The Book of the Fair - Chapter 15



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Chapter the Fifteenth:
Horticulture and Forestry

To him who read aright the lessons of the Fair, one of the most 
significant is that the nations of the world are coming nearer together 
than ever before, and among its highest aims is to hasten this process of 
unification. Through the activities of man, even the vegetable kingdom is 
becoming, as it were, a universal brotherhood, and intelligently viewed, 
the Horticultural department not only affords an opportunity for comparing 
the products and methods of foreign lands with those of the United States, 
but offers a panoramic view of the entire vegetable world, its scenes of 
course shifting with the changing seasons, and though here described in 
the present tense, displaying innumerable phases such as neither pen nor 
picture can delineate. 

Under the general term horticulture are included, for the purposes of the 
Exposition, viticulture, pomology, and floriculture, wines, fruits, and 
flowers being displayed in all stages of development. By means of 
photographs, books, and appliances are illustrated the modern management 
of vineyards, and methods of manufacture, bottling, packing, and shipping. 
In the pomological sections are fresh, dried, preserved, and canned 
fruits. In a miscellaneous department are nuts, jellies, vinegars, ciders, 
etc. Here also are mills and presses, and the latest inventions for drying 
and preserving fruit. Floriculture appears, decked in robes of beauty, 
gigantic palms and tropical plants forming a background to delicate ferns 
and flowers. Another subdivision consists of floral designs and flower 
stands, with ornamental plants and grasses, and literature relating to 
their growth and training. Vegetables and seeds, with all the best 
appliances for ornamental and landscape gardening, are also grouped under 
the general heading of horticulture. 

Fronting 1,000 feet on the lagoon, and with an extreme width of 250 feet, 
the Horticultural building covers an area of five and three-quarter acres, 
and with its greenhouses, and other adjuncts, of eleven acres. But as to 
the size of this structure, and of the other principal structures of the 
Fair, a better idea may be conveyed by stating that the former, though one 
of the smallest of the group, is almost as large as the Crystal Palace, in 
which has been partially preserved the home of the London Exhibition of 

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1851, and that it contains some 90,000 feet more of exhibiting space than 
all the three edifices used for similar purposes at the Philadelphia, New 
Orleans, and the last of the Paris expositions. 

While intended mainly as a spacious conservatory, in structural design the 
Horticultural hall by no means suffers from comparison with its more 
ambitious neighbors. In a word its plan may be stated as including a 
central pavilion, more than 200 feet square, surmounted by a crystal dome, 
and connected with smaller pavilions at either end by two longitudinal 
series of galleries, glass roofed, from 50 to 70 feet in width, and 
inclosing garden courts, each somewhat more than half an acre in extent. A 
feature of the edifice is its decoration in alto and basso relievo, the 
frieze 

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which is six feet in height, and extends along three of its sides, 
displaying the handiwork of a cunning artificer. 

As to inferior effect the arrangement of the building is admirable, and if 
exception has been taken to the depression of the dome, whose height of 
115 feet is barely two-thirds of its diameter, it will be observed that 
the long, low facades of the conservatory forbid such towering aspirations 
as are not inappropriate to the more substantial structures of the 
Exposition. Moreover this seeming disproportion is relieved by the curved 
glass roofs of the galleries on either side, by the lower domes at its 
base, and by the crown with which it is surmounted. 

By the architects, Jenney and Mundie of Chicago, was adopted in their 
decorative plan the style of the Venetian renaissance, while the walls of 
the front galleries and those which surround the side pavilions are 
divided by pilasters of the Ionic order into windowed bays, thus reducing 
the wall surface to the smallest possible area. At the principal entrance, 
from the terrace fronting on the lagoon, is a triumphal arch, the 
vestibule of which is profusely decorated with statuary, and on either 
side of the main pavilion are groups of sculpture fashioned by Lorado 
Taft, one representing the awakening of the flowers, and the other their 
repose at spring and autumn tide. These are among the most chaste and 
expressive of all the artistic embellishments of the Exposition buildings, 
and standing forth in bold relief under the vault of the central dome, 
form the complement of the architectural design. 

