hope that before
the year ends no considerable pa’rt of Georgia will be
without their quickening influence.
No movement means more to the economic inter
ests of this State than which looks to the diversifica
tion of crops. We. have -been spending in foreign
quarters millions and millions of dollars for products
that can be grown as easily and far more cheaply
at home. This applies not only to grains but also to
live stock and poultry and divers other necessaries.
The result of such a policy is injurious to the
general public as well as the farmer. It clips the
wings of enterprise and makes the State dependent,
where it should and could he thoroughly independent.
We have the State College of Agriculture very
largely to thank for the new progressive era that is
opening. The steady, far-reachipg work of this in
stitution is transforming the methods of Georgia’s
agriculture and is making the State continually
richer and more prosperous. ,
Adrianople Falls.
The fall'of Adrianople tops the Balkan war with
a strirring climai. and heralds the end of Turkish
power in Europe. For seven months this ancient
city, scarred with the almost forgotten battles of
Greek and Roman, Goth and Arab and Slav, has un
dergone one of the most racking sieges of history,
its hardihood of resistance has been scarcely less re
markable than the mettle of its Bulgarian foes and
it sank at last from sheer hunger and tattered
strength.
Adrianople, standing as it does on a straight road
to the Ottoman capital only some hundred miles to
the south, has been considered from the outset the
key to the Balkan conflict. Against its fortresses,
the Allies have centered their attack, realizing that
the capture of this stronghold would strike Turkey
to its knees. Adyianople has been the knot which
the concerted diplomacy of the great Powers has
failed to unite. Its possession was the issue on
which the London peace conference last winter went
to pieces and though Turkey recently signified a
readiness to cede tne city to Bulgaria, if the war
( could thereby be ended, it was apparent that no
progress toward lasting peace could he made until
this particular question was placed beyond debate.
The Ottoman government is now at the end of
its resources and its hopes. It must accept such
terms as the Allies inay offer, modified, of course, by
the overruling diplomacy of the larger nations. It
is likely that the area of European Turkey will be
reduced to a mere fragment of its present extent.
Constantinople and the control of the Bosporus, it
will probably retain; hut it will lose Albania, Salon
ika Monastir and doubtless a number of the Aegean
islands. The Balkan allies will be awarded most of
the territory for which they have fought; while the
Turkish realm will be narrowed to a strip, only
about a fourth as large as Georgia and such power
as is left it will be more shadowy than substantial.
' The end of the Balkan war, which may now be re
garded as virtually certain, relieves Europe of a
nervous suspense that has had ill effects upon the
business of all the world. The surrender of Adriano-
\ pie, with the prospect of early peace, has already
‘ served as a reassurance and a stimulus to commerce,
as is evidenced in the rise of stocks in New York
as well as in Old World centers.
Barring Bird Plumage.
Tariff reformers and Standpatters can join hands
over the proposal to amend Schedule “N” “by pro
hibiting the importation of the plumage of wild
birds, except for scientific purposes.” The law al
ready bars the importation of the eggs of certain
game birds; and it is urged by the friends of con
servation that this measure, if carried a logical step
further, would do much to check the ruthless destruc
tion of valuable bird life.
“The United States,” comments the New York
Evening Post, “is the largest market for wild bird
plumage and the closing of our ports to this trade
would probably be followed by similar action in London
and Berlin; Australia has already led the way in
this respect.” The movement to protect birds which
mean so much to crop security but which are being
slaughtered so rapidly that at the present rate many
of the most useful species will soon he extinct, is
pressing rapidly forward. All well considered legis
lation in behalf of this cause is to be commended.
In Humanity’s Name,
Help the Flood Sufferers.
In the wake of the tragic floods that have over
swept Ohio and Indiana there looms a trail of suf
fering and distress that shakes the whole nation's
heart with pity. Only long years can repair the vast
loss of property; the grief for the thousands
dead can never be healed. But there are tens and
hundreds of thousands lining, men and women and
children, who stand in immediate need of comfort
and refief; and it is to these that a sympathetic
public should now turn with prompt and generous
ministration.
