126 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 



interesting task. I made three separate trips into China and ad- 

 joining countries. These trips have covered a period of almost 

 nine years. 



China can be divided roughly into two zones, that is, the northern 

 parts, which are semi-arid with cold, dry winters, while the central 

 and southern sections are humid and have mild winters. My work 

 has been primarily in Northern China because we have a special 

 need in this country for real hardy plant material. In North China 

 one finds rugged mountains with bits of forests still left, while the 

 plains are cultivated to an extent that cannot be realized by those 

 who have never seen the country. 



The Chinese peasants have no regard for the wild vegetation, 

 and they cut down and grub out every wild woody plant in their 

 perpetual search for fuel. One therefore finds it exceedingly hard 

 to discover anything of importance near centers of population, and 

 a man is obliged to go into the real interior, often many weeks' 

 march away from any large center. This necessitates, of course, 

 being burdened with large quantities of equipment, required to 

 camp out, and this is one of the banes connected with exploration 

 work in the interior of China. 



'' Every traveler carries with him bedding, washbasins, candles, 

 soap, cooking utensils, supplies of all kinds, and what not else. 

 And the filth in the country inns is sometimes beyond description. 



However, one often is rewarded for all the difficulties experienced, 

 for there are glorious blue mountains in China and lovely valleys 

 and ravines, and when one does strike a monastery or a temple in 

 som€ secluded mountain nook, where the original wild vegetation 

 lias been preserved by the priests, one feels fully compensated for 

 the trials gone through. 



The Western world does not quite realize how much we are 

 indebted to the priests of the various sects of Buddhism and Taoism 

 in China for having protected the wild plant growth around the 

 temples. If it were not for them many a species or variety of 

 plant which now adorns our gardens and parks would have been 

 exterminated. And these priests not only protect and save the 

 wild vegetation around their places of abode, but they also plant 

 rare specimens in their gardens and courtyards. Around Peking 

 one finds certain trees, such as Catalpa hungei, Pinus hungeana, 