From the promenade gallery encircling the dome, the hall itself, with its 
wealth of plant life and floral decoration, presents one of the most 
striking kaleidoscopic vistas contained in this city of wonderland. Rising 
nearly to the summit of the dome is a miniature mountain, gigantic ferns, 
and palms, creepers, and flowers of brilliant hue, giving to the scene a 
rich tropical aspect. Above are great hanging baskets, and at the base, 
around a border of green fringed with blossoms, the sago palm, Abyssinian 
banana, screw pine, and other striking forms of tropical vegetation. From 
the gallery also may be seen to excellent advantage the gigantic forest 
growths of Australia towering roofward like the pillars of a temple, and 
in a conservatory opposite the softer floral beauties of the United 
States. 

If less picturesque, the central galleries furnish exhibits no less 
entertaining than those on the ground floor. Among them is a large 
collection of views of the botanic gardens in Sydney, New South Wales, 
which have sent so many of their treasures to the Fair. The gardens of the 
Imperial university at Tokyo are also well represented by photographs, and 
another interesting feature is the artificial fruits of the Yokohama 
Gardeners' association. Photographs of famous gardens and nurseries in the 
United States, diagrams of public parks in Colorado, Oregon, and 
elsewhere, with the models of villa gardens which line other sections of 
the wall, indicate that a principal object of this gallery exhibit is to 
illustrate the latest methods of landscape gardening. Then there are 
richly stocked herbaria, especially from the western states, and thousands 
of pressed plants and flowers tastefully displayed in revolving frames. 
One of the most remarkable collections was made by a woman of Colorado, 
who, for 

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months climbed its lofty ranges, and traveled over foothills and plains, 
contributing in no less than a thousand varieties an almost complete 
display of its flora. The mouse-fungus, with rust, blight, mildew, rot, 
and all the pests and plagues of the vegetable kingdom are here 
exemplified, and there are odd conceits for fences, rustic vases, and 
other garden ornaments, with collections of dried grasses, and preserved 
flowers made into wreaths, baskets, and other designs. 

Descending to the base of the miniature mountain the visitor finds in this 
neighborhood, almost side by side with tropical exhibits, special displays 
from New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, the leading floricultural 
states. Palms from Australia and the Americas lift their graceful fronts, 
and here are represented the choicest treasures from the conservatories of 
millionaires, such men as the late Jay Gould, A. J. Drexel, George W. 
Child, and Erastus Corning. Here also an Indiana century plant first 
displayed its yellow flowers, with others of its kind on exposition, all 
under the great dome, and in the adjoining conservatory, while France 
shows the rich masses of rhododendrons in which she takes a national 
pride. 

A broad avenue passes around the miniature mountain, and along its outer 
edge New York and Pennsylvania again present their floral displays. In one 
corner is an elegant booth in which are plants, hanging baskets, cut 
flowers, and floral ornaments and designs — a contribution from the empire 
state. A few steps further is a collection of New Jersey snap-dragons, and 
other insect devouring plants. In this locality is also a collection of 
plants from 

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the executive mansion, at Washington, the most striking of which is the so-
called crown of thorns. 

Forming a portion of the New York display is a large model of the national 
capitol, constructed of Canadian thistles, and near this are several large 
beds of Pennsylvania cacti, one of them alone containing three hundred 
varieties. Stepping into a small chamber in the form of a cave beneath the 
mountain, we find here a miniature reproduction of the famous Black Hills 
cave in South Dakota, with the stalactites and crystals which form the 
cathedral chimes, the bridal chamber, and other well known features, all 
represented with remarkable accuracy. 

Entering the southern conservatory from the rotunda, we find ourselves in 
the midst of a profuse display of orchids and ferns, presented mainly by 
the New Jersey firm of Pitcher and Manda, whose exhibits are a prominent 
feature in the floricultural department. The orchid groups, which include 
private collections from Albany, Philadelphia, Jersey City, and other 
localities, are in truth one of the leading attractions of Horticultural 
hall, but as a considerable proportion of the 4,000 or 5,000 existing 
species, with all their varied forms, their brilliant hues, and delicate 
odors, is here on exposition, a detailed description would be obviously 
out of place. 

