The Washington herald., 1915-04-11

The magnitude OF the task involved
In the Identification of the many small
parks in Washington probably has never
entered the mind of the casual visitor
to the Capital City in spring time. The
caller at the White House, seeing the
profusion of palms and cut flowers
which adorn the mansion on gala occa-
play as one which. like Topsy. lust
CREW." There are, however, months
and months OF hard work in the prepara-
ton of the flower display of the WASH
ington parks, and thousands Of plants
are carefully nurtured in the green
houses maintained by the government
for this purpose. These park beds range
in size from fourteen to forty feet in
diameter; and besides them are many
touches in the parks and elsewhere
which fall outside the strict classified
ton of a flower bed.
AS an example of this huge job of
gardening. between $4,000 and 100000
bedding plants alone are propagated in
the greenhouses. 1t sounds discourag
fngly statistical to say that 300D
Euonymus are raised for design work.
that 10000 bulbs are set out for the use
of the White House gardens alone, and
that 400 herbaceous plants, to say moth
ing of the Towering varieties, are needed
south of the White House, but when it is
understood that thousands of these
plants, like the verbena, are so tiny at
the start that they must be laid out on
glass in transferring them from the beds
of sand in which they have been sprout-
ed. to the thumb pots" in which they
first begin to expand. some idea of the
Immensity-and nicety-of the work may
be obtained.
Directors of the Work.
The system of propagation is under
the office of Public Buildings and
Grounds and Washington Monument, of
which Col. William W. Harris, U. S. A,
Is director. The actual work is performed
under the direction of Charles Henlock,
an Englishman who began his service in
Cleveland's first administration under
the late George H. Brown. and for the
last six years has been in complete
charge of the greenhouses. There are
thirty-two of these greenhouses, situated
between the Washington Monument and
the Potomac River. Sixteen are used for
the propagation of plants for the public
park spaces. and all the plants and
shrubs used in the White House and
grounds come from the other sixteen.
even to the flowers for the Presidents
desk. 1t is a curious fact that as much
work should be required to supply the
White House with flowers as all the
other public flower-beds in the city put
together. Not only is this the case, but
of late years. owing TO increasing de-
mands for social purposes. the White
House greeneries no longer produce a
surplus of either plants or flowers
Of all the ladies of the White House
none had taken greater interest in the
gardens than the late Mrs. Woodrow
Wilson. Not only did she spend much
of her time among the flowers. and act
ually remodel the Colonial garden. but
she was a frequent visitor at the green
houses. She was warm admirer of the
skill of Mr.. Henlock. and the two
together. with the aid of Miss Beatrice
Jones, a landscape architect. prepared
plans which changed the aspect of the
Colonial garden almost completely. The
Colonial garden was idea of Mrs.
Roosevelt. which Mrs. Wilson developed.
partly by dividing it and making the
east and west gardens almost wholly
dissimilar
In the east garden the planting of the
herbaCeous borders and the four panel