74 
that he felt convinced from seeing the planta- 
tions which his brother has at Avery Island, and 
knowing the conditions down there, that we v^ere 
quite right in estimating that thousands of acres 
of 'bamboo could be grown on the delta of the 
Mississippi. On the day that I visited the 
Savannah plantation in company with Mr. Barbour 
Lathrop with the idea of finding out whether 
it would make an appropriate gift from him to 
this Government, I received a telegram ordering 
me back to Washington on account of the war. 
Since then things have gone from "bad to worse", 
and I have no idea whether that plantation will 
ever come into the hands of the Government. It 
ought to be owned by us and be operated as an 
experiment station for bamboos. 
You speak in one of your recent letters of 
wishing you had some one to advise you. My dear 
Meyer, these are times v/hen we all need advice, 
but unfortunately there are times when those who 
try to advise feel peculiarly incompetent to do 
so. I might easily advise you to come back to 
this country and take up the breeding of plants, 
but I do not feel sure that a man of your rest- 
less disposition will be contented with the 
necessarily quiet life of a plant breeder. There 
will always be a place for you here, - there will 
always be work for you to do at the Field Stations, 
and I v/ill do my best to make arrangements so 
that you can move from place to place in con- 
nection T/ith the developmeitit of any of your "pets". 
I think you can feel perfectly confident, provided 
this war does not entirely upset all our plans, 
of returning to a position in the Department where 
you will be taken care of as long as you con- 
tinue to do conscientious v/ork. V/hile it is true 
that the Government has not a pension system for 
its employes, it has not in my experience thrown 
them out without giving them an adequate op- 
portunity to save up enough to make a comfortable 
annuity in their old age. There is a strong 
sentiment now for a pension of superannuated em- 
ployes and I would not be surprised if it were 
enacted into a law. 
I must now stop and take up other pressing 
duties. Hoping that you are recovering from 
your temporary indisposition, and with kindest 
regards, I remain. 
On August 1, 1917 » from Hankow „ Mr. Meyer wrote as 
follows: 
December 31, 1917. 
