IS 



EupTiorhiaceottt Plantt, 



The veteran Director of the Botanical Garden, Mr. Smith, whom I hava 

 known for 25 year8,suggested to me.on my way to Florida, to consider and 

 form an opinion, on the practicability of cultivating Euphorbiaceous plants 

 in this region. I therefore have the pleasure to submit a few remarks. 

 In addition to the characteristic sandy soil of the east coast, another soil 

 rich in humus abounds near Miami, vast areas of it, namely Everglade 

 land. Heretofore nearly all experiments with tropical fruit cultivation 

 hare been conducted on the sandy soil, where sub-tropical fruits mingle 

 with purely tropical fruits. 



In this region frost is practically unknown, coco -nuts thirty years old 

 flourish here, large mango trees, avocado pears with large trunks, some of 

 which must be over twenty years old, rose apple, tamarind, guava, cotton tree, 

 naseberry (sapodilla), ponciana regia, and many tropical palms. This af- 

 fords substantial evidence of the capabilities of soil and climate. The 

 widely dispersed pine forests cover great tracts ; oaks are scrubby. In 

 this region, therefore, many tropical as well as sub-tropical forms flourish, 

 forms that withstand the reduced temperature of the cool season. At the 

 same time the sub-tropical conditons are typical, for oranges, grape fruit 

 trees, &c., grow with remarkable vigour. 



I have had a wide experience in the cultivation of valuable economic 

 plants at altitudes ranging from the sea level up to 10,000 feet 

 in the tropics. In this connection, near the equator it is interesting to 

 observe that at an elevation of 6,000 feet mangoes, avocado pears grow 

 side by side with exceedingly fine oranges, just as they do in Florida,' At 

 this elevation in the Colombian Andes up to 8,000 feet one of the most im- 

 portant species of rubber is indigenous. I started the cultivation of a 

 plantation of this tree in its native habitat. This plantation was aban- 

 doned at the time extensive Cinchona plantations were abandoned. The 

 rubber tree grew with great rapidity, twenty feet high in three 

 years. It is a very distinct form of Sapium biglandulosum. More 

 than a year ago I had the pleasure to direct the attention of the 

 Secretary of Agriculture to this important plant. I now beg to say that I 

 have carefully considered at the suggestion of Mr. Smith of the Botanical 

 Garden, the conditions at Miami compared with those on the Andes at 6,000 

 feet. Li the forest at this elevation Oak trees abound; there are several 

 species of coniferous trees. Close to Miami I found many indigenious 

 species belonging to natural orders that grow at 6,000 and 8,000 feet 

 in the Colombian Andes, for instance, many forms of Eubiaceae a 

 characteristic order at this elevation (amongst Urticaeae I detected at 

 Miami a congener of Ramie with a beautiful fibre). These analogous con- 

 ditions coupled with the fact that Oranges, &c., flourish at the same ele- 

 vation at which this rubber tree grows led me to the conclusion that the 

 conditions presented near Miami on the beautiful lands of the Everglades 

 distinctly point to the practicability of growing successfully this species of 

 rubber thereat. Where this tree grows the rainfall is more thaa one hun- 

 dred inches a year ; it delights in water at the roots when thoroughly 

 drained. Hence irrigation from the beautiful Miami Kiver could be made 

 subservient. 



Halfway Tree, 

 August 27th, 1901. 