The Journal begins today a subscription for the
aid of these sorely stricken people of our sister
States. We call upon the good citizens of Atlanta
and Georgia and of all the South to contribute, each
as his means will permit, to the relief of needs that
are indescribable in their sweep and intensity. We
will receive and promptly forward to the responsi
ble authorities of Ohio and Indiana all sums that
are subscribed.
When the floods have subsided and the flames of
burning cities are extinguished, the keenest anguish
of these thousands of sufferers will have just begun.
For, behind the raging waters and the struggle for
life in the storm, will follow another dire struggle
for life in the grip of hunger and cold and destitu
tion.
Families have been swept utterly away from the
moorings of home and all means of support. Women
are shivering, unsheltered and scantily clothed; lit
tle children are crying for bread; men who have lost
all means of livelihood are casting desperately about
for a new foothold in life; These floods are among
the greatest disasters the world has ever known.
Let the people of Georgia and of the South, show
their true Americanism and their humanity by rally
ing, as liberally as they can, to the relief of this
infinite suffering.
The Journal opens its list with a subscription of
one hundred dollars. Send in your contribution
now.
Studying European Agriculture.
An American commission representing the Uni
ted States government and the Southern Commercial
Congress will saii for Europe on April the twenty-
sixth to study the agricultural progress and methods
of the Old World with a view toward adapting them,
in so far as is practicable, .to the rural problems of
this country. When it is reflected that in France
and Germany and England and Other parts of the
continent, acres which have been under cultivation
for centuries yield vastly more than the compara
tively virgin soil jf America, it is evident that we
have much to learn from European systems of farm
ing; and the fact that the farmers of those countries
are able to secure liberal and long-term loans at rea
sonable rates of interest, admonished us that our
own system of rural credits, or rather (he lack of
such a system, demands earnest attention.
The American commission, composed of represen
tative students of agricultural conditions, will visit
England, Ireland, Germany, France, Austria, Russia
and Italy and, in the last named country, will attend
the International Institute of Agriculture which is
to be held at Rome. A vast deal of practical, first
hand knowledge will thus be- acquired, knowledge
that can he turned to definite account for the im
provement of farming conditions in the United
States.
It is gratifying to note that twenty-six States will
be represented in this commission. The South,
which is the great agricultural area of America, will
be especially benefited by the results of this enter
prise.
Former Governor Northen.
There has passed in the death of former Gov
ernor William J. Northen a citizen who rendered
varied and distinctive service to Georgia and who
was belovad by hundreds of friends throughout the
state and the South. The greater portion of his
long life- was devoted to educational and civic in
terests. He served two terms as chief executive of
Georgia and it was during his administration that
the Normal and Industrial College at Milledgeville
and the State Normal School at Athens were estab
lished, largely as a result of his earnest endeavor.
He began his career as a school teacher and to his
latest years he maintained a lively interest in edu
cational progress. For nearly half a century he
was a member of the board of trustees of Mercer
University and he was also president of the Georgia
Baptist Educational society. The commonwealth is
deeply conscious of the debt of gratitude it owes
his memory for his faithful labors in this important
field.
Governor Northen was active not only in public
and educational affairs, but also in the cause of
scientific agriculture. He was among the pioneers
in modern methods of cultivation, and as a practical
farmer he'exemplified and did much to extend the
movement that has counted so vitally in the de
velopment of Georgia’s rural interests. He was a
leader in religious affairs, having served as presi
dent of the Georgia Baptist convention and also
of the Southern Baptist convention. A man of gen
erous heart and unspotted character, he endeared
himself on the personal side to a numerous circle
of friends throughout the South, who mourn his
death and revere his memory.
Progressive LaGrange.
