Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1889-08-17

Oar national Flower, the Golden. Rod.

exciting interest in various quMters'
prnnr. of Christmas card fame, Is send
ing blanks to people of taste and culture
asking them to vote their choice on the
subiect, This choice however Is limited
20 three favorites, the golden-rod, ,arbutus
and sunfiower. The New York S,"
with becoming modesty is booming the
big sunflower. With a diflidence that
10 touching, it IL urged that as the bril-
liant orb of summer days with its haio
Of glory shines as the emblem OF the
greatest Journal Of the age, so likewise 1t
ought to become emblematic OF the glory
of the young republic. 1t Is particu-
larly appropriate for the san at this
time to raise aloft this blazing symbol
and when the Sans candidate for presi-
dent, Roswell Pettibone Flower, is named
in 1892 the glory Of the sunflower will
outblazen even the CLEAN Of old Chris
topher Columbus whitened bones and
the worlds fair besides.
Seriously considered the selection of
flower which will best typify our nations
4 character and life has some meaning In
1t is true such things usually grow
md can rarely be created, though the
eagle was deliberately selected as our
bird Of freedom in spite Of the efforts of
BENJAMIN Franklin nobly cXertcd in be-
half of the turkey. II is pity our In
dian ancestors did not solve this prob
lem for us long ago and we would now
undoubtedly be wearing as our emblem
the blossom Of the maize, plume fit for
the head dress of king. Another sug-
Restion of merit and taste sets forth the
daisy, the days eye" beloved of
Chaucer. The objection to this is that 1t
is not indigenous, but says an admirer
mo more are we in speech, in ideas of
government, in blood, we are as English
az the daisy" But it would seem pity
il among the luxurious flora of our
flower-field land we can find nothing
that was ours, is ours and will always
be ours. However, much beloved of the
Puritans and though Miles Standish
most likely decked his manly bosom
with this star-eyed beauty, yet 1t was
not the Mayflower, as is sometimes sug-
gested. That honor belongs TO the trail
ing arbutus, that sweet, modest har-
binger Of early spring.
The rose we cannot use. II is the em-
blem Of England, as is "the primrose by
q rivers brim.n IThis latter in our day
suggests too vividly the political league
Of England which bears its name. The
6eur-de-lis gracefully adorns the ban
ners of France and the chrysanthemum
is emblazoned in oriental beauty ON the
arms of Japan. The mountain kalmia,
or rhododrendron are most beautiful
plants, but limited In their range, and
not all Americans are familiar with the
beauty of their flower and foliage. The
aster, numerous in species and variety,
blooms late In October and November.
In lovely purple and blue and gold, 1t
CLEANS on every roadway and hillside,
and one might go further and fare worse
In selecting the gorgeous starwort.
The objections to the big brown and
gold sunflower, which vigorously blooms
everywhere from early spring until late
i'll the autumn, are numerous and vital.
In the first place II is too large and would
be of little use for decorating the patriotic
breasts of men or TO rest on the bosoms
of loyal women. The plants are coarse
and the stem and foliage rough to the
touth. lbtSluts IL II u sticlltluN iuNl tllul
few plants are so exhaustive of potash,
In which most fields are deficient, and its
extensive cultivation would soon render
the moet fertile soil unproductive. Be
sides its well known utility rs II food
takes ii somewhat out of the sphere OF
the poetic. And when il is remembered
that 1t furnishes food for poultry and is
remedy for heaves, a disease of horses,
1t Is decidedly prosaic. The seeds
furnish 40 per cent. of an oil useful for
burning, for soaps and other purposes,
and some French surgeons use the Pith
as moXa.
On the whole, however, to our
uncultured taste the beautiful golden
rod seems best adapted to win the
honor Of becoming the national flower.
1t Is almost entirely native flower of
whose eighty species all but three or
four belong to this country. In extent
II stretches from the mountain heights
10 the very margin of the sea. From the
Alpine regions Of Maine and the shores
of Lake Superior, and even the rocky
banks of Western Vermont and Lake
Huron across the rich shaded woods and
grassy prairies Of the West the yellow
and white of the go!den-rod bloom
oil through our long autumns and
Indian summers. At the first ap.
proach of autumn days appears the
solidago bicolor or white golden-rod, ,and
when the first frosts of winter are
whitening the land the lingering horets
upon the downy solidago memorials
still greet the eve From moist meadow :
and barren rocks the golden-rOd holds
aloft its cleaning wand and waves in
royal beauty to the autumn breeze.
The very derivation of the scientific
term solidago, from the Latin solidare,
meaning to make firm, has iitting sig
niilcaDce for Us in our as yet unsettled
life and character. 1t is an appropriate
thing, too, because il blooms in the
autumn, the season of harvest and fruit
gathering. 1t is type of our ciyiliza-
ton and life, which came late in the
worlds history. We are the culmina-
ton Of all the civilization of the worlds
centuries Of growth. We gather up in our
selves the fruit the seeds of which other
nations and peoples planted. We reap
the harvest Of the world in this Western
continent and here has dawned the
era OF new life aud new people.
Some one has said that in time the
whole world will be one-half Russian or
Slav, and the other half English. Where
better than here, In our God-blessed
land Of freedom and beauty, will be the
centre of that all-powerful English
speaking and English thinking race ant