44 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
extinct. One of the best ways to prevent their extinction is 
by gathering them into arboreta and gardens where they can 
be cared for and where they will supply seeds for distribution 
throughout the country. Franklinia, already extinct in the wild 
state, is preserved in only a few private parks and gardens. 
Holly, Trailing Arbutus, Ladies’ Slipper, Columbine, Hartford, 
Climbing and Walking Perns are becoming rare around all 
centers of population, where also the Magnolia, Mountain Laurel, 
Azalea, Dogwood, Redbud, Adder’s-Tongue, and many other 
flowers are already threatened with the same devastation. A 
few of them are protected by laws in Massachusetts, Connecti¬ 
cut and Colorado. 
4. One of the great popular uses of an Arboretum is the dis¬ 
play of hardy shrubs, where those interested in the beautification 
of their gardens and door-yards can see and become familiar 
with them. The opportunities for this kind of landscape garden¬ 
ing exhibitions would be particularly good in an Arboretum in 
Washington, inasmuch as a great majority of plants likely to 
be useful for this purpose on the Atlantic seaboard come from 
Asia and are adapted to cultivation here. 
Value of .\x Aruoketum .and Garden to Bot.\nic.\l Science 
1. Washington is situated in a climatic zone pecularly adapted 
to the cultivation of a very wide variety of plants. It is the 
meeting-place of the flora of the North and the South. Many 
southern plants not found further north grow here, and it is the 
southern outpost for many northern plants. There is no ade¬ 
quate Arboretum, Botanical Garden or collection of plants in 
this climatic zone. Boston has its Arnold Arboretum, New York, 
Brooklyn and St. Louis their Botanical Gardens, but there is 
nothing of the kind further south. 
2. Washington is now* the largest center of botanical activity 
in the world. There are 168 professional botanists in the 
Botanical Society of Washington, resident here most of the year. 
The Bureau of Plant Industry, with its 900- odd technical and 
scientific employees contains the largest group of professional 
botanists in the world. Its library facilities and the National 
Herbarium rank with the best to be found anywhere. These 
botanical workers would make excellent use of such a 
botanical garden, and. through cooperation with its management 
would exert great influence in the advancement of horticulture 
and agriculture. 
3. Young botanists and others interested in plants, coming 
from the universities of the country to Washington to take 
up special work, need the facilities which a botanical garden 
would offer, to broaden their knowledge of plants and give them 
a wide botanical education which they cannot now get for lack 
of these facilities. There is no place in Washington today 
where young botanists can see a comprehensive collection of 
growing plants and studv their habits and classification. 
4. The Department of Agriculture is introducing thousands 
of Asiatic trees, shrubs and ornamental plants and distributing 
young specimens of them throughout the United States, but. 
owing to the lack of facilities, no collection of mature specimens 
of these has been maintained within the easy reach of either 
the investigators of the Department of Agriculture, or of visitors 
in Washington. These plants are being secured by special ex¬ 
plorers in China, one of whom spent nine years searching remote 
regions for plants many of which are now growing without la¬ 
bels through the parks and private yards of Washington. Such 
things have been introduced as the Chinese chestnuts, Chinese 
white bark pines, horse chestnuts, Chinese elms, Asiatic roses, 
Chinese chaste-bush, Asiatic barberries, Japanese climbing Hy¬ 
drangeas, the Japanese flowering apricots and flowering cher¬ 
ries, Japanese fringe trees, the Chinese wild species of flower¬ 
ing apples and pears, hawthorns, etc., etc. 
5. One of the great uses of an arboretum comes about through 
the establishment in it of rare foreign trees and shrubs which 
furnish seed supplies for the increase of these plants for distri¬ 
bution to other regions. Since the operation of the federal 
quarantine law, it is more necessary than ever that a seed sim¬ 
ply be established of the wild forms of all cultivated plants for 
the production of seed for stock purposes. 
6. As an encouragement for plant breeders of the country, 
such an Arboretum would be an important factor. It could fur¬ 
nish not only seeds and nlant material of such forms as can be 
grown in it, but as complete a collection as possible of the spe¬ 
cies of fruit and nut bearing plants from which could be obtain¬ 
ed pollen for their use. 