The banquet Thursday evening with which the
LaGrange Chamber of Commerce will celebrate its
entry into new and spacious quarters and the arri
val of a remarkably productive era for its commun
ity is an occasion of State-wide significance. Prom-
ient men from various parts of Georgia are expected
to be present and jjin with these civic builders in
their well warranted pride over the past and their
hopes for greater achievements yet to come.
The LaGrance Chamber of Commerce has set an
example of progress and co-operation which all other
towns will do well to emulate Its membership is
large and active. Its spirit is one constant earnest
ness and endeavor. It has realized the rich re
sources of its city and by persistent, organized ef
forts is. turning them to wondrously fruitful account.
The rapid growth of LaGrange is due not only to its
inherent advantages but very largely to the thorough
going work of its Chamber of Commerce. This in
stitution is compelling the attention of the State
and the South to the opportunities which LaGrange
affords and to the substantial results it is accom
plishing.
To this thifty city and this progressive organiza
tion, we tender our heartiest wishes for their con
tinued success.
The Colored Window of Self
By Dr. Frank Crane
ills.
* v '
The most useful thing one needs to learn to pro
mote his own peace of mind and effectiveness of ef
fort, is humility. Humility is no more nor less than
that state of mind in which one
ignores one’s self.
There is no unspotted happi
ness when self is present. Thg,
minute you exclaim: “How hap
py I am!” you are conscious that
a cloud has obscured the seren
ity of your hour.
This is often expressed by the
notion “I am too happy. It
cannot last. Something evil is
sure to happen.” Which is mere
ly a customary, though fantas
tic, way in which we- give evi
dence that self-consciousness has
spoiled our bliss.
Contrast, for instance, the glee
of a little child and the elation
of those grown people who are
getting drunk. In the first case
joy is unaware of itself and shines out as simply as
perfume radiates from a flower or sparkles of luster
dart from a diamond. In the other instance they call
the attention of themselves and of each other to the
fact that “we are jolly good fellows, which nobody
can deny.” For the difference between being intoxi
cated with the spirits of corn on the one hand and
the spirits of youth on the other is precisely the dif
ference between conscious and unconscious hilarity.
One is disgusting, the other charming.
Let the orator become suddenly aware of his hands
and feet and straightway he is tongue-tied. Only
when self has disappeared wholly, does he pour the
fire of his heart directly *into his hearers’ hearts. The
gift of humility is the art of moving speech.
Humility is the secret of good manners. Whoever
moves aboa and talks in forgetfulness of self is in
nately polite. The boor and awkward lout is simply
the person who is oppressed with himself.
It was said of Matthew Arnold, that “he discov
ered the purely intellectual importance of humility.
To see things clearly, he said, ‘you must get yourself
out of the way.’ The weakness of pride lies after all
in this: that one’s self is a window. It can be a col
ored window, if you will; but the more thickly you
lay on the colors the less of a window it will be. The
two things to be done yirith a window are to wash it
and then’ forget it.”
Who Thought the New Thought
(G. K. Chesterton in the London News)
What is the new thought? And who thought it?
This is a very mysterious matter which has exhausted
all my slender talents as* an amateur detective. I
know I am laying *no light burden on myself and my
local postman in asking such a question, for the peo
ple in movements such as this always assume that you
know nothing about the movement and proceed to tell
you all about it on reams and reams of letter paper.
But this is not my difficulty. My difficulty is that
I have read what is to be said about the new thought;
I have read columns and columns about it; it is the
thought that I cannot find. A new thought is a very
rare thing, and it would be a magnificent creature to
catch., The only things I can think of that one would
really call “new thoughts” would be certain celebrated
jokes, certain scientific discoveries and a few less
frequent cases o' 7 a really original argument used in
an old controversy. As an instance of the first class,
I should call Mrs. TQdgera’ idea of a wooden leg a
new thought. As a s cafte of the' second, I think New
ton’s discovery of tliq 'calculus might be called a new
'thought. As a casV of the third, I should give St.
Thomas Aquinas’ argument for the resurrection of the
body, and th e objection which M. Poincare (the math
ematician, not his relative, the president) raised
against the mere logic of de.erminism.
