30 
rhe run everywhere through the farming regions. In Helsing- 
fc 
rs | found no difficulty in getting along with a few Swedish 
words, but 
_— 
n eastern Finland the people did not usually under- 
— 
stand any language that [ knew anything about. I stopped over 
night in the little village of Rajajoki only a mile from the Russian 
line, and here [ found it necessary to get along as best I could 
with sign language. 
In the morning the train soon crossed the little river separating 
Finland from Russia. There is a bridge, painted half red and 
pen 
half white, with soldiers on each side. The train stopped and 
— 
baggage had to be taken to the customs house to be closely ex- 
amined. After papers were looked over 1t was necessary to give 
information as to the exact amount of cash carried. An hour's 
further travel and the train stopped in the Finland station in Lenin- 
erad. 
Crossing the Neva on a crowded street car, | recognized from 
pictures the Peter and Paul fortress and the Winter Palace. I had 
some misgivings whether | would get off at the right place, but | 
did reach the Hotel d'Europe, and here there were no more lan- 
guage difficulties. 
Leningrad appeared like a very large city. The Neva divides to 
form two large island suburbs, Wassilevsky, with the university 
and museums, and Petrogradskaja, near which the botanic garden 
is situated. The main street, the Nevsky Prospect, is south of the 
Neva; it is generally called by the old name though the official 
hame is now Street of the 25th October. 
I was in Russia ten days, in Leningrad only, from September 
goth to October roth. The temperature was two or three degrees 
above freezing, except one day when a couple of inches of snow 
fell. It appeared like winter, but the snow was gone the next day. 
en, except that the poplars 
— 
The leaves of trees had nearly all fal 
along the many canals were still green. 
At the botanic garden I was cordially received by Dr. Roskevitz, 
and later met Dr. Komarov, director; Dr. Iljensky, in charge of 
living plants; Miss Hammerman, at the botanical museum; Dr. 
Fedchenko, in charge of the herbarium; Mme. Stroukow, his secre- 
tary; and Mr. Ohl, librarian. To all of them and others my 
thanks are due for making my visit to Russia very interesting and 
instructive. 
