Evening star., 1923-08-26
By JAMES A. BUCHANAN.


one will hear the mistress of a
palatial home give orders to her
i gardener to have certain plants
in bloom at definite time a few
weeks or months hence, as she ex-
poets some favored guests at that
time and wants them to have their
favorite flowers in bloena< or their
special fruit ready when they pay the
expected visit. She will not have TO
send to the tropics or to a far-away
cline, for she now has the means at
her disposal by which she can crafty
the wishes Of those she holds in high
esteem.
This achieving Of the seemingly i'm
possible is to the credit of the men in
charge OF the plant-industry bureau
Of the Department of Agriculture.
who for some time past have been
doing things that. If they had lived
years ago. would have caused them
to be burned at the stake as makers
Of magic
These men of science have obtained
their results as the rewards of many
months. yes years, of hard, palms.
taking efforts-hours spent in the
study of fruit and flower culture:
many a day and night in close and
darkened rooms: hours spent meath
the burning rays OF the sun and arti-
fetal light: hours that took their full
need Of energy. for the objects under
their scrutiny had 10 be watched not
Internationally but every minute of
the time that the experiments were
being carried on. In some instances.
,,-t,a Ia aYf- in,
order that he might get a few hours
rest. an associate took his place.
Nothing was left TO guesswork.
Every stage OF growth had TO be
watched. each hour of light or dark
ness had to be measured. for the men
Of learning carefully charted the
progress of q plant. They were as
painstaking as the most thorough
physician who is studying case,
one. which may mean fame and for
tune TO him.
These men of the Department Of
Agriculture knew that success meant
sonnet thing new and valuable 20 the
world. and being men who nave de-
voted their lives to the service, hey
thought of nothing else but the work
in hand They cid not for an instant
relax or leave part Of the ftudy 10
.hauce. They had real JOB aad
they got results.
-
THERE will. of course. be some who
l. will say that they have heard of
his sort OF work Years ago. TrTe,
perhaps, in theory. but nothing OF
icfnite character along these lines
las ever been accomplished or such
I scale and with such Il degree OF Ger
ainty until these experts made their
exhaustive study.
Likewise il is true that some may
say the facts here set forth are fg-
ments of fancy. but for the Doubling
Thomas" il might not be bad idea
% go to the department and get per-
mission TO see the work that has been
md is being done. The trip is we'll
,ycrth the effort. and the visitor will
'ome away with a far greater respect
or this branch of his government
han ne has ever had before.
In the growing Of fruits and fiow-
.rs under glass great strides have
pecn made by the United States, but
lever before has any one been able
o cause the development or the
stunting of plants at will. 1t is new
md will enable the man or woman
who wants a certain kind OF vege-
table. q particular sort of fruit or
7avorite flower at q time that is ''out
Of season" to have his or her wish
gratified by simply instructing the
gardener to see that the desired
favorite is ready at specified time:
or. if one who desires these things is
not fortunate enough to have gar
dener and sll that goes with one of
these iuXuries. he Or she may still go
to some firm that makes a specially
Of out-of-sea son things and give the
order several weeks ahead, confident
in the knowledge that the order will
be filled.
We may now take plant that has
become closely identified with a sea-
son. just as are the fights Of. the
migra tory birds. and do with it as we
desire. In midwinter the blossoms
Of cyclamen. freesia. poinsettia. all
remind US of those months. When
the days grow warmer we look for
the unfolded blossoms OF forsythia,
wild violet. crocus. doGwood and other
typical plants. As summer approaches
we look for the poppy. rhododendron,
iris and columbine to begin Towering.
When the leaves are due to turn to
the seer and brown that is associated
with autumn, We watch for the aster.
dahlia. cosmos and chrysanthe mum,
and with the advent Of these the end
of the open growing season.
4 i: ). X
ITO our mind at once comes the sug
i gestion that these flowers and
plants have particular reasons for
towering or fruiting only at particu-
lar seasons and that the growth de-
pends upon the weather. the length
Of daylight and other causes: that il
any of. these causes were to be
changed. the usual result would be
the death Of the plant.
While it is true that plants can
flower and fruit successfully only
within certain limits of temperature
and moisture supply, it is now known
that light is Indispensable. and. fol-
lowing along this line of thought, we
find that development may be re-
tarded in the spring by cool weather.
We also know that drought or ex-
cessive rainfall may interfere. but
as a rule, flowers and fruits are pro-
duced regularly in their seasons de-
spite these temporary disturbances.
Let us follow, for moment, the
transplanting Of a species of flower
or fruit from one section to another,
that is, one section of the. world. We
find that its season changes. The
time may change from spring to fall
or vice versa. Again. we look more