J can find nothing of this sort, big or little, light
or heavy, about the expositions of the new thought.
I find some old thoughts that are true; and people
take them for granted because they are true—as that
“sickness and disease are due to failure to understand
the laws of life.” I find some old thoughts that are
also true, but which are so old that many modern
people had dropped them merely because they were
old—as that the soul can heal the body in a manner
commonly called miraculous. Lastly, I find some old
thoughts that are not true at all—as that “in the old
thought world, life was regarded as a punishment,
the cause of life was sin, the purpose of life was pain
and suffering.” That has been alleged of Christianity
millions of times; but it happens to be a perfectly
plain blunder upon a point of fact. But of a new idea,
or even a new way of putting an idea, or a new appli
cation of an idea, I cannot find a trace, therefore, I
cry aloud, repeating my question:
“Who thoiight the new thought? And what was it?”
Mississippi’s Rural Strength.
Mississippi abundantly enjoys whatever satisfac
tion there lies in a large rural, as contrasted with
a small urban, population. The complete census re
ports show that out o» a total number of one mil
lion, seven hundred and ninety-seven thousand, one
hundred and fourteen people, only two hundred and
seven thousand, three hundred and, eleven live in
cities; the remaining million and a half abide in
country districts.
Equally interesting is the statement that there
are three hundred and seventy-six thousand, four
hundred and twenty dwellings and only three hun
dred and eighty-four thousand, seven hundred and
twenty-four families, a record which indicates that
there is a house for almost every family, flats, ten
ements and apartments being comparatively un
known. Mississippi is free from the problems which
congested population entails. There are presumably
no crowded quarters, no slums, no lack of room and
air and sunlight in that spacious commonwealth.
Nor is there any need of a “back-to-the-farm” or a
“stay-on-the-farm” campaign. Every man, if he will,
may thrive beneath his own vine and fig tree.
The towns and cities of Mississippi are prosper
ous, yet they are comparatively small. Meridian is
credited with a population of some twenty-three
thousand, Jackson, the capital, with a little more
than twenty-one thousand, Vicksburg with nearly
twenty-one thousand and Natchez and Hattiesburg
with some eleven thousand, seven hundred each.
Atlanta’s population alone is not far below that oi
Mississippi’s total urban population.
Particularly noteworthy is the fact that only five-
tenths per 'cent of the State’s white residents are
foreign born and only one and one-tenth per cent
are of foreign parentage.' Eighty-seven and a half
per cent of its citizens were born within its borders.
This vast predominance of people native to the soil
should have important effects. It should make them
more cohesive than is the population of States where
thp foreign intermixture is large; and it does make
them distinctively Mississipians.
So long as the rural interests of a State are pro
gressing and its people are developing their agri
cultural possibilities, so long as the soil holds its
due share of attention and endeavor, the State’s
prospect is cheering. In a section where farming is
the natural pursuit of men, the growth of big cities
is of minor importance compared to the conservation
of rural interests. Mississippi is to he congratulated
on its faithfulness to the farm.
‘^(OUAITRY’
'rJOME TOPuS
CewpocTED wjre&xzHjrEirort
THE MARCH CYCLONES.
/-The element* have surely been at war during this
fateful March of 1913. I told the readers of The
Semi-Weekly in a previous issue that I was less than
five miles from the hurricane which overtook Clarks-
ton and Tucker week before last and less than thirty
of th e same eccentric storm which overtook the peo
ple of Gordon and Floyd counties which came the
same night.
Today the newspapers are overflowing with ac
counts of a still greater cyclone which reached from
Louisiana even to Chicago with greater damage. The
evening that I was m Atlanta and so near to Clarks-
ton and Tucker I was eye-witness to a most astonish
ing electrical phenomena. I was very tired after a
long railroad trip and was lying on my bed in my
dear sister’s home and looking out at the threatening
sky that was lurid with incessant lightning flashes.
