The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1893-12-05
UNCLE SAM, FLORIST.
A GLIMPSE OF THE BOTANICAL GAR
DEN IN WASHINGTON.

Congressional Pcrquisitcs.
Uncle Sans botanical garden In Wash
ington occupies tract of between eight
and nine acres of land almost in the
shadow of the capitol.
If You are Il newly elected member of
congress and have not been. initiated
into the full scope of your peruuisites,
you will probably receive within q short
time after your arrival letter from
some person you never knew and never
heard OF, asking You for an order OH the
superintendent for some choice ferns,
palms or hanging baskets to be filled at
their own suggestion. Perhaps the let
ter comes from some resident of Wash
1ngton, for there are many here who are
on the outlook for new members of con-
gress, especially those who do not bring
their families with them, or it NAV come
from one of your own constituents, who
is well versed in all the congressional
perquisites. So it will not be long be-
fore you learn that there is a vast vari-
ETY. of things beside seeds and congress
sional reports, which only await your
order informing the custodians where
the articles may be sent.
Each member of congress is entitled to
certain amount from the botanical gar
den each year, the kind and the amount
being OF course subject to the rules of
the superintendent. If senator should
send for one of tho rare specimens of
palms or cactuses, it is very doubtful
about the request being honored. The
last specimen of Il rare plant would not
be given up under any circumstances.
The most of the orders sent in are for
roses, geraniums and blooming plants.
Of which there is a great supply. If the
representative or senator prefers to have
his quota of plants sent to his green
house i'll his native town or city, no is
furnished by the clerk of the house of
representatives with wooden shipping
box, i'll which the plants are securely
packed and shipped by express to their
proper destination.
Upon entering tho botanical garden
by the west gate you will notice on each
side of the broad walk an endless va
riety of cactuses, in all of the varied con-
ditions Of growth and scratchiness. Some
seem to grow after ideas peculiarly their
own, as if their chief charm lay in their
scrawny ugliness. Others are very pref
~
any conservatory or bay window. This
avenue extends for about $50 feet, when
the decorations of the avenue change.
and you find yourself amid an avenue of
palms.
You may have hurried by the great va
riety of cactuses, but you will certainly
loiter along among the choice collection
of palms gathered from every quarter of
the globe where palms grow.
The largest of all the Conservatives is
the Farmhouse, with its immense dome
shaped roof. The building has to be q
large one to accommodate some of the
immense palms which it contains, MANY
of which are 40 feet high. Here you will
find palms from Mexico, Brazil, Central
America, South America New Caledonia,
Australia and the South Sea islands;
palms with long trunks, palms with thin
leaves, with broad leaves, with long
names and with short names, that YOU
read and forget with an ease that is won
derful, SO that the most you carry away
with you is memory that you have seen
the largest variety of palms in the world.
In the large basin, 80 feet in diameter,
is the Bartholdi fountain, which was
purchased at the Centennial exposition
of1S7G by the library committee for tho
Botanical garden. The fountain is of
cast iron and cost $4,000. In the basin
of the fountain grows the Victoria Regia,
the largest species of water lily in the
world. The lily is an annual, and as the
season in Washington is too brief for the
lily to reach its maturity. the seed has to
be imported each year. The plant is q
native Of Brazil, and the seeds are i'm
ported in water, for if they were kept
dry during the length of time which
would be required for transportation
the seeds would be worthless. In Au-
gust the Victoria Regia is in its full
glory, and it is during this month that
the amateur photographer delights him
self by posing q small child upon one
of the immense leaves. By this novel
experiment we are better able to Judge
Of the size Of this giantess of the lily
family.
Among the other wonders Of the bo-
tanical garden is large bed of elephant
grass, which grows to the height of 1S
or 20 feet. AS a rapid growing plant
this grass seems to be the first in its
class, but during the winter season it
dies down to the roots When in bios
som, the bed looks like small section
Of the jungle transplanted to American
soil.
The trees in the botanical garden have
been selected more with q view to their
adaptability to the soil and climate and
to their worth as shade trees rather
than to illustrate peculiar kinds or varie-
ties of trees, and altogether the general
effect Of the tree planting has been very