THE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK 



American armies. At about the same time we were asked by the 

 French officials to wait until spring for further work, and were 

 informed by the Red Cross that all the civilian relief work was 

 being reorganized and coordinated and would be done in the fu- 

 ture under the supervision and direction of French government 

 officials and the American Red Cross. 



Early in December we learned that Mrs. Benjamin G. Lathrop, 

 president and founder of the Paris depot of the American Fund 

 for French Wounded, would shortly be in this country, and by 

 the advice of the Red Cross we immediately got into communica- 

 tion with Mrs. Lathrop, who is working in cooperation with and 

 under the supervision of the French officials and the American 

 Red Cross. 



We have made the following arrangements to have our fund 

 distributed in France by the Paris depot of the American Fund 

 for French Wounded, through Mrs. Lathrop. 



First, the Paris depot of the American Fund for French 

 Wounded undertakes to supervise and attend to all the work of 

 distribution and planting, under the direct supervision of Mrs. 

 Mortimer Forest, of St. Paul, Minnesota, a graduate of the 

 Minnesota Agricultural College and a most successful farmer and 

 fruit-grower. Mrs. Forest has very kindly and generously 

 undertaken to do the work at her own expense. She has been 

 doing relief work in France for many months and only recently 

 returned to this country. She speaks the language, knows the 

 people, and is thoroughly familiar with the country. 



The country about Verdun and the valley of the Meuse and its 

 tributaries has been selected for the work, with headquarters at 

 Nancy. The headquarters are, I believe, already established, and 

 the American Fund for French Wounded is doing relief work 

 from that center. Mrs. Forest has sailed and should shortly be 

 at Nancy, ready to make her arrangements to begin work on the 

 opening of spring. 



Mrs. Forest will buy the trees from nurseries near Nancy and 

 they will be delivered by motor trucks in the district as needed, 

 and planted under her supervision by the owners of the orchards 

 and their peasants, assisted by French soldiers during their 

 periods of rest behind the lines. 



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