As I gazed suddenly I saw a ball of fire in the
heavens as large as the moon at Its full. Streaming
downwards were at least a half dozen vertical flashes
of lightning that fell earthwards. In the same in
stant the house trembled with awful thunder detona
tions. I sprung from the bed feeling sure something
fearful had occurreu, but it was not until the early
morning paper gav e the news about the storm in At
lanta suburbs, did I understand that the damage was
done four or fire miles away.
I had heard t these globes of fire before* but this
was the first time I ever saw the phenomena. Twen
ty-odd years ago we had in this section (near Car-
«
tersville) a January storm that alarmed my family
very much. It came on a Sunday afternoon and my
son who had been ill was going to Cartersville to visit
a doctor.
The storm came up so hurriedly that we were
starting a colored man with some wraps to help the
lad along as he returned. As we stood in the door,
handing them out, there came a blinding flash and a
terrible explosion. The cook was looking at a big tree
in the yard not far from the house and she saw a
great ball of fire as it fell in the tree top. The tree
was shivered its entire length and our back piazza
floor and the yard was thickly strewn with bark
and oak splinters from the tree.
When my son got home he reported only a shower
and not much storm, only three miles distant. I do
not understand such balls of fire, nor do I compre
hend the why or wherefore of cyclones. A gentleman
from Floyd county told me of the storm that passed
Curryville and Calhoun, where five children of one
family were blown out of the second story and all
mangled to death. Three of the victims were long
missing, and finally found in a slough, after the wa
ters subsided, that emptied into ^the Oostanaula river.
Two of the victims were mother and son, who had
moved into the community a little over a year ago.
When the house fell on them the son was pinned
down hand and foot and he was forced to lie there
with his mother in a few feet of him dying for four
long hours before help came to them and he could not
touch her. I was not surprised to hear that the ago
nized son had become insane from grief and anguish.
How little do we apprehend the dnagers that lie
thickly about us. May God be praised for His pre
serving mercies!
RAISE SOME SHEEP, FARMERS.
*
A neighbor of mine has nin% little lambs and a lot
of sheep. He put up a fence forty-eight inches high
and dog proof. The sheep lot comes up to his yard
fence so that the folks can hear if the dogs get after
the sheep.
We have thousands upon thousands of acres of
land in Georgia that would support sheep abundantly,
but the dogs are so numerous and our lawmakkers so
perfectly indifferent to farmers’ interests, that we-
must get dog proof fence to save the lives of the
sheep.
Isn’t it a perfect shame?
But we can buy forty-eight-inch wire and get the
dog proof sort and have a few sheep as this good
neighbor tells me he idoing. We can have a taste
of mutton occasionally that way. Why not try it?
Next year we are to elect a new legislature, and
I am in 'favor of getting from each candidate his
views on a dog law. If he will not vote against suck-
egg dogs, chicken-eating dogs, and sheep-killing dogs,
and run wild dogs *hat bite men, women and children
not to speak of horses and cattle then we do not want
such a representative. Do we?
It is time to have something our way isn’t it?
Make the candidates answer before a capable witness
and then we will get it.
THE DEADLY AUTOMOBILE.
Our entire section of country is saddened today to
know that a gay party of ladies in the suburbs of Rome,
Ga., wer e all maimed and one mangled otft of recog
nition by an overturned automobile two days ago. It
was the chauffeur’s fault, or possibly I should say
mistake, because there is no evidence that he intended
any harm, only was trying to go too fast and over
did it.
It is the speed mania that does nearly all the mis
chief, and there seems to be no curb for that speed
mania. It seems to obsess humankind. Everything
that rides or races on land or water is afflicted with
it. I am afraid of autos because they will go fast
when crazy drivers are behind the wheel, and the ac
cidents occur almost universally when the speed ma
nia has possessed th e drivers.
And everybody understands the danger, yet in spite
of the danger the occupants of an auto car will risk
the results that are painfully demonstrated every day
in the week, and almost every hour in the day, if the
daily news is correct.
