Evening star., 1935-04-21
stage. Saunders came to America in
m ovtropoo1y pro rfico1 oUe

stage. Saunders came to America in
an extremely practical age.
The Department Of Agriculture was
not in existence when he started his
work. There was, however, a division
of the Patent Office which formed the
nucleus of the department. This divi-
sion had a record for introducing new
plants, and the Scotch gardener ever
was on the alert for new material.
His example has served as an inspira-
ton for many who have followed him.
Today the Department of Agricul-
ture maintains q group of expert hori-
culturists who are exploring many
paths of science to produce better
blossoms, both for the greenhouse and
for the garden, and who are engaged
especially in finding ways to get diff
ferent varieties of plants into blossom
at the exact time when they are
wanted. They are studying life his
tories of plants. They are studying
the diverse behavior in field and under
glass. They are gathering minute de-
tails of their physiology and chem
istry.
It is to the labors of these men that
no small part of this years floral
finery on Easter Sunday is due. They
have found how to bring the most
cherished flowers into bloom just when
they are wanted
The flower most intimately asso-
ciated with Easter Is the so-called
Bermuda lily-the name being due to
the fact that for more than a gener-
alton Bermuda was the chief growing
place. This is no longer the case,
since bad plant disease wrecked the
gardens there. Now, largely due to
the experimental work of Department
of Agriculture specialists, 1t is grown
pretty generally all over the United
States, both in greenhouse and gar
den. = = '-l -.
Just why the Bermuda lily should
be used so extensively for the deco
ration of Easter affairs and as a potted
plant in the home is somewhat OBJ
scure. Some have thought. that it
was the lilly of the field" of the
Bible-"it tolls not, neither does 1t
spin, and yet Solomon in all his glory
was not arrayed like one of these"
But, says the Rev. Father O'Neal, pro-
fessor Of botany at the Catholic Uni
versity. this lilly of the field" was
not a lily at all but member of the
anemone family, as common and as
colorful In the fields of Palestine as
the buttercup in North America. The
error was due to a misunderstanding
of the text. Lilies probably were
quite rare in Palestine In biblical days.
THIS Bermuda lily grows wild in
China and Japan. It is of quite
recent growth in the Western World
and owes its popularity rather to its
beauty and to the fact that it can
be brought into bloom quite easily for
the Easter season rather than to any
particular symbolic association with
a historical basis. Presumably the
use of lilies in general, however, arose
from the fact that they were the
loveliest of Spring flowers in the Med
iterranean countries, where Christi
anity had its rise. -.
1t may b. remarked in passing, ac-
cording to Father O'Neal, that there
probably is no very good historical
reason for the use of palms on Palm
Sunday. There may have been palms
in Jerusalem, but most likely in the
gardens of the rich. What actually
was thrown in the path Of the Mes
siah, he believes, were olive branches
These are actually used in some coun-
tries for the Palm Sunday rites. N