40 



II OKTI CULTURE 



Jiiiitiiirv h, iyi6 



JACKSON T. DAWSON 



HIS WORK AND HIS WORKSHOP 



Ei 



Horn on Octolx'i- (!, 1841. Jncksoii Tliornton Duwsoii 

 is, as his iiicliirc hIiows, still linle luid liciirty iiiid as 

 busy as of yi>ri'. Hi.- lifo lins beoii ricli in I'xpcrii'iU'e 

 of a varied kind, but lie has lived \o iJee in a givai 

 measure tlie fruition of his hibor. Ihirin*; tlie Civil 

 War he gave tlie best that was iu him to his adopted 

 i-ountry. His body is scarred by wounds but even dur- 

 ing that tprrilde inte.rnec-ine struggle he found time 

 to itiUect and send fmni the arena of war many iri- 

 terestijig jdants. His association with l*i'ofessor ('. S. 

 Sargent began in 1S7;?, and the dual labors in the field 

 of iiiirticulture of these two men have been nioi'e fruitfoi 

 in results tlian that of any such combination. |iast m- 

 ]in'sent. that we have reci)rd of. The collection of living 

 plants in the Arnold Arboretum, the most comi)lete on 

 this continent and. when 

 climate is duly considered 

 not excelled the world 

 over, is a fitting monu- 

 ment to the diligent labor> 

 of these two men. But 

 their work liegins — not 

 ends — in the Arnold Ar- 

 boretum, for since the insti- 

 tution's inception a world- 

 wide distribution and in- 

 terchange of plants ha,- 

 been an imjiortant branch 

 of its activities. Tlie re- 

 sult is that in this country, 

 in Europe and elsewhere 

 as remote as New Zealand, 

 many large private estab- 

 lishments, parks and arbo- 

 reta owe a great number of 

 their choicest plant* to the 

 skill of Ja^Jcson Dawson 

 and the generous jxjiicy of 

 the director of the Arnold 

 Arboretum. 



.Tack.*on T. Dawson i> 

 know7i throughout the 

 length ;ind breadth of thi> 

 country and Canada. lie i- 

 equally well-known in En- 

 rope where in some ways 

 the work of the Arnold Ar- 

 boretum is better understood and appreciated than it is 

 here in eastern Xorth America. Jack.son Dawson's 

 skill in the propagation of all sorts of plants in all 

 sorts of ways is spoken of almost with awe in places 

 far and wide, and his success is proverbial. It would 

 seem as if there was some close bond of cummunion 

 — some occult understanding — between the plants 

 and the man. But, however tliis may be, tlie patient, at- 

 tentive care of the man seems to bring under submis- 

 sion the most intractable plant.s, and if a spark of life 

 be left in a stick, a root or a seed it l)lossoms forth 

 under his persuasive ability. 



The picture shows not only the man but his work- 

 shop. This greenhouse, only .50 feet long. 20 feet wide 

 and Vi feet high with its humble exterior and its in no 



Jackson T. Dawson 



sense up-to-dato interior, for it was built some twenty- 

 nine years ag". has made history as probably no other 

 such structure has. Inspect it closely; its thick wooden 

 beams and sash-bars, its improvised shelves and fittings, 

 and note that plants are crowded in everywhere. It 

 always is and always has been crowded on and under 

 shelf and bench. I'nfortunately there are no figures 

 available of the actual number of different kinds of 

 plants in cultivati<iii in the .\rnoId .\rboretum, much 

 less of the number that has been raised there, but the 

 most astonishing fact is that, their number notwith- 

 standing, they have mostly pa.ssed through this house 

 in the infantile stages of their careers. Tliis workshop 

 — this tiny greenhtuise — is the cradle of the Arnold 

 .Vrboretum. and .Ijieksim Dawson is. and has been from 



the ((iinmencement. not 

 only nurse but foster-father 

 also. Not more than one 

 hundred yards from the 

 spot where this photo- 

 graph was taken is grow- 

 ing a Pin Oak (Qiiercus 

 pahi.^^tris) which is 70 ft. 

 tall and has a trunk 

 nearly 7 ft. in girth and 

 this lovely tree was raised 

 by him from an acorn I 



To stroll among the 

 collections with Jackson 

 Dawson and learn the 

 history and origin of this 

 and that tree or shrub is 

 a rare delight. — "Tills 

 plant came from — , this 

 was raised from seeds 

 uhicli came from Dakota 

 (ir from the \\niite Moun- 

 tains, that from seeds 

 collected liy Bretschnei- 

 der in China or by Sar- 

 gent in .lapan; this is a 

 grafted ])lant, and that is 

 from a cutting received 



from in ," and 



so the stor}' is unfolded. 

 Not all the new plants he 

 has raised have proved 

 capable of w-ithstanding this New England climate, and 

 others for rea?=nns not apparent have not proved amen- 

 able to cidtivalion in the Arnold Arboretum, but the 

 wise policy of widely distributing the young plants has 

 ))rcserved them to cultivation elsew^here if not here. 

 The Magnolia portrayed as a frontispiece in this 

 number of HonTicui.rrRK is an example of such plants 

 and it is a pleasure and a privilege to introduce in the 

 fullness of its blossom this errant beauty to the Nurse 

 of its youth. 



Our Editor has asked me to write a few lines to ac- 

 company the picture and I feel complimented at the 

 re(|uest. But a difficulty arises when one sits down to 

 translate thoughts into sentences. Words seem in- 

 ade<|iuite or extravagant in their meaning and equally 