And more than all, when we get in an auto car, un
easy and are anxious, as some of us are, we like the
fast going and do not seem to be at all concerned
when we begin to fly about in crowded streets and are
crossing railroad trac! s.
I believe we will reach a place where we must
have one road for autos and another for foot passen
gers and slower vehicles. It Is not going to do to.
risk racing cars ih crowded streets and where human
kind can be run down and mangled.
ECHOES FROM DIXIE.
When you meet trouble on the highway, never stop
to shake hands with him, for if you do he will take
you by the arm and accompany you home.
* * *
The land of content is unknown to some people,
and a great many are too grouchy to explore It.
* * *
If you see trouble coming just dodge behind happi
ness and he will pass on by without seeing yo.
* * *
There are many lessons to learn in the school of
life, and death will find us with the task still unfin
ished.
* • *
Some people would doubtless attain success if they
were not quite so busy prophesying the downfall of
others.
* * *
If some people could climb the ladder of success,
high climbing would make their head dizzy and they
would fall back down. '
* * *
Fortune is such a lazy goddess she refuses to come
to any one; you must go to her.
* * *
Some people could climb the ladder of success if
they were not so busy pulling the other fellow down
by the coat tail.
O. HOMER.
SPRING FLOWERS
By Frederic J. Flaskin
%
The number of men, women and children who de
light in flower growing is multiplied every spring.
The number of public parks, school gardens and pri
vate gardens, whose owners are
generous enough to share their
floral treasures with those less
fortunate, was never so great
is at present The interest
thus called forth develops a
constant demand for new flow
ers, as well as a greater utili
zation of the old ones, so that
the floriculturists are continu
ally kept busy to meet it. The
department of agriculture does
all in tis power to further this
interest. It distributes flower
seeds, bulbs and plants, issues
bulletins of direction for their
cultivation, and also gives fre
quent exhibitions of floral
beauties. These exhibitions
sometimes are calculated to
stimulate interest in some fdF-
gotten plant, to demonstrate
the value of new ones, or to simply give pleasure to
those who attend by visions of beauty such as only
those familia with the resources of great green
houses can imagine.
This spring the department is interested in dem
onstrating the beauties of the amaryllis, an oldtime
favorite in the gardens of our grandmothers, but lit
tle heard of recently. The exhibition, which was one
of the attractions of the national capital during inau
guration week and for some time after, included thou
sands of plants whose gorgeous blossoms had a tropi
cal luxuriance and served to demonstrate the remark
able changes which the hybrid florists have been able
to accomplish by cross fertilization. The process of
cross-fertilization is as simple as it is effective. No
doubt the idea of it, as demonstrated to the many
visitors who attended the exhibition, will have a wide
spread development throug out the country during the
coming season. The amaryllis blossom lends itself
readily to the process because of its size and simplic
ity. The florist desiring to make a cross-breed be
tween two plants will select two as nearly perfect in
size and coloring as he can secure, usually represent
ing two distinct colorings. For instance, he will takA
a red flowered and a white flowered amaryllis. When
the flower first opens, he will remove the pollen-
bearing anthers of each. Then, with a sort camel’s
hair brush, he will apply the pollen from the anther
pollen from a red blossom to a white one. The applied pol-
of a white flower to the stigma of a red blossom and the
len will pass through the styles of the flower down
into the ovary where it reaches the seeds which al
ready are formed. It nourishes them quite as well as
the pollen from the anther of the flower to which they
belong. When the flower^ fades, these seeds ripen and
are carefully gathered and planted. The results of
cross-fertilization are seen in the wonderful striped
and variegated flowers which, grow upon the plants
produced from the seeds which were taken from plants
producing flowers of a single color.
