Omaha daily bee., 1903-06-07

is under the personal direction of Prof.
Wheeler of Michigan, OF the United States
Department of Agriculture. The liberal
space allotted TO this exhibit has been cut
up into numerous subdivisions, and each
of these subdivisions in turn is turned
over to the various st. Louis schools. A
class of pupils is selected by the principal
of the school so honored, and the actual
work of planting and cultivating the gar
den is left TO the pupils, under, of course,
the general direction of Prof. Wheeler.
Liberal prizes are offered for the best Gull
tivated garden and for the best results.
Tn sight of the little tots in their knicker-
bockers and Bingham dresses, their sailor
hats and sunbonnets, equipped with hoe
and rake, is a sight all too seldom seen.
The immense grass garden grown under
the personal direction of Prof. Spillman.
who was selected by the Bureau of Plant
Industry to have charge of the entire OPEN
air exhibit, is one OF surprising value and
interest. This grass garden occupies on
the five-acre plot all of the space in the
Atlantic ocean from Maine to Florida. and.
rounding the peninsular. occupies a large
portion of the Gulf of Mexico, off Florida's
west coast.
In the northern section of that exhibit
are a series of sand dunes, constructed so
as properly to exhibit the sand-binding
grasses. These grasses send their strong
and vigorous roots down through the shift
ing sands and finally entrench themselves
in the solid soil. AS the plant becomes
more firmly established and sends up its
super growth, the roots firmly anchor II.
protecting It from the ravages Of the wind
and hold 1t in it's place. The plant enriches
the barren sand on which 1t was originally
planted, and in the course of not a great
many years a rich soil takes the place Of
what was once a barren sandy stretch of no
value.
on the east coast of Georgia is a circular
collection of twenty plots of an average
size Of 1OX20 feet planted to the best t tested
varieties OF lawn grasses. These plots
are artistically arranged and are separated
by gravel walks. The small lawns are
marvels Of the landscape gardeners art
and the turf is so thick and so we'll kept
that II appears as a velvet carpet.
Still further south is the section devoted
to the ornamental grasses. Here is shown
the pampas grass growing up ten, twelve
and fifteen feet high and all the other
ornamental grasses, including the ribbon
grasses, attaining a height of three and
four feet, down to the dainty little sweet
vernal grass that seldom reaches a foot
in height. In this section, as in all the
others, the shorter grass is grown in the
plots nearest the huge map center
piece, while the taller grasses occupy the
spaces on the edge of the exhibit. This
adds to the artistic and uniform appear
ance of the display and the view of no
section is impaired.
In the section of the Gulf of Mexico, west
of Florida, are the sections given over to
the cultivated grasses, such as timothy,
red top, orchard grasses, English and
Italian rye grasses, etc.
The seed production section will be OF
immense value TO the agriculturist. This
exhibit occupies that portion OF the Gulf
Of Mexico extending from Florida to tho