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

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one appreciates their aesthetic value, when, through their mere existence they are livening up the landscape, softening harsh contours, be it if natural rock formation or of houses. But aside from this purpose which they fulfill, plants are most vital to every-day existence as food to most living beings and because they are furnishing the raw material for the greatest number of industries. A visit to Bermuda in January, when the sight of active vegetation with birds and insects flying about forms a wonderful contrast to what the traveller left behind when departing from New York two days previously, is most fascinating. However, leaving Bermuda again after a short visit at that time, a longing is aroused to see the islands in the months of April and May, when there is a profusion of bloom everywhere with plants of tropical and temperate regions rivalling each other side by side. F. S. News From a Graduate Miss “LuLu” Torrens has had a busy, interesting year. She wrote that in the spring she had charge of rearranging and planning and planting several gardens, including shrubs for backgrounds and foundations plantings. During the summer she had several men working for her caring for some home grounds and gardens. One family which was away for the summer had her send them cut flowers from their garden every week. This fall she has continued with planning and planting, and enjoys her work very much. Some Aspects of the Relation Between Horticulture and Landscape Gardening To many the terms landscape architecture and horticulture are almost synonymous. This misconception is due, I think, to the quite erroneous but nevertheless widespread belief that the sole function of a landscape architect is to make flower gardens. As a matter of fact, these two great fields of human activity, while possessing certain interests in common, are fundamentally different. Landscape architecture is a fine art, closely allied to architecture, sculpture and painting, and for its successful results it is dependent upon the same principles of design as govern the other fine arts. The particular concern of the landscape architect is the arrangement of portions of the earth’s surface for human use and enjoyment. The design, or the orderly arrangement of 13

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Easter lilies are also grown extensively for the Easter trade in the United States, and in January long beds of the new growth of the lilies can be seen pushing through the soil, promising a beautiful display around Easter. Patches of bananas can be seen everywhere extending from the gardens. The golf links near Tucker’s Town bear witness of the fact that beautiful turf may be grown under the sky of Bermuda. The- bright verdure contrasts effectively with the blue of ocean and sky. Agriculture cannot be carried on to any great extent, owing to the limited space on the islands. Cows, supplying the demand for milk can be seen pasturing in groves of cedars intersected by clearings grown to grass. A wonderful experience never to be forgotten is the visit to the sea-gardens, where through glass-bottom boats, gliding over coral reefs, one can view submarine flowers in great number, sea-fans in endless variety of forms, corals, sponges, anemones in rose, pink, brown and orange. Among them many kinds of fish of all sizes and colors are swimming about. And who are the fortunate inhabitants of Bermuda, who can enjoy all the attractions the year around? The population consists of about 7,000 white and 13,000 colored people. Members of the English army and navy and their families, the natives and tradesmen and the vast number of people engaged in the catering to the endless number of tourists, who are coming and going in a constant stream, make up the population of Bermuda. It seems that with this big crowd of people consumption far exceeds the production of the islands. Food products, dry goods, and other merchandise are supplied from England and the United States. Fortunately there is no room on the islands for industrial enterprises, leaving Bermuda its quaint and picturesque character which the Bermudians are determined to maintain, for automobiles and trolley cars are barred from the islands. Horse and carriage, and bicycles are the modes of conveyance. Some of the islands are connected by bridges and long rides may be taken to points of vantage, such as Tucker’s Lighthouse, where beautiful views of the many islands and channels with sailing yachts flitting in and out, with the harbor of Hamilton in the distance, may be seen. Bermuda may be called the vacationist’s paradise to attract the general public, for it offers all kinds of sport in an enchanting setting and atmosphere, conducive to rest and meditation, with the pleasure of hotel-life calling whenever you want a change. On the other hand Bermuda offers a vast field of study to the horticulturist, for he is not only interested in the culture of plants proper, but to be truly interested his query reaches down to the soil and its formation as fundamental for the makeup of plants, making the study of geology incidental. Then the interest may be focussed on the economic value of plants. Every 12

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parts into a unified whole, is his most important function. As the architect has his stone and wood, the sculptor his marble and bronze, and the painter his palette of colors, so the landscape architect has certain materials with which he works out his designs. These include ground forms (hills, valleys, plains, etc.), vegetation (trees, shrubs, herbaceous plants, etc.), and structures as they relate to the landscape. With these he designs the dooryard garden, or plans for the development of an entire metropolitan region. It is evident, therefore, that the practitioners of this art have a wide scope for their powers, and their labors embrace a broad field of design. It is not quite so easy to define horticulture, as much depends on the point of view of the individual. To the person whose interest lies in adding to the total sum of knowledge of the subject, horticulture is a science, while to the one whose interest lies in the cultivation of plants for their individual usefulness or beauty, whether for pleasure or profit, horticulture becomes an industry. In either case a broad field of activity is opened, and these are only two of the many aspects which horticulture presents to persons having different tastes and training. Broadly speaking, we may say that a horticulturist is one skilled in the cultivation of all forms of plant life as the result of knowledge and practice. It is upon the common ground of their interest in plants that the landscape architect and horticulturist meet, and, far too often, separate; and this is written in the hope that, with a more sympathetic understanding of the point of view toward plants of each by the other, a continuation of the latter condition may be in some measure prevented. The difficulty seems to arise almost entirely from a difference in viewpoint. In considering plants the landscape architect approaches the matter from the point of a designer and is thus interested primarily in whether a plant will produce the effect desired in his composition. He selects plants almost entirely for their landscape value, that is, their fitness for use in the particular landscape picture which he is creating. This value is made up of three principal elements: Form (shape), texture, and color. For instance, he decides that he needs a tall round-headed tree, having small leaves of a light green color. Having made this decision he is free — within certain limits, among which are those of soil and climate, locality and situation—to select any one of a number of trees which meet his requirements. His training and experience make him value a plant for its usefulness in a composition rather than for the plant itself; its esthetic value to him is greater than its scientific or economic value. The horticulturist, on the other hand, cares little or nothing about the use of plants in pictorial composition, but by reason of his training and interest in their cultivation as specimens is inclined to value a plant for scientific or economic reasons. He values it for itself alone, its rarity, its exotic appearance, its unusual color or form, or the difficulty with which it is culti- 14