Further to the south the women of Texas have their exhibit, those of 
Galveston contributing Cape jasmines and sweet bay trees, while Laredo 
sends a large bed of cacti, both of which attract many visitors to this 
section. Missouri's display adjoins a grove of palms near the centre of 
the conservatory, and includes many rare and beautiful plants from the 
botanic gardens of St. Louis. Here also Pennsylvania has another large 
exhibit; Massachusetts occupies a limited space, and other states have 
scattering contributions. In the Illinois display are fine specimens of 
the bay laurel, and Indiana has a flourishing group of begonias. In this 
conservatory of the states is also a bed of cacti representing the botanic 
gardens at the national capital. 

Corresponding to these exhibits south of the central court, is one in the 
northern section showing the floricultural collections of foreign lands. 
In the centre are the huge tree ferns from Australia, some of them forty 
feet high, with other plants of that species whose leaves are in many 
fanciful shapes. Here also are the staghorn ferns, from seven to eight 
feet in diameter, and as many in height, clinging to trunks of teak-wood 
trees, whose vitality has been exhausted in their embrace. At their feet 
are more delicate ferns with mosses, grasses, and many of the creepers 
which grow in 

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profusion amid Australian forests. In the Canadian exhibit adjacent, 
Ontario has many varieties of palms and ferns, eighty in number, and most 
of them from the horticultural gardens at Toronto. Among the former, one 
of the most remarkable is known as the Sabal Anderson description. Of 
other trees and plants, including cacti, flowering shrubs, and ornamental 
leaf plants, there is also a large collection. 

Further toward the north is the Japanese garden, arranged in the simple, 
artistic fashion for which that people is famous. A rustic bridge spans a 
small pond, filled with gold-fish, and fringed with water-lilies and 
ornamental plants. Near by are the quaintest of urns and vases, containing 
orchids and other floral treasures, with plants of all kinds, miniature 
hills, among which are clusters of sago-palms and models of animal life, 
with a rough stone wall covered with native evergreens, morning-glories, 
and creepers, and with colored sands arranged in geometrical figures, all 
forming a picture in which is substantially reproduced a portion of the 
Japanese imperial garden. 

On the opposite side of the conservatory are beds of cacti from Mexico, 
arranged as single specimens or in conglomerate masses, and ranging in 
size from that of an apple to a bushel basket. Some appear like petrified 
porcupines, or spiny creatures of the deep; others are thin and starved, 
and still others seem as if they had lived upon the fat of the land. This 
exhibit, as well as the other cactus beds scattered throughout the 
department, is specially typical of America. One of the most prolific of 
the forty or fifty species is the elephant tooth cactus, bearing a flower 
like a rose or lilac, red or crimson fruit succeeding the blossom. The fig 
cactus is similar in shape to the fruit from which it is names, its pale 
yellow flowers giving place to an edible product resembling the 
gooseberry, which serves as food for the cochineal insects, and at times 
for the inhabitants of Mexico and Central America. 

Beyond the cacti bloom the cannas and begonias of Great Britain, and the 
azaleas of Belgium and Germany. Especially noticeable is the German 
display, neatly and artistically grouped around a central fountain. At the 
upper end of the conservatory, beyond the banners of Australia, and the 
white and red flags of Japan, are the tropical plants of Trinidad, and 
above her exhibit rests, on a large pedestal, the golden lion of Britain. 

Between the main hall, the pavilions, and their connecting curtains, are 
two spacious courts, the ne to the south occupied by large basins or tanks 
filled with aquatic plants. In the northern court is a vault-like 
pavilion, 189 by 135 feet, constructed of iron, and stocked with South 
German wines. The facade and roof are adorned with appropriate statuary, 
and the walls 

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are covered with paintings illustrating various scenes in the wine 
producing districts of the German empire. The vine-clad banks of the Rhine 
and the Necker, the famous district of Moselle, the wine industries of 
Baden and Alsace-Lorraine, are all depicted in graphic art, while plaster 
casts and a sparkling array of wines in bottles complete this display from 
the fatherland. The historic monument of Germania and the Rhenish castle 
of Ehrenfels are reproduced, as models, in the entrance hall of this 
structure. The exhibits of wine are arranged according to locality, each 
specimen being labeled, and grouped with reference to the vineyard, 
village, or district where it was produced. 

