Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1890-08-16
A BLUE ROSE.
why 1t Is Impossible to Produce One-NO
One Yet Able to Gain the Prize.

vi Dan FRANCISCO Call reporter.
Why, man. there never will be one;
it's natural imposibility.
| A money prize stands ready to drop
INTO the hands of the florist who does
produce one. It has been offered for
many years by the French Academy,
and as yet no one has ever appeared to
claim the reward. ! think that all this
is one proof that the blue rose viii not
be produced, although in these days of
scientific research and chemical dis
covery all things are to be regarded as
possessing possibility of achievement. .
How are the different varieties pro-
duced?" asked the reporter.
In such a manner as to still farther
complicate the production of q blue
rose" was the reply.
Natural and assisted selection has
produced 100 shades of red, from the
lightest pink to the darkest crimson.
There are the Marechal Mel and hun
dred or two more varieties of yellow.
Black, even, has been evolved from the
darkest crimson. I suppose the rose
whose petals are red on one side and
almost black on the other is familiar
sight to you. The white rose, which
the Moslems devoutly believe sprang
into being from the great drops of sweat
which fell from the brow of Mahomet
in his ascent into Heaven, once aston
ished an experimenting florist with that
monstrosity known as the green rose.
Its petals are jagged, curled, serrated,
or like bunch of green rose leaves, or
| Of lott am O
scale.
Whenever such a variety appears,
either as freak of nature or as a result
of an experiment, it must be seized upon
and helped to remain in its new shape,
otherwise it will hasten to revert to its
original color"
Is that the reason why suckers must
always be removed from a rosebush ?"
asked his listener, eager to show little
Horticultural knowledge.
Exactly"
as that the reason, too, why gar
deners trim rosebush up high from
the roots, making the plant and its
flowers like a big bouquet?"
ut is" replied the man of rose
knowledge. "You see, it is by assist
ing tie organs of the plant to per-
form their natural functions that some
varieties are maintained, while to re-
tard these organs in their development
will produce another result, and to in
terfere with them all, get another.
Take the last case, for instance, when a
gardener wishes to affect the color or the
size, or even the fragrance of rose,
he takes the pollen from the blossom of
another variety and places it upon the
absorbent surface of the pistil This
crossing of pollen, as il is called, is re-
sponsible for most of the varieties, al
though layering, suckering and graft
ing, both by bud and branch, have
done much to further the production
Of roses.
"But want you to take notice that
all these varieties have come from the
red, the yellow and the white roses.
Red and yellow, what are these col
ors?"
Primary colors," replied the list
ener.
"Quite right" responded the florist,
with the air of a schoolmaster, "and if
you will take the trouble to think a
moment you will understand that since
blue is also one of the primary colors,
to produce blue rose is utterly out of
the question.
"An artist would laugh at your ignor-
ance if you were to ask him to take his
tubes of red and yellow paint and to
produce you a blue tint. Primary
colors cannot be resolved into COM
ponent colors; they, themselves, are
constituents of a pure white ray of |
light. They must exist; they cannot |
be made.
"Color is only part of flower, and,
while there are plenty of blue flowers,
they are not roses, nor related to roses,
and their pollen won't assimilate with |
that of a rose; and, if that don't dispose |
of the blue rose question, why, I'm
willing to hear what the next man has
to say on the subject" said the florist,
with tone of conviction.
did you ever bleach any roses ?"
asked the reporter.
"Oh, that's an old trick, laughed his
informant. cold, whether it's done as
we boys used to do, by holding rose
In the fumes of a burning match, or
placing it in sulphuric box. All it
does is to turn the edges of the petals
an ashy white. Some time ago there
was a chemist in this city who prepared
a chemical mixture which had the
property of preserving rose whose
stem was placed in it fresh for over
eight days, and if the rose was a white
one, the liquid being absorbed through
the sap channels, streaked the petals
with lines of red or turned them a
delicate pink. I have often put a
white marguerite in a red inkstand, and
in very few minutes the white petals
are blushing family. It's q pretty
little experiment. Then, by planting
pink plant in ground imbedded with
charcoal, dark results are obtained, and
iron rust at the roots will give reddish
tinge. These are experiments full of
but, as for blue roses, no, sir.
Southey's Earnings.
No man ever lived more plainly or
worked harder than SoutheS; yet he
never had q years income In advance,
l.