Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-05-25

and certainly it is not true in that sec
ton lying between Washington and
Augusta. Ga, which is best adapted to
the proposed industry The man who
purposed in his heart to begin the
manufacture Of altar of roses would
have to contend at the very outset
with an Inadequate supply of labor. He
would be under the necessity OF secur-
ing a large number of harvest hands
whom he would need for only a short
time. and yet il he failed to gather the
full abundance of his rose crop he
would have lost the profits of his en-
terprise.
1t is here that the skill and ingenuity
of man steps in to overcome the OBJ
stacles which nature has interposed.
1t is necessary to produce rose which
carries all the fragrance for which 1t
is being cultivated, and at the same
time it's blooming period must be ex-
tended over a sufficient length of time
to permit Of a more deliberate and
leisurely harvest. From a season or
five or six weeks. this blooming time
must be extended to at least two
months.
This is the task to which DR.. Van
Fleet, whose name is already borne by
one OF the most exquisite roses de-
veloped in many years. is devoting his
time and talerts. There. under the beet
ling heights of Arlington. he is slowly
bringing to perfection rose which will
retain all the lasting and pervading frag-
rance which the manufactures of COM
mercial perfumes requires. and at the
same time will continue to bloom during
more than half the summer.
Practically all the hybrid roses with
which we are familiar in the florists
shops and all those which are cultivated
for their essential oil, trace tLeir ancestry
back to the historic Centifcl,a-the rose
of hundred leaves. IT IS the huiciph
of the race. 1t Haunted its beauty in
Chinese gardens before the occident pen
etrated the Celestial empires isolation.
Il has been perpetuated in the pages OF
Livy and Of Herodotus.
obviously this rose of hundred leaves.
with its rich PROPULSION of petals. is the
flower most desirable for the manufac-
ture Of altar of roses. where quanfi.y Is
so important an element. Some idea OF
the vast quantity Of roses necessary for
carving on such an enterprise may DE
gathered from the fact that a ton ana
a half of petals are required 10 proouce
a single pound Of that almost priceless
commodity, the pure altar.
But. as has already been pointed out,
il is necessary that the rose gardens
which are to blossom at the 1901 OF the
Blue Ridge should continue to bloom lar
beyond the ordinary season oil any an, ol ose
varieties of the Centifo'ia. In the rusosa
exists the qualities which would extend
the season Patiently carrying on his ex-
periments year aft year. DR. van rieet
is seeking to combine these two qualities
in one rose.
1t is not expected that the aggregate
amount of roses will he greater than II
TIE Centifolia unhybridized. We're left to
expend all it's wealth OF blossoms ne
tween the middle OF Nay and the middie
of June But, developing more slowly. the
full harvest may he gathered by the few
laborers whom the founder OF the pro-
posed enterprise may be able to employ.
It is an alluring prospect which opens
before the people of Virginia and the
Carolinas when the new rose is brought
to perfection and the costlieet essence in
the world can be manufactured At an