Apart from this the collection of wines is in the southern extremity of 
Horticultural hall, where Spain, France, and Germany, California, 
Australia, and other countries view with each other in the quality and 
artistic grouping of their exhibits. Spanish ports and sherries, fashioned 
into pyramids, are displayed in a gaudy pavilion, or series of arched, 
open structures. Sometimes the towers are formed of solid bottles; again 
the base is made of casks and barrels, with rows of bottles let into their 
sides. Within these glistening piles are real sherry wines from the Xerez 
district, the strong, dark vintages of Valencia, and lighter, sweeter 
grades from the Spanish sierras, from whose vineyards also come the grapes 
which are made into Malaga raisins. 

A large portion of the French collection consists of sparkling champagnes, 
including a tastefully arranged exhibit from Rheims, its ancient home, 
and, with Epernay, still its most important centre. An immense bottle 
reaching nearly to the ceiling of the hall may be considered as a monument 
to the Benedictine monk, who, two centuries ago, gathered the wines from 
the districts surrounding Rheims, and by mixing them made the first 
champagne that history records. The white wines of the Sauterne and 
Gironde districts, the rosy Medocs, clarets, and Burgundies, and a dozen 
other brands appear in various devices, as contributions from exhibitors 
in Bordeaux, Marseilles, Paris, and Nancy. Cordials and mineral waters are 
also in plentiful supply, and models of machinery, as well as of vineyards 
in the famous districts of Medoc and Gironde, serve to break the monotony 
of endless rows of bottles. In photographs and charts are shown all the 
insects which injure the vine, and their mode of attacking it, the king of 
them all, the phylloxera, receiving the lion's share of attention. 

The German display in the southern section of the hall is a large and 
massive exhibit, of more general character than the one already mentioned. 
Worthy of note are the sweet, mellow wines of Rhenish Bavaria, the red 
wines of the Ahr, and the stronger products of vineyards planted on the 
banks of the Rhine; but most of the principal wine-producing districts of 
the empire, with their output of nearly 100,000,000 gallons a year, are 
here represented. In this collection also is a large assortment of beers 
and brandies, of cider, temperance, and 

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all other beverages that find favor in the fatherland. 

Adjacent to this, and in the southwestern corner of the viticultural 
pavilion, is the display of California wines, by far the largest and most 
attractive of our domestic collections, its effect increased by the 
skillful grouping of the exhibits and the ingenious structure which 
contains them. A red cedar pavilion, 40 feet in height, is fashioned so as 
to resemble one of her giant trees, the main entrance having the 
appearance of an archway built of rocks, while around the trunk are 
various figures emblematic of viticulture. The goddess of the wine is 
crowned with a tiara of vines and grapes, and toward her an Indian girl is 
approaching with fruit-laden basket. A padre, with spade in hand, 
represents an early stage of the industry, and a huge grizzly bear is a 
character in Californian history which requires no introduction. From the 
gallery a staircase leads into the pavilion, so that the visitor may pass 
either from the ground or upper floor to the exhibits within. 

Passing through the main doorway, we pause for a moment before a large 
panoramic view of the Golden Gate and the harbor of which it is the 
portal. Then turning to the exhibits, we notice first of all the 
collective display of several of the largest vintners and viticulturists, 
whose cellars in San Francisco and elsewhere contain larger stores of wine 
than those which Hannibal wasted, when, on his march toward Rome, he 
bathed his horses' feet in the choicest vintages of Italy. Of some of the 
vineyards, covering their thousands of acres, there are paintings by local 
artists, with tablets and appropriate mottoes. A favorite corner of the 
viticultural hall is in the shape of a redwood tank, garlanded with vines, 
and forming, with its contents, the exhibit of several large producers of 
Sonoma county, prominent among whom is an Italian-Swiss colony. In a 
separate structure are also represented the great vineyards and cellars of 
the late Leland Stanford, at Vina, in the Sacramento valley, its court 
opening through an arched entrance way into a spacious vault, lined on 
either side with barrels of huge proportions. In pictures are also 
reproduced these famous vineyards and wine cellars, together with the 
bonded warehouse in which at times is stored $1,000,000 worth of brandy. 
From Napa, Sonoma, Santa Clara, Alameda, and other counties there are 
smaller exhibits, all contributing of their best toward a combined display 
representing one of the foremost of Californian industries. 

Not the least valuable exhibit is that of the State Viticultural 
commission, consisting of 

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practical and reliable descriptions of viticulture as pursued in 
California. On either side of its space are growing vines, above which are 
photographs of grape clusters, showing the best varieties for the 
production of wines, brandies, and raisins. Famous vineyards are also 
depictured, and in a colored series of state and county maps are shown the 
areas planted in many varieties of grapes. 

