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

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School oj Horticulture - -------------------------------------------------- A.M. 5.30— Barn cleaned in preparation for milking 5.45— Both cows and young stock fed according to the milk production of cows and age of young stock 6.00— Cows milked 7.00— Milk cooled and put in cans and bottles for various delighted customers 7.15— In winter cows are fed hay. In summer go to pasture P.M. 4.30— Barn prepared for milking 4.45— Stock fed 5.00— Evening milking 6.00— Milk placed in cooler to wait for morning 6.15— Cows fed and bedded for the night Development of the Shasta Daisy Mary K. Picrcy The bright warming sun of a summer’s morning was casting its rays over the hills and flooding with warmth the valleys of Lancaster, Massachusetts. On a woodsy incline, sloping away from a rather complacent--looking house, a boy was kneeling on the ground examining a cluster of daisies. Perhaps you wonder why a lively boy should stop in his play to examine so common a plant as our hardy American daisy. But to this lad, Luther Burbank, whose pets were plants, not animals, we owe the development of that beautiful pure white flower called the Shasta Daisy. With an eye trained to variations in plant texture and coloring, Burbank could detect the most desirable qualities to be found in each of three types of daisies. These three types represent the three countries of England, Japan and the United States. The English daisy was singled out because of its remarkable size, while from the Japanese daisy, famed for its purity of color, was derived the whiteness of the Shasta. The common moon-penny daisy of United States contributed hardiness and profusion of bloom. Taking the pollen first from the English daisy, Burbank conveyed it on his watch crystal to the American daisy. Then followed a period of waiting for the two united flowers to ripen their seed. Next he carried pollen from the Japanese daisy to the new seedlings. From these he gathered the best seed, continuing for several years, until about 100,000 seedlings were collected in a space of about ten feet. Then when large

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Wise-Acres •♦4SI YEAR’S RECORD (Age 10) Lbs. Milk Lbs. Fat Average (' ) Test Jan. 16-Feb. 1 532.9 32.5 6.1 February 1118.8 68.2 6.1 March ... 1136.3 63.6 5.6 April 1002.9 61.1 6.1 May . . 1062.5 57.3 5.4 June 954.6 55.3 5.8 July 780.1 42.9 5.5 August 664.0 36.5 5.5 September 539.1 34.0 6.3 October 581.4 37.8 6.5 November 470.9 31.0 6.6 December 426.4 27.7 6.5 Total 9269.9 547.9 6.0 Besides this record, Primrose has given us two daughters, Fauvic’s Noble Flo, sired by Fauvic’s Fern Noble, and Tinker Bell, sired by You’ll Do’s Young Count. Golden Tycoon’s Wonderheart was fresh January 21, 1929. She has started her record for the year with a 5' butterfat test. Wonder-heart has given us Heart of Gold, sired by You’ll Do’s Young Count. This offspring will be fresh in the fall, being bred to Sybil’s Gamboge Trinity. For the most part we raise our own feed. Corn and oats are sown on the farm and ground to feed the Jerseys. Cottonseed oil meal, linseed oil meal and gluten feed are bought to make the following ration: 300 lbs. corn 200 lbs. oats 200 lbs. cottonseed oil meal 100 lbs. linseed oil meal 100 lbs. gluten feed The herd is not large enough to make it profitable to run a silo, so mangels are planted every spring to supply the winter succulent. In summer the cows are turned on pasture. There is always a small acreage planted to corn, oats and field peas to be fed green to the cows to give a change from the summer dry condition of a pasture. Now that we know the correct name and the merits of each cow, and are fully aware that feed is both purchased and produced on the farm for their welfare, let us follow them through one day’s program and see what happens: Cf 22

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Wise-Acres •♦+ ---- — ■ = :♦♦• enough they were transplanted outdoors for further development. All the time Burbank was protecting the plants from worms and diseases. For six months he observed these flowers, noticing the stems, leaves and bloom. There might be a stalk with a graceful flower head, but its color would not be a pure white, or an intensely white flower on a scrubby stalk. Thus from selection only the few that came nearest Burbank’s ideal were saved. For eight years Burbank worked patiently on. In spite of the fact that there were many measuring two feet in circumference and seven inches from tip to tip of petal, only the medium-sized plants were saved for seed, for Burbank’s purpose was to develop a daisy which would do well in all soils and climates; in Florida, Greenland and Italy. Thus we now have a daisy that will thrive north of the Arctic Circle and south to the Equator, bearing an abundance of pure white flowers on tall stems, the flowers being three to six inches in diameter with a large golden center. Burbank, in creating the Shasta, has produced a plant that will not seed itself; thus the bad habit of spreading which was characteristic of the daisy has been expelled. The Shasta, because of its size and blooming period lasting from five to seven months of the year, has become a rival for the chrysanthemum. As a result the Shasta is listed in many catalogues of seedsmen as Chrysanthemum maximum. The Shasta has been developed in three strains: the Westralia, Alaska and California. Burbank derived the name for this daisy from a snowy peak in northern California, called Shasta because of its whiteness. Flowering Trees and Shrubs L. K. Herring One of the great joys of American gardens is the wealth of blossom on flowering trees and shrubs in spring. After the long dead winter the bare twigs waken into life and beauty, giving an intensity of pleasure beyond expression in words. A drive through Chestnut Hill, a visit to the Morris estate, or, better still, to the Arnold Arboretum in Boston, is a joy and also an education. A great many genera and species have been gathered together from all parts of the world to enrich these gardens, Mr. Wilson of the Arboretum having introduced a great number of shrubs from China into America, while others come from Japan or Europe. The winters in Northern United States are severe, but the strong gtj