The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1931-03-20

And now Easter Sunday morning!
The holy crusaders predict that
this morning the roads to Mount st.
Sepulcher will be thronged by the
faithful hosts, come to the monas-
terry for the great pascal day. And
today his children will be mindful
of the words of the mass of this fes-
tival, II am risen and am yet with
thee, Alleluia!"
This morning the first holy mass
will be chanted in the sepulcher and
the holy communion distributed to
the pilgrims who come to the mount
for Eastertide.
And in the name Of holy friars the
celebrant of this mass will extend
Easter greetings to all present, as
well as to their friends; to all, near
and far, whoever is unable to attend
the suspicious ceremonies.
All day the pilgrims will toll up
the slopes of the mount. And the
stream will not cease until the hour
appointed for the compline service.
Every place will be filed. And the
celebrant will say, "From distant
places and neighboring towns our
guests have come like the holy wom-
en- of Scripture, to see the place
where the Lord was laid"
When eventide wells the surround
ing low-browed hills blessed calm
will descend upon the clustered
grounds. And from the stiffness in
those walls the faithful, divine truth
will reach every pilgrims ear, 1--WE
know Christ to have truly risen. Do
thou, victorious king, have mercy on
Us all. Alleluia!"
And thus the friars attending him
at the sanctuary on Mount st. Sc
pulchre, in Washington, bring the
spirit of Eastertide to pilgrims wor-
Shipping at the services and other
people in the city who are unable to
come. One must go to the Holy
Land or Rome to see a ceremony
conducted in this elaborate and
deeply devout fashion.
But observing Easter in some unique
fashion is not the only reason why the
of our national capital with
this annual event is Of special inter
est to the rest Of the country. There
Is another reason and that is because
one of the federal departments located
there is doing a work which concerns
Easter observances throughout the ma
lion.
Time was when we had to depend
upon Bermuda for our supply of Eas.
ter lilies. Then the Bermuda stock
became diseased and the United
States had to turn to Japan for its
supply of lily bulbs from which. grew
the glorious white blossoms which are
the truest symbol of Easter that we
have. In recent years, however, the
United States Department of [Agricul.
ture has taken steps toward the build
ing up of an Easter lily industry in
this country and considerable prog.
ress is reported from Washington.
1t is true that many of our lilies are
now being grown from bulbs imported
from both Bermuda and Japan, but ex-
perts in the Department Of Agricul-
ture believe that the time may come
when we will be entirely independent
Of those sources of supply. Some OF
the most important work in regard to
developing American-grown Easter
lilies has been carried ON by DR.. David
Grifiths, horticulturist in the Depart
ment of Agriculture.
For a long time American florists
believed that lily bulbs could not be
produced here. For one thing, they
feared that the long period required in
their production would cause them to
be infected with disease and entail
heavy financial losses. Also, florists
were skeptical of the desirability OF
using bulbs year after year due to
their unhappy experience with dis
ease in imported stock.
1t was Doctor Griffith's belief that
the bulbs could be made to flower
more than once and he collected some
discarded ones from the dump pile of
4 Washington florist. These he plant
ed in beds at the Arlington (va.) ex-
perimental farm and eventually dem
onstrated that by the use of careful
cultural methods the bulbs not only
could be made to flower again but that
the lilies could be grown outdoors in
hitherto believed entirely toe
cold and harsh for their survival
"a by western Newspa mar rrn,on