The history of the amaryllis goes back to the ear
liest times wnen voyagers to unknown countries
brought back to the centers of civilization rare tropi
cal plants which the botanists of the period delighted
to add to their herbariums, while the expert gardeners
endeavored to adapt them to their own localities. The
Amaryllidaceae family is a large one, including more
than 500 species, of which the Hippeastrums are best
known. This species includes about fifty varieties,
most of which are included under the common name
amaryllis, although the amaryllis demonstrated now
by the department of agricultuure really cornea from
the lily Johnson!, also known as the Bella Donna,
It first was produced by a poor watchmaker named
Johnson, of Lancashire, England, who had a great love
for plants and by dint v- great sacrifice secured a
few plants of the Amaryllidaceae family for experi
ments. He developed a variety which finally was ac
cepted by the English Botanical society, so he did not
lose his recognition as did the less fortunate developer
of the American Beauty rose.
The amaryllis as exhibited to the thousands of
visitors to the government greenhouses at Washing
ton will not have lasting value as a garden plant,, be
cause it blooms but once in a season; however, that
bloom lasts so long under proper conditions and is so
magnificent in appearance, it repays no small expen
diture of time and trouble. After the flowering the
bulbs should fc>e preserved unless it is desired to pro
duce the next plants directly from the seed. The '
flowers sometirrtes measure eight or nine inches
across and grow in great clusters above a rich back-*
ground of long oright green leaves. Most -of the va
rieties are considered scentless, although a delicate
perfume is noticeable from some of them, especially
just after they open. While the different species are
to be found in many tropical countries, the plant used
by Johnson, which formed the beginning of the vari
ety now being exploited by the department of agricul
ture, Is said to have been native to Brazil.
Recently the efforts of the department have been
turned toward the development and production of some
more prolific and hardy species of p;astern lilies which
will lend themselves readily to the resources of the
amateur or home florist. For this purpose several
hundred fine plants, raised in the government green
houses near Washington, have been distributed among
the different experiment stations of the country, espe-
pecially those in California. They will be utilized
for experimental efforts of reproduction, and is
hoped that the resudts of these experiments, if shc.-
cessful, will be made of practical value to the coun
try within the next three years. In the meantime the
commercial florists must still be given the “corner”
upon the production of Easter lilies once supposed to
be imported from Bermuda, although now ^raised each
year to an increasing degree in this country.
While new flowers occasionally seem to predomi
nate in popular favor, the permanent value of the rose
remains unaffected and rose culture is recognized al
ways as a- most important branch of floriculture.
Each year new roses are developed, some of which
never are heard of excepting among the rose growers
themselves, while others become well known to the
general public.
The interest in rose culture is appealing to school
children i,n a number of cities. Even the principles
of cross-breeding these fragrant beauties are being
studied by the children of a number of agricultural
high schools’ and the production of two new roses is
claimed by a school in western town. A well known
periodical publish^ for boys has been stimulating the
interest in rose culture by offering prizes for the best
results. A boy of fifteen recently won a prize for an
article giving a thorough description of the manner
in which he raised roses from cuttings. He sec cut
tings of fine hothouse roses, obtained from bouquets
sent to his sister, in wet sand in the cellar where the
proximity of the furnace gave him the required tem
perature. He kept them properly moistened until the
roots formed, then set them in separate pots in which
they blossrmed within eighteen months. *
At present the latest rose news of the department
of agriculture pertains to the development of two new
Killarney varieties. One ii known as the “Killarney
Queen.” This is a deeper pink than the old Killarney,
although it has the same exquisite grace of form. The
other is to be known as the “Double White Killarney”
because of its manifold petals which completely hide
the center of the flower. This gives four distinct va
rieties of the Killarney rose, the first being the pink
from which was developed the Killarney white rose
that became popular about two years ago, and is pa
rent of the new double white blossom being put upon
the market this year. The deparament also is ex
ploiting two new yellow roses. The “Sunburst” has a
deep yellow tint, almost orange at the base of the
petals, shading to creamy w r hite at the outer edges.
The other is the “Lady Hillington,” which is a small
yellow rose of exquisite shape and fragrance, lighter
in shade than the “Sunburst.” It has the advantage of
being a most prolific bloomer and, therefore, is likely
to obtain favor with the home florist.