Evening star., 1938-10-16
BY Mary.Carter Roberts.

Scribner's Sons.
This is the autobiography of one OF
the quiet men in laboratories" that
group which more than any other, has
made our American life as comfortable
and safe as it is. 1t is the story OF
David Fairchild, agricultural explorer,
we'll known to Washingtonians. Mr..
Fairchild, from the late sos until the
last few years, has been engaged IN
studying the fruits and vegetable foods
of the world. with the end in view
that he might find those which could
be imported to our own country and
added to our diet For more than 20
years he was in charge of the division
Of Foreign Plant Exploration and In
PRODUCTION in the Department of Agr:-
culture, and it has been largely under
his direction that many foods, now
commonplaces to us all, have been
brought to America from difficult and
far-distant places. This account OF
Mr.. Fairchild's life is one Of the most
fascinating autobiogra phies the re-
viewer has read this year.
Mr. Fairchild began his Govern
ment service when he was no more
than 10 years Of age. He says of his
Offices at that time, I'm 1889, all that
existed of the Department of Agricul-
ture was housed in an ugly old build
ing with a mansard roof topping its
red brick walls. 1t was situated in a
park south of Pennsylvania avenue,
Just beyond one of the most disreputa-
BILE quarters of the city the sec
ton of plant pathology, was crowded
into two or three rooms, one of which
was an attic under the broiling man
sard roof. The personnel consisted OF
Mr.. beverly T) Galloway and five
assistants. Three worked with micro
scopes, and two were learning to write
fairly presentable letters on the noisy
typewriters of the time. The letters
were then considerably blurred IN wet
press copy-books, carbon paper being
as vet unknown. Even the White
House sent out letters corrected in
pen and ink"
But though these were modest be-
ginnings. there were. as Mr.. Falrchllo
makes plain, scientists working at the
time with enthusiasm and vision. From
its first pages, indeed, the book Is dot
ted with the names OF men whose
scientific achievements have brought
them fame in many fields-such men
as Theobald Smith, Thomas Huxley,
Charles Darwin. John Burroughs, Lu-
ther Burbank Glenn Curtiss, Alexan-
der Graham Bell and many others.
But Mr.. Fairchild's life was, as the
name of his book implies, one OF con-
slant travel and the eminent men and
women of whom he writes are not Inn
tied to the world Of science or to any
one country. He began his travels
shortly after entering Government
service by going to Italy as repre-
sentative of the Smithsonian lnstltu-
ton. From there he went to Ger
many and then, under the inspiration
of Barbour Lathrop, on to Java. Mr..
Lathrop had financed the trip, calling
1t an investment in science" He
found the venture so to his liking that
he extended it from Java through Aus
tralia, the Cannibal Islands, New
Zealand and Hawaii.
Subsequently, Mr.. Fairchild drew up
plans for the Division of Foreign Plant
Introduction and undertook to organize
1t. This led to his going to Florida
In order to experiment with tropical
plants. And from Florida he spread
his experiments out until, truly, the
world did become his garden. He
writes of the West Indies, South Amer
lea, the Orient, Persia, the Caucasus,
England. Scandinavia, Africa, Nova
Scotia, Central America, Canada. He
thought of these lands in terms Of
their plants, but in his book he never
holds to scientific recording to such
length as to disrnay lay reader; his
pages are full Of excellent anecdotes
and personal sketches, too. The fol-
lowing story of his very youthful asso-
citation with John Burroughs gives an
idea Of the human quality of the work
He received, he writes, letter from a
certain Mr., John Burroughs of Esopus-
on-the- Hudson. He sent packet con-
tanning some currant stalks with the
statement that his currant bushes were
slowly dying = -
Il longed to see the dying bushes of
this Mr.. Burroughs he continues.
Early one morning I arrived enthu-
siastically at his door. but received
such chilly reception from Mrs. Bur-
roughs that I turned to beat a hasty
retreat. Fortunately, Mr.. Burroughs
arrived on the scene and so charmed
me with his interest. in the currants
that spent a delightful morning dis
cussing plant diseases with him He
showed me his study, which was called
'Slabsides,' and departed feeling that
Mr.. Burroughs of Esopus was one of
the most interesting men I had ever
met
Upon my return to Washington, DR..
L. o. Howard, the entomologist, re-
marked. in his teasing way:
II hear you've been hobnobbing
with John Burroughs
DO you mean the man at Esopus
who has diseased currant bushes?'
inquired.
when DR.. Howard realized that
did not know Of John Burroughs and
had never read his books he repeated
the story so often that I have never
been able to outlive this joke on my
self
THE following winter John Bur
roughs on visit to Washington. took
the trouble to look me up As he
greeted me he said:
"'You probably don't remember me.
I'm the man at Esopus with the dying
currant bushes"
The plants with which Mr. Fairchild
concerned himself are of such wide
range that readers are apt to be aston
tshed at the versatility Of his interests.
Fruits, grains. vegetables and trees
came under his attention. He has
illustrated his story with photographs
OF these growths taken in many lands.
His book is completely readable. To
Washingtonians it should have more
than ordinary interest, however, for
Mr.. Fairchild made his home in the
Citv for some wears Ee M rried Mise