the most famous man you’ve never heard of: dr. j. horace mcfarland

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Born near Harrisburg, PAFather was a schoolmaster,

Union Army Lt. Col., supt. of PA’s orphans’ schools, nurseryman, publisher of weekly newspaper

Inspired by photography & printing exhibits at 1876 Centennial Exposition

bought his father’s press in 1878 at age of 19

At Breeze Hill, 1909.

Started printing short seed lists

Created a niche in horticultural advertising

Advertised his services to nurseries throughout U.S.

Large contracts – thousands of catalogs

Moved business to former school in downtown Harrisburg

Conveniently locatedEducated growers

about importance of advertising year round

Other print commissions

Mount Pleasant PressMay 1907

Composition/Art/ Layout

Photography/Photo Sales

ElectrotypingPressroomBinderyPublicity“Intelligent

Printing”

Pioneer in plant portraiture

Extensive photography services

Image library with 30,000-40,000 images

Bissell Garden, Rochester, NY. June 1916.

Studied under William KurtzInventor of 3-color photo engraving

processManaged Kurtz’s Coloritype Co. in 1894

Breeze HillSeptember 1928

Unidentified Garden. c. 1930s.

Lectured at Harvard Graduate School of Business on printing and publishing (1912-17)

Consulted with U.S. Patent & Trademark Office on 1930 Plant Patent Act

Work for major publishers

2.5 acre property approx. 1 mile from Mount Pleasant Press

“My Growing Garden” (1915)

Opened to the public

J. Horace McFarland at Breeze Hill. May 1942.

Trial gardens for commercial growers and USDAUsed for numerous Mt. Pleasant Press publicity shots

Member of Municipal League of Harrisburg (1901-46)

Comprehensive plan for parks system, water and sewer systems, street paving

Illustrated lecture on the “Harrisburg Plan”

Member of Harrisburg Park Commission (1905-13) Harrisburg Alley, c. 1910s.

Penn. State Archives

First President of American Civic Association (1904-24)Promoted education

& advocacy Prolific

communicatorFight to protect

Niagara Falls (1905-13) & Yosemite’s Hetch Hetchy (1909-13)

Niagara Falls, c. 1905

“the city clean, the city practical, the city efficient”

“Campaign against Ugliness”Appointed to U.S. Dept. of

Labor’s Comm’n on Living Conditions for War Workers (1918-19)

Member of U.S. Dept. of Commerce’s Commission on Zoning (1921-37)

Chairman of Penn. State Arts Commission (1927-43)

White House Governors’ Conference on Conservation (1908)

Drafted 1st version of bill to create NPS (1910)

NPS established (1916)

Yellowstone Nat’l Park, Colter Peak &Turret MountainNPS photo by J Schmidt. 1977.

Hundreds of magazine articlesOutlook, Ladies’ Home

Journal, House and Garden, Garden and Home Building, etc.

Trade journal articlesPrinting, photographyAuthored a dozen

booksSelf-professed

‘Garden Crank’J. Horace McFarland at Breeze Hill

May 27, 1947

Edited American Rose Annual (1916-43)

Helped develop 5-part standard for classifying roses

Editor McFarland, J. Horace McFarland, and Breeze Hill roses

Headed American Joint Committee on Hort’l Nomenclature (1914-23)

Dedication of Harrisburg Municipal Rose Garden by ARSSeptember 15, 1938

Archives of American Gardens

SI Libraries NMAH’s Horticulture

Trade Literature Collection

Botany & Horticulture Branch

USDA, National Agricultural Library

Pennsylvania State Archives McFarland Exhibit

Folger Rose Garden, Summer 2010

Biography, A Thorn for Beauty, documents his achievements

ARS J. Horace McFarland Memorial Award (established 1951)

Mount Pleasant Press now an apartment building

Breeze Hill, 1923.

McFarland Collection images available at www.siris.si.edu