From a few hundred acres of vineyard planted by the padres and their 
neophytes during the pastoral days of California, the area under 
cultivation increased to nearly 200,000 acres in 1892, with more than 150,
000,000 vines, yielding, in full maturity, an average of three or four 
tones to the acre, a ton of grapes producing about 120 gallons of wine. It 
is not until recent years that the viticultural interests of California 
have assumed any large proportions, or indeed that here were known either 
the art of producing marketable wines or the grapes best adapted to the 
purpose. As late as 1860 the bulk of her wines was made of mission grapes, 
such as the Franciscan fathers transplanted from Mexico, and from which 
was extracted a light colored beverage, heavy, and rank of flavor. Later, 
many foreign varieties were introduced, largely through the efforts of the 
commission; and presently wine-making was based on scientific methods, and 
became a fairly profitable industry. Then came over-production, for as yet 
the demand was only for local consumption; but gradually California wines 
gained a foothold in eastern and European countries, especially in France, 
where they are doctored and often returned in adulterated forms, to be 
sold under foreign labels at from three to five-fold their original cost. 
In 1881 more than 3,000,000 gallons were shipped to the Atlantic states; 
in 1890 more than 12,000,000 gallon were forwarded by rail or sea, and of 
the present output, averaging some 20,000,000 gallons a year of wine and 1,
500,000 of brandy, or more than one-half the entire yield of the United 
States, at least 70 percent is shipped to eastern and foreign markets. 

Aside from California, the most elaborate of domestic collections are from 
New York, Ohio, and Missouri. The dry wines, champagnes, and brandies of 
the empire state are especially noticeable; exhibitors from Ohio and the 
region bordering on Lake Erie group their specimens in and around an 
elaborate column of bottles, and two of the most prominent wine companies 
of Missouri show their samples in neat and tasteful pavilions. New Jersey 
is also well represented, and among her participants is one of the oldest 
of German wine makers in the United States. From Manassas, Virginia, comes 
a specimen of her vintages, and there is wine from a vineyard planted on 
the battlefield of Bull Run. 

Near the French section are towers and pyramids of bottles filled with the 
red and white wines of New South Wales. Photographs of her vineyards show 
that they are large and thrifty; and here also the information is conveyed 
that among the more important of native red wines are Burgundy, claret, 
and hermitage; of sweet wines, Muscat, port, and sherry; of white wines, 
hock, Madeira-dry, Shiraz, and Tokay. Australian vintages, it may here be 
observed, are gradually finding favor in European markets, with exports to 
England alone of 200,000 or 300,000 gallons a year. Already the tentative 
stage has been passed, and many varieties will bear comparison with the 
lighter wines of French production, while for domestic use they have 
almost superseded imported brands. 

Across the aisle from the exhibit of New South Wales are the light wines 
of Austria-Hungary; and here also Russia displays the products of her 
Caspian and Caucasian vineyards. In a far corner of the hall are 

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the wines of New Mexico, North Carolina, and Japan, in small but tasteful 
groups. On the pavilion of North Carolina is an inscription which claims 
that her territory is the home of the grape; thus recalling the stories 
told by the discoverers of the Atlantic coast as to the profusion of wild 
grapes along Carolina shores. The Japanese booth has corner posts of 
bamboo poles, and above it is the national flag, whose device is a red 
ball upon a white background. The names upon the bottles are strange, and 
we wonder, for instance, what such a wine as selijyunbudosyu can be, 
hoping that the beverage is more palatable than its name suggests. 

In the gallery of the viticultural section are the government exhibits of 
Italy, Greece, and Portugal, with miscellaneous assortments from France 
and Spain. The latter include the cordials of a Spanish manufacturer, of 
which, it is said, the Infanta loves to partake. On the opposite side of 
the gallery is the Portuguese collection, contained in a pavilion of which 
one of the arches spans the stairway leading to the upper floor. Vines are 
trellised over the wood-work, and the national flag and royal coat of arms 
are grouped over the principal arch. Within are said to be the genuine 
wines of the Oporto district. Italy occupies the western end of the 
viticultural gallery, her exhibit consisting mainly of ornamental 
structures, composed of casks and bottles, the centrepiece resembling a 
large flowering bush. Near the base of the structures are many large 
diplomas presented to Italian wine-makers at slopes of Mount Vesuvius. The 
wines and brandies of Greece are displayed in a white pavilion, the roof 
of which is supported by Corinthian pillars, and at the further end of 
this gallery are exhibits of California raisins, one in the form of a 
pyramid of glass cases from Escondido, and other neatly arranged by Fresno 
dealers and packers. 

