300 
THE NATIONAL NUESERYMAN 
iJio waist lo the kij(3es only, and the woJiien wear a eot- 
lon wrapper of gaudy color, which covers them from their 
neck to their knees. None of them wear more than one 
garment, which we could very easily place in one of our 
pockets, yet considering the climate, all are fully clothed. 
There is the same jollity, light heartedness and spirit of 
welcome as in all of the other islands of the Pacific I have 
visited. 
The princij)al port of Samoa is Afria, situated on the 
principal islands, and under (ierman rule, hut we did not 
have time to go there. The population of the islands is 
about 34,000 with less than 500 resident whites. We 
were told that none could buy land there, though of 
course they could get the right to use what tliey needed. 
'J’his seemed to me a very sensible law. Pago Pago be¬ 
ing technically a United States Naval Station, we were 
not allowed to take cameras ashore. This, to me, was a 
great disappointment, as there are so many interesting 
])ictures of native life and surroundings which I would 
have liked to have pictures of. Thei'e are no pictures to 
buy. I could not see any sense in this law', seeing that 
the United States have no guns, fortilications or defense 
w'ork thei-e. 
There are no roads or streets as w e understand them. 
A path trodden hard and smooth with native feet winds 
around the bay for several miles between the native huts. 
The native lives a very simple, peaceful life. Their food 
consists largely of Poi (a kind of bread made from the 
Taro root, Caladium esculentum) fish, breadfruit, bana¬ 
nas, cocoanuts and other fruits. Their huts are merely 
sheds, made of bamboo poles thatched with palm leaves. 
The sides are partly covered with palm matting, 
but are really open to all kinds of weather. There 
are no doors or rooms. The hut is built 
large or small according to the size of the family, 
father, mother, children, aunts, grandfathers live 
together in one room, lying on neat mats on the pebbled 
floor, a long bamboo pole across the hut serving as a pil- 
low" for all of them. It almost seems a shame that the 
white man disturbs them in their happy peaceful life, by 
trying to force them to adopt a civilization, w Inch is often 
very harmful to them, but wliicli cannot be of any real 
service to them for several generations. 
We left Pago Pago at 11 p. m. the natives singing their 
songs to us. On the morning of April 21st we passed 
within a few" miles of Vavas (Turtle Island) one of the 
Fiji group of Islands. Between Pago Pago and Sydney 
we passed the 180th parallel, the antipode of Green¬ 
wich, and go from Tuesday, April 21st to Thursday, April 
23rd. On Sunday, April 25th we passed within five 
miles of Lord llow"e Island, about 400 miles northeast of 
Sydney. This Island is interesting to us as horticultur¬ 
ists for it j)rovides the seeds of the four varieties of Ken- 
lia palms, which are grown commercially by European 
and American florists. Sydney heads are now looming 
up directly ahead of us and my impression of Australia 
w ill be given in the next installment. 
(Tlie September issue of the National Nurseryman will 
contain a letter from Mr. McIIiitchison, of his visit to Mel¬ 
bourne and Sydney, Australia.— Editor.) 
SOME MORE ABOUT THE ORDER OF THE 
YELLOW DOGS. 
Mr. Chase Disclaims the Honor of Being the Originator. 
Henry B. Chase, commenting on the article which ap¬ 
peared in the July number of the National Nurseryman, 
to the effect that he w"as the originator of the “Order of 
the Yellow Dogs,” WTites as follows,—“I am not the 
originator of that noble, secret order of Yellow Dogs, the 
first nurseryman to receive the degree was the lion. M. 
G. Black, President of the Vine Hill Nursery Co., Mt. 
Pleasant, Texas. I think he w as initiated by the Shriners 
at Dallas. As so many nurserymen are now identified 
W"ith this order I am sure they w ill be interested to know 
that Mr. Black is the “Big Dog.” 
Also in regard to building the ten miles of higlnvay. 
This listens mighty good, but it is not so. We contri¬ 
buted as liberally as w"e could afford, both time and 
money, but w e did not build ten miles of road by a whole 
lot. 
With kind regards and congratulations on your very 
complete July issue, I am, 
YI)urs very truly, 
Henry B. Chase." 
Jim Parker, of Tecumseh, Okla., spent several days 
after the Convention, in Bochester and Newark, N. Y., ex¬ 
ploiting his new" tree digger. While in New"ark, he w"as 
initiated into the order of the “Yellow" Dogs.” He w"as 
very much impressed with the precepts of the order, and 
in company w"ith Newark nurserymen, initiated several 
classes of Newark citizens into the noble order. 
VALUE OF A SHADE TREE 
Extract from Bulletin of Massachusetts Forestry 
Association. 
In order to determine the value of shade trees on streets, 
the advice of practical real estate men was sought. A 
large number of these men were asked this question : 
“How much, in your judgment, do full grown shade-trees 
along the street improve the value of the adjoining land 
for house-lots?” The majority of answers ranged from 
ten to fifty per cent, while some went so far as to state 
that a house-lot w"ould be worth a hundred per cent, more 
if full grown shade-trees were standing in front of it. A 
fair average of these answers falls between twenty-five 
and forty per cent. Expert tree appraisers say that a 
shade-tree in good condition and well placed is worth one 
dollar per square inch of cross-section, measured at 
breast-height. At that rate, a tree one foot in diameter 
is w orth $113.00, while a tree two feet in diameter is 
w"orth $452.00. For the sake of illustration suppose that 
W"e take a good sized house-lot, fifty by a hundred feet or 
five thousand square feet, w orth twenty-five cents a foot. 
The land value is $1,250.00. If the trees are spaced fifty 
feet apart on the street, there would be one tree in front 
of the property. The tree is two feet in diameter and 
worth $452.00, w hich w ould increase the value of the lot 
thirty-six per cent. Here we see that the tree experts’ 
opinion conforms w ith the judgment of the practical bus¬ 
iness man. 
