The Holly chieftain., 1901-08-09
A BATTLE OF THE FLOWERS

non roar will be the esoquence Of GIFT
ed and learned men; their ammunition,
the beautiful howers that adorn The
earth. and tf,e &asus belli the question
~ to what Of all the American Wild
flowers will be selected ~ . national
flower to 60 with the eagle and Uncle
Sam ~ emblematical Adornments OF
our beloved Stars and Stripes.
The sounds Of the skirmishing al.
ready fill the air. Away back In Bos-
ton the first hostile demonstration has
appeared. 1t comes from society
formed few years ago for the pur-
pose OF propagating and cultivating the
columbine. Now the faithful Of that
band have thrown on the mask and
are seeking to make the columbine the
national flower. But the columbine
they select is the beautiful red and yel-
low species that inhabit the cliffs Of
the New England hills and mountains.
Colorado Is at once on the defensive.
The c0lumbine lovers Of the Centen-
nial state are willingness, eager-to
have their state flower the national
emblem, but they will wage fight to
the death with any claimants other
than those who rally around the stand
ard Of the blue and white columbine of
the Rocky mountain region. TO that
end Coloradoans have been preparing
for the issue and In defense of their
position will battle to the end.
The accepted battle ground, the time
and the arrangements will be in the
Association for the Advancement of
Science convention during August, in
Denver. At that time section q of the
parent body will open its meetings to
a. nF 1,n pnfa Snfoty
of America Then the delegates will
discuss, and by their discussion fight
out, the issue.
The blue and white columbine of
Colorado has many and earnest cham
pions Chief among them is Profes-
sor Byron D. Halstead, professor of
botany in Rutgers College and presi-
dent of the Botanical Society of Amer
lea. Side by side with him will fight
other of the leading bctanists of the
country. In all the skirmishng up to
this time the Rocky mountain colum-
bine has the lead in every way. All
| that is required to make the assurance
| of victory complete is the rallying OF
| Colorado fighters to the standard.
Professor George l.. Cannon of Den
yer probably knows more about col
umbines than any man in the country.
He has lived with them, studied their
habits and fought for them. He is ut
the head OF the army who will battle
with the eastern enemies. Up at Boui
der the other day lie was told of the
coming battle.
.I,he movement for the adoption OF
the coIumbine as our national flower,
said Professor Cannon. perhaps had
its inception in this state, although
am not certain that those whose desire
| the selection of the colunbine have IN
mind the species that has been selected
as the state flower of Colorado-that
is, the Aquilegia coerulea or the blue
and white columbine of the Rocky
mountains. 1t is not impossible that
they have in mind the pretty red and
yellow columbine of the cliffs Of New
England.
During the first years of the last de-
| cade several states adopted generally
by the votes of participants in Arbor
Day exercises) some favorite state
flower as state emblem. Following
this example, N. r. Coy, state superin-
| tendent of education, asked those tax
ing part In the Arbor Day exercises Of
1891 to cast ballots for state flower
| and return the results to his office. AS
one Of the few that had given any con-
siderable attention to the Towering
plants of Colorado was asked to
make number of public addresses
on the more important plants Of the
state and to prepare an article on the
same subject for the state press.
I'm our choice we were troubled by
an embarrassment of riches. Dozens
of species of Towering plants would
have made suitable emblems In state
less blessed in floral riches. Notwith-
standing the abundance Of candidates
one plant was prominent In the minds
of nearly every one for its grace of
form, beauty Of coloring and for its
wealth of associations. or the total
number of votes cast and received by
Professor Coy there were 14,472 for
the columbine. Its nearest competitor
was the Marlposa lily, 1,157 votes; for
the cactus, 1927, and for the yucca,
| 069 votes"
Professor Cannon probably did more
| by his eloquence and his reasons for
the selection of the columbine than
any other inducement, including the
perfect appeal Of the beauty Of the
flower for its selection. His first argu-
| ment was to demonstrate that the blue
and white columbIne grew only in the
Rocky mountains and therefore was
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Sheep shearing Machine.
East Las Vegas, N. NJ, Aug. 6.-Men
handling the new sheep shearing ma
chimes, which were introduced into
this country recently, are making rec