Page 238

 
WISCONSIN  HORTICULTURE 
T HE Brownell roses give every 
    indication of being one of the 
 greatest advances in rose breed- 
 ing on this continent. This is 
 largely because the Brownells 
 discarded all the old outworn 
 types and theories and charted a 
 new course of their own toward 
 a definite goal. 
   Elegance is, undoubtedly, the 
 best hardy yellow rose that I 
 have ever tested. Its immense 
 five-inch fragrant blooms with 
 deep yellow centers and lighter 
 outer petals are really magnifi- 
 cent. They do not fade. Golden 
 Glow, while smaller-flowered, is 
 a very healthy grower and its 
 medium-sized   double, golden- 
 yellow, fragrant blooms are 
 borne with abandon. For those 
 who live where the winters are 
 severe and climbing roses are a 
 problem, this is the yellow rose 
 to grow. It can be grown on a 
 trellis, as a shrub or as a carpet 
 for the ground. Where snow can 
 be safely depended upon for a 
 covering it winters safely even 
 though the thermometer may 
 sink to 30 or even 40 degrees be- 
 low zero. 
 The Brownell "hybrid teas" 
 that I have tested so far do splen- 
 didly. Break o' Day is a deep or- 
 ange-apricot with lighter tones. 
 Stargold produces flowers of pure 
 golden yellow and is practically 
 a bush form of Golden Glow. The 
 gem of the group, however, is 
 Lily Pons. It makes a wonderful- 
 ly strong-growing  and  free- 
 blooming  plant. Pink Princess, 
 which marks the introduction of 
 pink shades into this class, makes 
 a very strong-growing plant, is 
 practically immune to all disease 
 and bears beautiful double deep 
pink flowers continuously. 
  Unlike most of the hybrid teas, 
the Brownell roses get better as 
the years go by. While budding 
enables them to be disseminated 
more quickly, I am   convinced 
their inherent vigor will make it 
desirable to grow them on their 
own roots as soon as possible. 
-Chester D. Wedrick, Nanti- 
coke, Ontario, in February 15 
Horticulture. 
     TEMPERATURES FOR 
        FLOWER SEED 
        GERMINATION 
 T HE seeds of some varieties 
    of ornamentals require high 
 temperatures for. germination. 
 Others fail to germinate at high 
 temperature. Some seeds require 
 long exposure to relatively low 
 temperature to break their restl 
 period or dormancy. The Rose 
 seed is one of the best examples 
 of this. Freezing is not neces- 
 sary and may be actually detri- 
 mental to the breaking of this 
 dormancy. 410 has been found 
 the temperature at which dor- 
 mancy of Rose seeds is broken 
 most rapidly. Freezing is of bene- 
 fit in hastening the sprouting of 
 some seeds having a heavy coat- 
 ing. 
 Some of the more common gar- 
 den seeds which germinate best 
 at a temperature as low as 550 
 are Larkspur, Snapdragon, Mig- 
 nonette, Nemesia and Shirley 
 Poppy. 
 Some which germinate best at 
 a temperature of 70' are Ane- 
 mone, Aster, Candytuft, Carna- 
 tion, annual Chrysanthemum, Cy- 
 clamen, Gypsophila, Hollyhock, 
 Lupine, Nasturtium, Pansy, Pe- 
 tunia, Scabiosa and Sweet Pea. 
 Those which germinate better 
 at 850 are: Aquilegia, Coleus, Or- 
 iental Poppy and Torenia. Most 
 other garden flower seeds ger- 
 minate well at temperatures be- 
 tween 70" and 850. 
 By Kenneth Post, Cornell Uni- 
versity, in Gardeners' Chronicle. 
Growing The Brownell 
                    Roses 
THE FAMOUS WASHINGTON ELM 
p ROBABLY no tree in the world 
   was or will ever be more well- 
 known and revered than the WASH- 
 INGTON ELM, under whose spread- 
 ing branches the father of our coun- 
 try took command of the first Ameri- 
 can army. 
 The Battle of Bunker Hill, which 
 closely followed the Battle of Lexing- 
 ton and Concord, was the first real 
 conflict of the American Revolution. 
 The Patriots looked for a competent 
 commander to lead them in the war for 
 freedom and peace, and John Adams, 
 a New  England delegate, suggested 
 George Washington of Virginia. Thom- 
 as Johnson, a Maryland delegate, nomi- 
 nated him and the confederate con- 
 gress appointed him commander-in- 
 chief of all "the Continental forces 
 raised or to be raised for the defense 
 of American Liberty." The Army of 
 Boston was adopted as the army of 
 the nation and Washington came from 
 Philadelphia to Cambridge, where bae 
 made his headquarters. 
 On the morning of the third of July, 
 1775, under a great elm tree at the 
 north of the Cambridge Common, near 
 which were drawn up the Republican 
 forces, George Washington formally 
 assumed command of the Army. 
 This famous tree (Ulmus Americana, 
 American Eln) undoubtedly bclongcd 
 to the forest which originally covered 
 this locality. It was a large tree whcn 
 Cambridge was first settled, and the 
 Harvard Book gives its dimensio'is as 
 nearly 100 feet in height, over 18 feet 
 in trunk circumference and 90 f,,et in 
 the spread of its branches. 
 Since 1900, however, old age and the 
 ravages of the leopard moth as well as 
 the elm-leaf beetle so weakened it that 
 it was necessary to cut down this his- 
 toric American Elm-and now a man- 
 made tablet marks the spot where the 
 father of our country drew 'his sword 
 as commander-in-chief of the Ameri- 
 can Armies. 
 But the WASIHINGTON ELM still 
 lives, not only in the hearts of Ameri- 
 cans. but in trees that are its true de- 
 scendants, for the late Mr. Jackson 
 Dawson, noted horticulturist, grafted 
 a branch of the old and dving tree and 
 saved it for posterity. This graft was 
 nurtured by the late Mr. T. D. Hatfield 
and is now a beautiful, large tree grow- 
ing on the grounds of the Public Li- 
brary at Wellesley, Massachusetts. 
  The McKay Nursery Company, Madi- 
son, announces that it secured in 1931 
some grafts grown from cions of the 
famous Washington Elm which were 
planted at their nursery at Waterloo. 
From  them  have been developed a 
number of trees which they guarantee 
to be direct descendants of the famous 
original Washington Elm. 
  You will never find time for 
anything. If you want time you 
must make it.-Bixton. 
238 
April, 1940