7. The National Herbarium, now one of the largest in the 
world, were it properly housed in an adequate arboretum, would 
be of vastly more use than it is at present. Appreciation of the 
necessity of correct identification of plants is increasing. The 
use of wrong names for plants has already caused serious loss 
to commercial interests. Through an arboretum and garden 
thousands of plants will be brought into flower, and pressed 
specimens identifying them deposited in the herbarium. A joint 
committee of six of the leading National Associations of Nur¬ 
serymen and Florists are now engaged in standardizing their 
plant names. A permanent living collection of authentically 
named specimens of as many of these plants as will grow in this 
latitude wiuld be of the greatest assistance to them. 
The Need for Imniediate Actio.n 
The present plans of the Army Engineers contemplate dredg¬ 
ing and filling the banks on both sides and this has proceeded 
as far as Bennings Bridge. A temporary legislative restriction 
has been placed on the continuance of this work above the 
bridge. Unless this restriction is at once removed so that the 
work can continue above the bridge it will soon become neces¬ 
sary to sell valuable dredging equipment that will become idle. 
A member of the Board of Engineers on Anacostia Park has 
stated that they are ready to cooperate with the Commission of 
Fine Arts and scientific interests in the development of the Park 
in such a manner that it will meet the needs of an Arboretum 
and Garden when that may be authorized by Congress. 
An embankment would also be placed around Shaw Water- 
lily Garden on the Eastern bank of the Anacostia river, to pro¬ 
tect it from filling operations. It is desired eventually to in¬ 
corporate this Waterlily Garden in the National Arboretum and 
Garden (the Government already owning part of the land). The 
Waterlily Garden cannot be moved to another site, as the river 
water is alkaline in reaction, and the ponds are fed by an acid 
spring, necessary for the successful growth of Waterlilies. 
Members of Congress and especially of the Appropriations Com¬ 
mittee should, therefore, be urged at once to remove the re¬ 
striction against work above Bennings Bridge so that the work 
can proceed. About 433 acres of reclaimed Anacostia land will 
then become available for beginning the development of the 
National Arboretum and Garden, leaving the 367 acre Mt. Hamil¬ 
ton tract to be purchased at an estimate cost of $340,000 as 
soon as Congress is prepared to make an appropriation for that 
purpose. 
NuMFER .\.XD ArE.V of the Le.VDING ArUORET.V -V.XD G.vrde.xs 
Great Britain and her Colonies. 65 gardens 
Holland and her Colonies. 6 gardens 
France and her Colonies . 25 gardens 
Belgium . 10 gardens 
Germany . 35 gardens 
Japan . 2 gardens 
Italy and her Colonies . 23 gardens 
United States . 12 gardens 
The more important of these range from 200 to 500 acres in 
extent, while the largest is found at Rio de Janiero with 2,000 
acres. The United States Government has only the Washing¬ 
ton Botanical Garden and the 48 State Agricultural Experiment 
Stations, do not serve as, or have attached to them, arboreta 
or botanical gardens. There are over 100 Univ^ersities and Ag¬ 
ricultural Colleges in America, only 9 or 10 of which support 
either arboreta or botanical gardens. There is hardly a Uni¬ 
versity in Europe worthy of the name without its botanical 
garden or arboretum. 
Mr. and Mrs. C. R. Burr, Manchester. Connecticut, and 
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas B. Meehan. Philadel])hia, Pennsyl¬ 
vania, are S]iendino- several weeks in Florida. 
We regret to annoniici' that we have just learned oT 
tin' death of Ho\\ard Davis. Baltimore. Maryland, who 
died suddeidv on .laniiarv 15th. 
*■ c- 
Ho\\ard Davis was tin' son of Franklin Davis, of tin' 
Franklin Da^■is Nnrseiy Company, and who continued 
the husiness for a numher of yu'ars aftei' his fathei's 
death, under tin' name of the Franklin Davis Nursery 
Company. Ih' has not, how ('^•('r. In'c'ii connected with 
the linn for several years. 
A Obituary. 
* 
Howard D.wis 
