Judge, 1914-10-24 · page 9 of 24
Judge — October 24, 1914 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes the U.S. Department of Agriculture's tendency to issue grandiose bulletins announcing trivial or obvious "discoveries." The main article mocks a specific bulletin proclaiming that dandelions—common weeds found everywhere in America—can be cultivated in the United States under "suitable conditions." The satire is heavy-handed: the author feigns astonishment that such a "delicate exotic" could possibly survive in America, sarcastically crediting the department with solving what he claims botanists have pursued since colonial times. The small cartoon below ("Yearning for Company") is unrelated—a social joke about a woman inviting her friend to share a taxi or touring car. It appears to be filler content typical of Judge magazine's format. The piece reflects early 20th-century skepticism about government bureaucracy and scientific pretension, mocking the disconnect between official proclamations and practical reality.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Making VER think what we would do without the daily an- nouncements of the epoch- making scientific discoveries of the Department of Agri- culture? Fortunately for an impatient world, the government printing office at Washington is still available, and bulle- tins rattle of its presses with twentieth-century speed whenever some new item of fact or fancy is un- earthed by Uncle Sam's ex- perts. For instance, a bulletin has been proclaimed by the department's ‘‘Office of In- formation” on ‘Drug Plants,’ announcing the wonderful and hitherto un- believable fact that dande- lions ‘‘under suitable condi- THE DESERTER the By FRANCIS X, OSWALD tions may be grown in some parts of the United States.’’ So far we had believed this feat beyond the limits even of Amer- ican enterprise. The idea that this deli- cate exotic, this frail and tender yellow blossom, should withstand the hardships YEARNING FOR COMPANY Stout cvoman (to friend) —Why don't you call a touring car instead of a taxi, so you can come with me. Dandelion Grow of existence in America has been looked upon as a vain hope, never to be fulfilled. From the earliest days of American botany this consummation has been held up as one of the problems whose final solution would demonstrate the highest efficiency of American science. But apparently the impos- sible has been accomplished. The bulletin also informs us that seeds of this newly ac- climated plant ‘‘may be ob- tained from large seed stores.’’ Specific warning, however, is added that too much must not be expected, for these rare plants need “peculiar conditions in order to thrive.”’ The department is right. If there ever was a flower known to human kind that needs ‘‘peculiar conditions comicbooks.com