New Britain herald., 1919-04-08
FLANDERS POPPIES
 EASILY CULTIVATED
Red Flowers Of France May Be
 Grown in This Country

the "Poppies of Flanders" a familiar flower ;o most of us, by sight to those who have returned from inc folds lover thcre' and by reputation 10 those who have remained on this side of the water:
 Tn Flanders fields the poppies will bloom again this year, and their blooming Will have new significance to those thousands of American mon and women whose brave boys have closed their eyes in eternal slcen in the country where they so courageous ly offered themselves on the altar of human liberty
 "N hen the flowers of Flanders and France once moro nod in the soft winds they will not sway aud bend and break under burning blast of hos tile cannon. Nor will they shudder and die as shrapncl and grenades burst to tear and rend their beauty as they blasted and tore brave men to bits
 The flowers that spring up Over There to inspire the song birds this year will not mature only to be tramp pied down by conflicting forces of battle mad men. They will not die because nature gave them fertile soil Tn the track of tank or in a spot where muddy trenches were to be made. But they will come to nod in perfect understand ding on white crosses among the shell holes
 They will see and understand as no human can, the forgotten place where the unforgotten boy went west and their long roots reaching down into the clay will take sacred nourlshment and in rich divine red color will show his heart to men who pass that way
 The flowers of Flanders fields nave, midst wars fierce hell, kept alive love Of the beautiful and an appreciation of what peace and quiet leans. Every returning soldier at some time paints word pictures of these flowers that would not die The wounded boys particularly like to tell of the messa ges the flowers brought them. The beauty of that song The Rose of No Mans Land is a flower thought and conveys a compliment to Red Cross women that will endure,
 The flowers of France and Bel gium and Italy are such that they will
 
 of those who have received courage and comfort from them.
 Some of these flowers are sown by the winds of chance. Many of them are sown by the hand of man. A very beautiful custom prevails over there when at planting time the farmer soWs few flower seeds with his wheat or other grains. This is, particularly
 
 the highways and the result is a coun- tiysde that smiles appreciation to the heavens that water them. This custom is worth transplant ing.
 'The beautiful habit with its rich return should appeal particularly to the American this year. So many thousands of our boys are resting amid the flowers Over There that like flowers should bloom in like places Over Here Who knows but that the wind waited pollen may blend in the creation of new and even more beautiful colors Surely the blending of the thoughts behind these flowers will make of us better men and better women with a clearer ap- preciation of what the boys in khaki
 
 for the world.
 There is a beautiful flower that grows in every state in the Union and by strange coincidence it is a poppy, the Shirley poppy.
 'The seed of this poppy is very l small, so tiny that 8 pinch between the thumb and the index finger will pick up a hundred of them. But it is a responsive little plant. It blos- soms beautifully, a rich, warm, sym ! pathetic red and other colors. The price of the Shirley poppy is very low; fifty cents worth will beautify the border of a field half a mile long. Ten cents worth will rim the bottom of a 1 silo and a COW barn with a girde of 1 significant beauty. A quarters worth ! will fill available spots around @ front 1 yard, or. make the approach 10 a barn : or machinery shed more beautiful. '"The farm children who make ! daily trips to the mail boxes can help i out. In many places there are from five to ten mail boxes grouped togeth- CT on rural delivery routes. These l batteries of mail boxes should look down on little flower gardens this year. During the past two years the i letters from the boys abroad have been dropped into those mail boxes and received by boys and girls who i ran all the way home with those highly przed missives. Keep alive the memories. A penny's worth of poppy seeds will make a garden spot of the l rural postal station"
 An agitation is on foot to have a bed of these flowers planted at the foot of the ''Welcome Home" arch on Central Park. The sentiment behind such an action. is a worthy one and readily understood. It is by way of