Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-10-11
THE LIBRARY TABLE
By the Boekloper

Some of the greatest things that
have happened to me nave nappeneo on
boats. 1t was on a boat of the coast
of Malacca, one New Years night, tnat
promised Mr.. Barbour Lathrop tnat
would devote my life to the INTRODUCTION
of useful plants into America AND IL
was on the houseboat Of Mr.. Allison V:
Armour, anchored off the Bricken
wharf in the Miami River, that agreed
If he would buy a boat and equip 1t
for the collecting of living plants
would go with him on an expedition"
These are the opening sentences OF the
volume Exploring for Plants" by DR.:
David Fairchild, head OF the once OF
Foreign Plant Introduction OF the Bureau
Of Plant Industry Of the United states
Department of Agriculture. The eX-
pedttion of which he writes took place
and this book is derived from notes of
the Allison Vincent Armour Expedi-
lions for the United States Department
of Agriculture. 1925. 1926 and 1927. Mr..
Armour secured and equ;Sped the yacht
Utowana, but not all Of the journeyings
recounted in the book were made on
her cruises DR.. Fairchild's route took
him from Florida to Panama, Sweden,
England, Holland, Belgium, France
Switzerland. Algeria, Morocco (where
the Utowana picked up the party
Spain. the Canaries. the Balearic
Islands, Italy (where the party left the
yacht). Ceylon, Sumatra, Java, Singa
pore. Switzerland, Sweden. America
Starting again and rejoining the yacht,
he went on a cruise along the West
Coast of Africa, visiting the Gambia
French Guinea and Sierra Leone,
Liberia. the CAMERON, the Gold Coast,
and the Fouta Diallon Mountains. On
many of these travels Mrs. Fairchild
accompanied him and he SAYS: Al
though her name Is not on thu title
page. It should be there" as co-author
but "she has dictated otherwise"
r + 4 \
So delightfully."- and so 1ucidly IS
Exploring for Plants" written that
even those whose botanical knowledge
is confined to research in How to Know
the Wild Flowers" or Our Common
Flowers" are able to enjoy it. Scholarly
scientists enjoy it also (some of them
have told me so). though they probably
go to the official reports of the expedi-
lions for the detailed information which
they can grapple with. The unscientific
or the merely dilettante scientific reader
enjoys this book for many reasons. In
the first place, 1t is a personal record
Of travel, written with humor and with
interesting detail about many different
things, though botany Is always tho
absorbing interest. Everywhere there
was searching for rare tropical plants
or for common ones which might be
adapted to American soils or climatic
conditions. There was the thrill Of
discovery, which the reader shares
VIGOROUSLY and the interested specula-
ton as to the part of the United States
where the new introduction would
ch Nxyaa 6a
and precarious task of preparing and
shipping in special cases the seeds and
slips for the United States In this
some other members of the party
helped, and DR.. Fairchild relates that
one of them can never hear the name
of certain species of oil palm without
looking down at his fingers to see If he
got of all the yellow, oily dye All the
foremost botanical gardens and museums
and arboreta were visited as a matter
Of course and enthusiastic visitings were
carried on with all the distinguished
botanists of the countries on the route
Dangers are described casually and with
humor. OF course, exploring scientists
encounter dangers and, of course, they
rather enjoy them, one gathers. Ac-
commodation to all sorts of transport
tation methods, foods, living quarters
Of the days work. In whatever diff
Guilty Of travel. whatever discomfort, he
was involved, DR.. Fairchild seems never
for a moment to have forgotten to be
on the lookout for plants. In West
Africa, on one occasion, he was coming
down mountain road at dusk, with a
long journey ahead, in Ford equipped
with no lights whatever, when a rear
wheel patched with boards suddenly
gave out. The native chauffeur con-
cerned himself with the wheel. but DR..
Fairchild rejoiced that the accident had
happened just there because he caught
sight OF the powder-puf seed balls of
Clematis grandifiora in great numbers
on some vines on the hillside"
y \ X
Java, which DR.. Fairchild has visited
before, has a favored place in his af-
fections. He likes the natives, the
food, the hotels, the jungles of Java
and his son Graham likes its insects,
of which he was an eager student.
The description of the Javanese food
specially, unity achieved through null
tiplicity, the "rijstaafel," would, ex-
cept for the Bombay duck make the
mouth of any epicure water. There
arrives at your elbow a waiter who
gives you soup plate while another
invites you to I'LL your plate from an
immense bowl of rice, rice that does
not stick together like bits of glue, but
tumbles out in a light, airy mass. Be-
hind the rice waiter in his mangosteen
brown turban and white suit stands a
waiter with bowl of the hottest, most
aromatic curry sauce imaginable, for
you to pour over the rice. Back of
him comes another waiter with fried
eggs, back of him one with chicken
croquettes, behind him one with fried
plantains, then another with fried egg
plant, one with broiled chickens, and
after him what seems like an endless
string Of walters with picked corn,
Drowned grated coconut, Drowned al
monds or peanuts, little red fish like
anchovies, Bombay duck, which is
nothing less than dried rotten fish,
wonderful translucent crisp crackers
made of turtles eggs, fresh sliced Gu
cumbers, mixed pickles, and last, the
shutneys. after taking samples
from some, or, If you wish, all of these
dishes offered you by the string Of
noiseless barefooted walters, your plate
is full, very full, and you begin to mix
the contents up, but not too thoroughly,
for you want each spoonful to have an
individuality of its own" Javanese
life is apparently built about the bam-
boo, of which many of the best varieties
are found in Java. It's usefulness Is
forcibly shown by some of the specific
details which DR., Fairchild so fire.
quently uses "If it were possible to
take away from the Javanese every
thing they have that is made of bam-
boo, there would be scarcely house
standing, no fences, few bridges save
those put In by the Dutch, no chairs
or benches to sit on, no baskets to
carry anything with, no poles on which
to carry the bundles of paddy, no hats
TO wear, no water buckets, no way OF
preventing erosion in the torrential
streams, no bird cages. no scarecrows,
no baskets to protect the fruit, no