Pennsylvania School of Horticulture for Women - Wise Acres Yearbook (Ambler, PA)

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Letters Miss Lee sailed for England on the steamer Baltic, of the White Star Line, on May 22nd, arriving in Liverpool ten days later. Her ship letters tell of a pleasant voyage. “I will be really sorry when we reach port, but we have been planning a wonderful trip and have it fairly mapped out now,” she writes. Her companion on the trip is Miss Hilda Loines, of Brooklyn, member of the Council of the Farm and Garden Association, and of the New York Horticultural and Botonical Societies. She is much interested in all progressive horticultural work and thought, and in the object of Miss Lee’s trip—the study of schools and gardens. Another letter written from Chester tells of gardens seen in that vi cinity and of their future plans. On leaving Chester, they were to go to Dublin to see the Botonical Gardens and to visit Sir Horace Plunkett, the well known Irish patriot, who has devoted his life to the rehabilition of Ireland, and who has travelled in this and other countries in search of information and experience which would be of use to this cause. The great increase in agricultural wealth in Ireland owes much to his leadership. Recrossing to Holyhead, a few days will be spent in Wales, then to London where several weeks will be spent in visiting the gardens of that part of England. Among the interesting people to be seen will be Miss Helen Wilmott, who writes about roses, and her garden, and Miss Gertrude Jekyl author of “Home and Garden,” “Old West Surrey,” and other books, who lives in Surrey, between Godaming and Guilford, a wonderful woman who has spent her life in her garden but deserted it during the war to work in munition plants. Now old and spent and almost blind, she can return to her garden. Her house, almost as wonderful as herself, is built of oak beams cut from her own place and of the old Surrey flints; it was designed by Sir ;Edwin Luty.ens, the architect of the New City of Delhi, in India, and many other houses in Surrey, and furnished with old oaken furniture and pewter ware. When Miss Lee returns there will be many things to hear about. She expects to reach Ambler about the middle of August. —EMMA BLAKiSTON. From Miss Exley on her proposed trip to England this summer:— Philadelphia, June 19, 1920. Many thanks for your letter this morning, asking for a little outline of my trip to England for Wise Acres. Thru the American Forestry Association, I have received introduc-rions to Jrmes A. Maco'm, Escp, of Roads of Remembrance Association, London. Roads of Remembrance are being planted thruout the British Isles in memory of the soldiers as we are planting tribute trees in this country. They are interested in our tree markers and some of the shield markers used by the American Forestry Association are being sent over for their inspection. 14

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A Promising New Spray Material Since the publication of the formula for what is known as nicotine oleate in th,e “Journal of Economic Entomology,” several preliminary trials have seemed to give both good and indifferent results, but no definite conclusions regarding its usefulness can yet be arrived at. The writer has made tests with this insecticide on several greenhouse plants and can report very satisfactory results as far as his own few experiments are concerned. It seems to be especially effective when emulsified with kerosene, and, unlike ordinary kerosene emulsion, leaves no oily r.esidue on the plant and is less likely to injure the foliage. There is also an advantage in the ease with which it can be prepared. One ounce of oleic acid, commonly known as “red oil ' is mixed with eight ounces of kerosene. In another vessel two ounces of nico fume is mixed with eight ounces of wat.er. The two mixtures are then combined and stirred vigorously, with the result that a creamy white emulsion is formed, which is to be used as the stock solution. This stock solution has been used at the rate of one ounce to two gallons of water on K.entia palms highly infested with Spanish Red scale, with the result that 95 per cent, of the scales were killed and no injury occurred to even the most tender growth after an interval of a month. Palms, orchids and Boston ferns did not show foliage injury. 'This promis.es to be a very promising spray for such pests as the Rhododendron lace bug. wooly aphis and young larvae of the oyster shell scale, elm scale and other soft-bodied insects. It is expected that one of the larger nurseri.es will test its usefulness in control of these pests during the present SUmmer JAS. K. PRIMM, Assistant State Nursery Inspector. 13

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I am also going to tell of the work clone by the Civic Association in the city of Philadelphia. By this means they will learn of the tributes we are paying to the soldiers here and thru the knowledge of these tributes we hope there will be formed a closer bond of sympathy between the two countries. Under present conditions we cannot afford to think only of the esthetic. Intensive horticulture development is an important factor in the production of food to meet the shortage which is likely to occur this year, and one of the most interesting phases of my work will be to look into the means by which they are solving this problem and in the way they are managing the small places and in handling the labor situation, which is equally difficult in all countries today. Many of the beautiful old gardens of England and Scotland are on my list to be visited for the purpose of broadening my knowledge along this line of gardening which fits so well with the present. Very truly yours, EMILY EX LEY. All will be interested to hear that Miss Beatrice Williams is now with the A. E. F. in France. She is at present on a small farm just outsid,e of Paris, where she is finding much enjoyment in raising a flock of chickens. (Letter from Eleanor Fullerton, ’21, who is on leave of absence to act as private secretary to her father while he is in France as an expert agriculturist for the American Committee for Devastated France.) Hotel Star, Paris, May 16, 1920. Dear Wise Acres: 1 can’t tell you so much of interest after all, because we have been stalled here in Paris for two weeks and we don’t get out to Blerancourt until the 19th. We have been on a trip up beyond Ainzy-le-Chateau to see the big plateau supposed to be an absolute agricultural impossibility. It is full of barbed wire and duds and shell holes, but they are so covered with clover and grass and flowers that there is no fun in it. If nature would grow wild things, whv can’t a Frenchman grow anything he pleases? The folks here see that now so they have decided that our job is not there. Hence we are to have a little garden in Blerancourt and use Planet Jrs. exclusively and try to show the people how they can save a liftle time and energy. It is almost amusing to see them using “Scriptural methods,” as Dad calls them. Well, after we have run our little Planet Jrs. back and forth for a week or so we are going on a tour of the regions of the Aisne and the Somme and wherever else we can see “bad land” and territory supposed to be impossible. We expect to come back—I should say “go” back laden with photographs and detailed accounts of all we have seen. 15