Evening star., 1915-01-17

ORDEAL PO
its history on Sunday, is unprecedented
recognition of the fact that flowers and
plants are as beautiful Sunday as week
DAYS, and that the public has much more
time to study the beauties of nature
SUNDAYS Friends of the garden claim
that no institution of the government Is
| more neglected by Congress at the pres
ent time, though none possesses greater
possibilities for the pleasure and lnstruc-
tion of the people 1t is claimed by those
considering the development and beautl-
f1cation Of the National Capital that Con-
gress can lay it's mighty hand TO no more
welcome and lifting task than the re-
moyal of the Botanic Garden TO adNaii-
| tageous surroundings and the bulidlng
up of a garden spot OF the world right
here in Washington.
Removal of the garden to an exquisite
spot in Rock Creek Park already has
been provided for in bill introduced by
Representative James L. Slayden Of Texas,
chairman of the committee on library,
which proposes also to transfer control
of the garden to the Department OF Agri-
culture, passed by the House and row
pending before the Senate library COM
mittee.
Transference of the garden as proposed
is necessary, as the present site VIII De
needed to carry out the landscape design
in connection with the Grant monument
and for the opening of the vista to the
Washington Monument and the Lincoln
| memorial To this removal and the adop-
tion of a site just north of the reservoir
in Rock Creek Park no valid objection
has been raised. Strong reasons are cited
| why the Botanic Garden should remain an
| Independent institution.
| Appeals to Beauty Sense.
| The Botanic Garden is horticultural
proposition appealing chiefly to the
sense of beauty. while the Department
of Agriculture is utilitarian and is
main ntained for the practical benefit of
| the farmers of the country. For the
Botanic Garden is claimed the inherent
right to be classed as the peoples gar
den spot, to be administered on its own
merits and for its own unique pur-
poses, and not as a branch of any de-
| partment.
| sixty years was superintendent of the
| Botanic Garden. 1t was his child, his
life work. What he did for the garden
and for the trees and shrubs of Wash
| ington-he set out $4,000 trees in the
streets of the city-constitutes monu-
ment to Mr.. Smith which will last while
| Washington lasts.
! So tender was even our busy Con-
gress of the old superintendent feel
lings that for years it was commonly
iaccepted at the Capitol that, even
should the Grant Monument be fin
| isned, the new avenue laid out and the
unsurpassed vista proposed by Burn
ham, the landscape artist be opened,
not a tree or a shrub, not even a picket
of the iron fence which surrounds the
garden. should be disturbed SO long as
| Mr.. Smith should live.
| New days have come, and with them
/ a new superintendent. Plans in which
the whole country is interested are
being made. Leaders i'll national life
! say it will be regrettable if at this
time any false economy. any narrow
view any failure to appreciate the pos
sibilities ofs the situation, shall prevent
the government from re-establishing
aid maintaining United States Bo-
tanic Garden wAIhy of its name.
Hess an Expert.
In srpt. Hess the garden has an ad-
ministrator equipped at once with the
| technical skill Of the gardener and the
inspired vision of the artist. AT the
age of sixteen he started to work with
a prominent Washington florist and
nurservnlan. He was associated also
with other local florists and afterward
| went to Chicago, thence to Nebraska,
where he was engaged in horticultural
and landscape work. For several years
he was one of the force of the Boston
public Garden, and afterward served as
| superintendent of the cemetery at
| Waltham. Mass.
/ Going 10 Florida hc engaged in the
growing Of medicinal plants as an en-
| ploye OF the Department OF Agriculture,
and for seven years he was associated
with the late Edwin A. MOseley. secre-
tary OF the interstate commerce COM
/ mission, upon Mr Moseley's farm at
Neni!worth. near Washington, where a
speciality was made OF raising vioiets
r
Mr. Hess has devoted much attention
TO raising Chinese vegetables for local
consumption. He knows the Cantonese
dialect and has been able TO serve the
Chinese colony with their favorite sup
plies. conversing with them i'll their
own tongue
Supt. Ness is momber Of the Ma
tional Association o. Gardeners, the
Society of American Florists and Orna-
mental Horticulturists the National
Association Of Park Superintendents and
the Florists Club of Washington. He
is a thirty-Second degree Mason. AS
superintendent he succeeded the late c.
Leslie Reynolds. who, in turn, succeeded
| William r. Smith.
Needs More Ground.
The present buildings of the Bo-
) tanic Garden are pronounced by ex-
perts as inadequate for an Institution
, intended to reflect the national appre-
, citation of horticulture as an art and
. as u museum for all plant life that can
exist in this climate. They are small
not of scientific design. and are uneco-
nomically arranged as regards heating
ia acilities. They lie upon a level plain
whereas a botanic garden to fulnll its
. highest possibilities should be laid out
in a country of hills. levels and rocks
where every outdoor plant can be
given its natural setting and the whole
combined to make landscape of in
describable beauty.
1t is the dream of Supt. Hess that
the future location OF the Botanic Gar
den will be of this character, and
if the tentative plans for the removal
already made are carried out, it is