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D avid G randison F airchild

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1908 donated them to each school in the Dis- trict of Columbia. Their enthusiasm for these beautiful ‘Sakura’ trees caught on and the first lady, Mrs. Taft, ordered the importation of flowering cherry trees to plant along the speedway. The mayor of Tokyo offered 2,000 trees as a gift to Mrs. Taft. Unfortunately the trees in this 1910 shipment were all burned when the inspectors from the Quarantine Of- fice detected a number of pests on the trees. The second shipment of this gift from the mayor of Tokyo in 1912 was clean and the cherries were planted around the speedway and have become a major spring attraction in Washington D.C.  Frank Meyer’s death by drowning in the Yangtzee River during his fourth trip to China was a major blow to Fairchild, who commented in his memorial: “Meyer’s work is done. He will know that throughout his adopted land there will always be his plants, hundreds of them – on mountainsides, in val- leys, in fields, in the backyards and orchards of little cottages, on street corners, and in the arboreta of wealthy lovers of plants. And wherever they are they will all be his.” With the $1,000 Meyer gifted to the Office, Fairchild established the Meyer Medal for meritorious work in the field of Plant Intro- duction. The medal’s first recipient was Bar- bour Lathrop and this medal is still awarded yearly to explorers who contribute distinc- tive service to what is now the National Plant Germplasm System (NPGS).  Their growing love for Florida prompted the Fairchilds to purchase a property in 1916 in Coconut Grove where “The Kampong” (meaning “village” in Malay) was estab- lished. Dr. Fairchild enjoyed growing his introductions in this sub-tropical/tropical cli- mate and he and his family spent an increas- ing amount of time at their beloved home in Florida. Many of these plants are now pre- served in what has become a public garden of the nonprofit National Tropical Botanical Garden.  Between 1924 and 1933 Fairchild par- ticipated in the Allison Armour Expeditions

was transferred to Mr. Bell and Mr. Gros- venor, who served new introductions from the office at Bell’s “Wednesday Evening” events and at the annual banquet of the Na- tional Geographic Society, respectively. The introductions served included: ‘Deglet Noor’ dates grown near Indio, California; and pre- served Chinese jujubes or T’saos from Chico, California.  To bring attention to the newly introduced plants, Dr. Fairchild inaugurated a bulletin on August 19, 1908 titled “Plant Immigrants,” illustrated with photographs of these intro- ductions. After 210 numbers containing 340 full-page illustrations by members of the Of- fice staff, the bulletin was stopped in 1924, to the chagrin of Dr. Fairchild who believed in its value for introducing these new plants to farmers and others interested in new crops. By 1910, plant immigrants came in at the rate of 10 a day and the five Introduction Gardens available by then were not sufficient to care for them. Doctor Galloway succeeded in getting an appropriation that allowed the department to establish a permanent plant introduction site near Washington named the Bell Garden, which replaced the ill-suited Yarrow Garden. Fairchild also supervised in person the establishment of the Brookville Plant Introduction garden in western Florida, and of another one in South Miami, given by Charles Deering in 1915.  The Quarantine Act, which was passed by Congress in 1912, halted the unrestricted flow of plants. Upon finding out that the chestnut blight that was killing the American chestnut must have been introduced with the Chinese chestnut, which tolerated the fungus, Fair- child expressed his regret at feeling impatient towards quarantines and inspections.  Of the many accomplishments Dr. Fairchild is known for, introducing the ‘Sakura’ or flow- ering cherry blossoms is worth special men- tion. The 125 trees planted at ‘In the Woods’ thrived in Maryland and were beloved by the Fairchilds. To make them better known in Washington, the Fairchilds ordered more of the hardy drooping cherry trees, and in spring