MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN BULLETIN 73 
handle men, organize, direct, control, construct, and execute 
work and movements. As an advisor it became my task to 
prepare plans, to advise the board upon matters of policy, to 
interpret facts occurring in the daily life of the city and to 
point out their significance, their dangers, and opportunities 
in the interests of a park program adopted as a municipal pro- 
ject. 
What is apparent as an established accomplishment in the 
discharge of the duties of this dual office can perhaps best be 
noted by personal observation on the ground, but an idea of 
it may be conveyed by the illustrations accompanying this 
article. A technical discussion of “shop”? would be out of 
place here, but if there are any interested in the detail and 
technique I shall be glad to supply printed reports, photo- 
graphs, plans, and other information relating to the land- 
scape work at Portland. 
The expenditure of two million dollars, the establishment 
of twenty-six playgrounds, the promotion of a mountain res- 
ervation, the construction of parkways, and the development 
of a series of public parks has been a task consuming vitality, 
but the result is worth far more than it costs; the worry lies in 
there being no more worlds to conquer. 
Perhaps the most interesting feature of our parks to Garden 
folk is the vast range of flora that can be employed by reason 
of mild winters and equable temperatures, the immense size 
of the vegetation, and the luxuriance and thrift of its growth. 
In equal opportunity we compare with Georgia and South 
Carolina, or with London or Paris; indeed, the abundance of 
European holly, of aucubas, and laurustinus suggest the 
similitude. As an illustration it may be mentioned that we 
cultivate in the open Pittosporum Tobira, Camellia japonica, 
C. theifera, Azalea indica, Prunus lusitanica, gardenias, 
fuchsias, neriums, daphnes, laurocerasus, and similar sorts. 
Our difficulty is not the intensity of cold, but the uninter- 
rupted growth without resting in the fall and the consequent 
injury should frost subsequently appear, and the cool nights. 
EMIL T. MISCHE, 
Landscape Advisor, Portland, Oregon. 
RAILROAD AGRICULTURE 
What can or what does a railroad do for agriculture or hor- 
ticulture? Or, what does a railroad man know about farm- 
ing? These questions are often asked by people unfamiliar 
with the new line of development which is so rapidly gain- 
ing favor in the agricultural sections of our country. Of 
