Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-01-17
COOPERATION OF ARCHITECTS
IS ASKED FOR ARBORETUM
Dr.. CovilIe Explains Purpose
of National Project to
landscapes.
268 Already Acquired for
Outdoor Laboratory for
Plant Life Study.

An interesting description of the Ma
tionaI Arboretum being develop ID here
was given at the annual meeting of
the American Society of Landscape
Architects this afternoon in an adj
dress by DR.. Frederick v. Coville, bot
anist of the United States Department
of Agriculture, acting director.
The outdoor laboratory for scientific
research on plant life already comprises
268 acres, Dr. Coville said. including
Mount Hamilton, Hicky MI and the
water-lily gardens at Kenilworth. The
Secretary Of Agriculture expects to
make additional purchases. he said,
which will bring the acreage to 1000
acres.
Inviting the cooperation and advice
OF the society, he pointed out that the
Secretary of Agriculture has "the
hearty cooperation of the Garden Club
of America and Of the American Asso-
citation of Nurserymen."
Tells Purpose Of Arboretum.
DIR. Coville spoke as follows:
"The National Arboretum Is an IN
stitution for the increase and diffusion
of knowledge concerning trees. Inc
National Arboretum act, approved by
President Coolidge March 4, 1927,
states that the purpose OF the arbore-
tum is research and education concern
ing tree and plant life, and that In
order to stimulate research and dis
covery the National Arboretum shall be
under scientific direction.
ITO study the living tree, to breed
new kinds, to select the best among
them, to develop methods OF propa..
eating them, to show to what SOILS ana
to what situations and to what special
purposes they are best adapted: sucn Is
the field of experiment and discovery
to be occupied by the National Arbore-
tum. The human race has bred sheep
and cattle and horses, but not ele-
plants. The elephant Is too big, too
wild, too long-lived. The human race
has bred wheat and potatoes and apples,
but not timber rtees. They also have
seemed too big, too wild and too long
lived. But the time has come to begin:
"A strange case of the superiority OF
an individual tree has recently come
to light in a most unexpected way.
One Of the soil chemists OF the De-
partment of Agriculture. w. o. Robin
son, amuses himself at home by max
ing bows and arrows and shooting
them. He has made bows Of every
kind OF resilient wood the world af-
fords, so far as he has been able to
obtain it. One of the very best woods
for bows is yew. which our own ances-
tors in Western Europe used when they
were savages, and which the Klamaths,
ModocS and other Indian tribes of our
Northwest Coast used until we brought
them the rife. But a yew bow Is not
durable. 1t loses much Of It's elasticity
and strength after few years OF al
ternating heat and cold. There is an
other American wood, however, from
which bows are made Of such superior
ity and of such lasting qualities that in
the old Indian days they were handed
down from father to son. This wood
Is the Osage-orange. the bois dare OF
the early French trapperS, corrupted
into bodark by Mississippi Valley from
tiersmen, and made into q scientific
name, Toxylon, or bow wood, by one Of
the early botanists.
Best Wood Comes From Texas.
Z . "The best commercial supply of
Osage-orange comes from Texas. With
this wood Mr.. Robinson has made
many bows of remarkable performance,
q typical bow of 40 pounds pull weigh
ing 25.l ounces. Last year Mr.. Rob-
inson made the delightful discovery
that from an Osage-orange tree in an
old hedge on the farm of q friend near
Rockville, Md. he could get equal
strength and elasticity with little more
than half the usual weight of wood.
From this tree he made a bow weigh
Ing III ounces, which has pull of
81 pounds. With this bow he shot an
arrow 34l yards, q far greater distance
than any authentic American record up
to that time. No one knows how far,
in the hands of more expert bow
man. this Usage bow will shoot.
THE stump of this tree Is still alive.
AT the Arboretum we shall try to prop
agate 1t by cuttings or by grating and
II We can f1nd another Usage tree OF
equal superiority we will cross breed
the two and develop q whole population
foretell the possible industrial uses of
such a wood. 1t is suggested however,
by way OF warning, that If golf sticks
are ever made from the Rockville Usage
II may become necessary for golf clubs
to double the length of their holes.
The search for superior trees of
every kind and the making of expert
ments with them will occupy, undoubt-
eddy, large part of the Arboretum's
cation OF American homes and the beau
tifiCation of parks for purposes of out
door relaxation and recreation Is de-
pendent largely on trees. Every one
knows the beauty of the Japanese flow-
ering cherries in Potomac Park. Even
in Japan, last Spring, saw no more
impressive display of cherry blossoms
than is afforded by the mile stretch of
Yoshino cherries around the borders of
our Tidal Basin. that most gracious gift
from the City of Toxic.
Give Thought to U. S. Trees.
'These Japanese cherries have set us
thinking about the little appreciated
beauty of some of our own wild trees.
Two or three years ago 1 suggested to
Col. Grant the desirability of preparing
for our public parks an extensive dis
play Of our American sweet-scented wild
crabapple. This is the tree that the
good Lord evidently intended for our
flower, but we have been slow
to appreciate the divine gift and to pro-
vide for it the place OF honor 1t de-
serves. Our wild crabapples are Of sew
eral species. They extend from New
York to Minnesota and southwark to
Florida and Louisiana, and they are be-
loved by all who know them. At the
National Arboretum we not only shall
give them a place of honor, but We shall
select the most outstanding individuals
among them and these we will cross
breed, making selections again among