THE KINGDOM OF FLOWERS 
sun and fine autumns render it possible 
for us to obtain better results than across 
the water in England. With broad- 
leaved evergreens, on the other hand, the 
advantage is enormously with English 
gardens. Our hot sun in March and 
early April and drought in summer are 
too much for these evergreens. ‘Though 
in the northern Atlantic States we are 
rich in deciduous trees and shrubs, our 
poverty in broad-leaved evergreens is 
most marked. If China can only give 
us half a dozen of these much-desired, 
hardy evergreens, what a gift it will be! 
There are reasons for being hopeful, if 
not sanguine. 
DR. SARGENT’S SPLENDID CONTRIBUTIONS 
One of the very first to appreciate the 
wealth of China in trees and shrubs was 
Dr. Charles Sprague Sargent, director 
of the Arnold Arboretum, of Harvard 
University. This famous dendrologist 
has, during his lifetime and by his own 
efforts, got together in the Arnold Arbo- 
retum a collection of trees and shrubs 
far in advance of anything else on this 
continent, and, indeed, second to none 
extant. He quickly realized the enor- 
mous possibilities opened up in China, 
and set about to find means of acquir- 
ing as many of these new and desirable 
plants as possible. A man of fixed. pur- 
pose, his efforts, once bent in this direc- 
tion, never relaxed, and today tangible 
results in the shape of thousands of 
seedling plants are to be seen in the 
nurseries of the arboretum. Dr. Sar- 
gent received his first collection from 
China, in 1881-1882, from Dr. Bret- 
schneider, of the Russian Legation, Pe- 
king. This collection, though small, con- 
tained many plants of striking value, and 
one and all proved hardy in the arbore- 
tum. In the early nineties Dr. Sargent 
himself visited Japan and North China 
and collected many seeds of plants for 
the arboretum. Various small collec- 
tions have since reached the arboretum, 
notably one made by Professor Jack, in 
Corea. 
The writer’s exploration work in China 
began early in 1899, and was in the in- 
terest of the famous London nursery- 
1013 
men, Messrs. Veitch, of Chelsea. Dr. 
Sargent was largely instrumental in 
starting this expedition, and in 1906, 
when Messrs. Veitch gave up the work, 
my services were secured on behalf of 
the Arboretum. 
Dr. Sargent’s enterprise has resulted 
in the acquisition of some thousands of 
seedlings, covering about 1,200 species 
of plants new to cultivation. ‘These em- 
brace ornamental trees and shrubs, ever- 
green and deciduous in character; new 
lilies, iris, peeonies, and other striking 
herbs ; new conifers of probable value as 
timber trees for afforestration work, and 
many economic plants valuable to the 
plant-breeder as a source of new races 
of fruits, more especially berries. These 
new introductions include not only new 
forms of genera already known to us in 
this country and Europe, but also several 
entirely new genera. 
For the purpose of study, a large 
collection of dried specimens, covering 
some 50,000 or more sheets, has been 
made, and will later find homes in the 
various national Herbaria of the world. 
The work accomplished has therefore 
not only a national, but an international 
value. In addition to the above, a large 
collection (over a thousand) of photo- 
graphs has been made. ‘These photo- 
iapllSee (aa tewaOl aici ane mene 
reproduced to illustrate this. article) 
represent many of the interesting trees 
of central and western China, and give 
the first real idea of the scenery and gen- 
eral features of that part of China. To 
students of plant ecology they are of 
immense value. 
RAZOR-BACKED RIDGES AND D£EP DEFILES 
Now, before entering on any detailed 
account of the flora, a brief general 
description of the country may be of 
interest. 
Central China consists of an irregular 
mountain mass broken up into razor- 
backed ridges and deep defiles, with the 
main watersheds running more or less 
east and west. These ridges average 
5,000 to 7,000 feet and rise to 10,009 
feet in their highest points. North and 
south of Ichang the country is broken up 
