Evening star., 1925-01-14
EXPERTS DECLARE
ARBORETUM SITE
PURCHASE VITAL

Continued from First PageJ
terest to the people everywhere
! throughout the country
The 5000 women 7 represent in
America are behind this bill, heart and
| SOUL, Mrs. Noyes said, "and explained
| that she has been personally inter-
ested in this proposed DEVELOPMENT
| for more than ten years.
MIS-. Noyes told the committee that
Former Secretary of Agriculture
David M. Houston had told her that
expert study had shown Mount EIa.niI-
ton tract TO be ideal for an arboretum,
| having several excellent heights and
| ioWlands and a very great variety of
soil.
| Mrs. Noyes in consultation with DR..
| Sargent OF the Harvard Arboretum has
| been told by him that the conditions
IN washington for an arboretum were
| far different from those at the
| Harvard Arboretum and that Wash
/ ington climatically offered opportuni-
| ties for much larger study of trees
! and shrubs.
| She impressed upon the committee
| that in nearly all other countries q
| national arboretum is one of the most
| important institutions and that such
| an institution should be set up In the
| National Capital to establish stand
| ards here for horticulture and nursery
industry all over the country. In re-
/ ply to questions by Representative
| kincheioe. Mrs Noyes explained that
I 1t is desirable to locate a national
| arboretum here because people are
coming to the Capital from all over
| the country to consAlt with the De-
| partment OF Agriculture and to get
| standards in horticultural matters.
| She emphasized that Washing gton is
] a non-equaled center for scientific
study and that the Department of
| Agriculture has the force but not the
place to make very necessary inves-
| legations
Harlan b. Kelsey, president of the
| American Association of Nurserymen,
| also urged upon the committee the very
great Importance Of early action to se-
cure this site before il is lost by being
cut up by residential developments. He
said that the nursery industry repre-
| sents an investment Of over $780, i0o0,-
600. and that his organization repre-
| sents the leaders in the growing and
| selling Of plants, and particularly hardy
| perennials. He explained that his asso-
| citation, iu cooperation with more than
a dozen leading horticultural organiza-
| tions, realized that the industry was In
a state Of chaos because he had had
I a
committee was organized which has
produced a dictionary of standard plant
names He illustrated to the committee
| how some were known by twenty to
many hundreds of different names. Six
years were spent on this study, and
| $4,000 names of plants in commerce
| nave been standardized.
! Would Identity Plants.
1
mittee that although the industry
has these standard names IL has no
| place to go for proper Identification
| of trees, shrubs and plants. The
proposed srboretum would provide
such a place. The location is ideal.
he said. and the variety and charac-
ter of land and variety of soils af-
! very great number of important
| economic plants.
He emphasized that il would be of
great value to all the American
| people, pointing out that the Govern
| ment Is constantly introducing new
and better varieties which nurseymen
want to take up. and that in such an
| srboretum the new importations can
be tried out side by side with the old
plant life, so that IT may be seen by
| comparison which are the preferable
| types.
He also explained how the plant
Quarantine has tremendously raised
the price of plants that have to be
| imported. If the great experimental
| arboretum was established by the
| Government, so that a larger variety
of plants could be imported and tried
out, prices would be greatly lowered
| to the people.
| Robert Pyle, representing the com
mittee on arboretums of the American
Association of Nurserymen and the
| committee on legislation of the East
,ern Nurserymen's Association and the
| Pennsylvania Nursery Association and
the American Rose Society, told the
committee that the legislation under
| consideration would establish a
bureau of standards for horticulture.
Mr.. Pyle told the committee that
he visited all the great arboretums
| in this country and throughout the
world and that he had come back
from England and France feeling de-
| jected because of the fact that there
were none in this country nationally
owned and conducted, like those
he had seen abroad. He paid a
| tribute to the specialists in the De-
partment of Agriculture, saying that
nowhere in the world was there so
great an organization of trained men,
| but that they were not used to the
| best advantage because they were not
provided with a field laboratory to
carry on their research work
| He also discussed the fact that
other countries have paid many mil
| lions for the desirable tracts, while
the Mount Hamilton tract, much more
| desirable, can now be secured for
| 100000, and for years could have
been secured for s25G,o00.
| Mr.. Pyle also described how estab-
| lishment of an aboretum on the
Mount Hamilton would ft in with the
| general plan of park DEVELOPMENT
and give a dignified approach to the
| Capital at a time when automobile
travel Is rapidly increasing from that
| direction.
Sees Chance for Specialists.
DR.. w. A. Taylor, chief OF the Bu-
| reau of Plant Industry, United States
| Department of Agriculture, said that
| this arboretum would give specialists
| an opportunity to study economically
potential plants and trees, which
| could not be done at smaller estab-
| lishments. He said that climatic con-
| ditions here are unexcelled and that
| there are more than 200 trained
| botanists in Washington engaged In
various phases of plant research and
that an arboretum would be conven-
iently located for a very large num-
| ber Of educational institutions
| DR.. Taylor told the committee that
Col. Greedy. chief forester, would be
glad TO discuss for their benefit the
forestry questions and the breeding
of trees for timber to meet the in