The pomological exhibits are mainly grouped along the curtains of 
Horticultural hall, and largely consist of the green products of the 
United States, and other lands. Shipping their fruits in compartments 
cooled by refrigeration, such distant regions as the Cape and Australian 
colonies forwarded their more hardy species in fresh condition, while 
grapes and orchard fruits of the season of 1892 were preserved in cold 
storage for exhibition, not only in our own but in foreign countries. Thus 
France has sent us several hundred varieties of deciduous fruits, her 
display of pears being the largest, and one of the best on exposition. 
Russia has forwarded a collection gathered from every region of the 
empire, even from the frozen plains of Siberia, while from the tropics 
came varieties that could not elsewhere be seen. From northern Africa came 
a consignment, and New South Wales installed 

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the first shipment of fresh fruit sent from Australia to the United 
States. 

About the middle of March several barrels of apples, a bushel of pears, 
and a crate of grapes were placed on board a sailing vessel bound from 
Melbourne to San Francisco, and then forwarded by rail to Chicago, where 
they were installed in good condition. Other shipments of fruit were made 
from Australia under more favorable conditions; and by Atlantic steamers, 
with their cold-storage compartments, oranges, lemons, figs, and other 
fruits were brought from Naples and elsewhere in southern Europe. Thus the 
pomological department at Jackson park represents the conditions and 
products of the principal fruit-growing regions of the world. Several 
countries which could not furnish a complete exhibit substituted wax and 
plaster models. Germany excelling all others in this respect, with 
imitations so perfect that it is almost impossible to detect them. In 
drawings and paintings are also placed before the visitor the native 
fruits of several lands. 

A liberal but divided space in the northwestern section of the hall is 
devoted to the citrus display of California, one that is in all respects 
worthy of the golden state, collected and grouped with the utmost care, 
and renewed as occasion requires, the waste of fruit from decay and damage 
amounting, in this and other exhibits, to hundreds of pounds a day. On 
tables, in piles, in pyramids, and in more complex forms, one of them 
reproducing the orthodox liberty bell, are oranges and lemons of all 
varieties, gathered from many portions of the state, from San Diego 
county, adjoining the Mexican border, almost to the boundary line of 
Oregon. Among the scores of specimens are the best that Riverside and 
other citrus belts could send, including Washington and other navels, 
Mediterranean sweets, St. Michaels, and Malta bloods; while of lemons 
there are the Sicilian, Lisbon, Bonnie Brae, and Eureka. 

At the opposite end of the section the citrus belt of southern California 
is represented by a tower of oranges, thirty feet high, its base of navels 
and other of the larger species, above which are the smaller varieties, 
its top surmounted by an eagle, and encircled with rows of lemons, 
fashioned in the shape of a cornice. In the open court beyond are orange 
and lemon groves in miniature, with other exhibits illustrating California 
methods and products by practical results. Add to this the peaches, 
nectarines, and apricots; the cherries, and plums; the apples, pears, 
quinces, grapes, figs, olives, and berries which California had to show 
during the season of their fruitage, and no wonder that the display from 
the golden state was to the majority of exposition sight-seers almost in 
the nature of a revelation. 

Fruit-growing, as I have said, is every year assuming larger proportions 
in southern and central California, where, from the foothills of the 
sierra to the shores of the ocean, there are large areas adapted to this 
industry. Many thousands of acres, before devoted 

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to cereals, are being planted as orchards and vineyards, while in quality, 
as in quantity, the yield is steadily improving, for inferior fruits are 
almost unsalable, either in local or other markets. It was not until 1869 
that eastward shipments by rail became possible; but since that year, 
notwithstanding almost prohibitive rates of transportation, the volume of 
production has increased from thirty to fifty-fold, and with the promise 
of still more remarkable development, awaiting only the advent of 
competing railroads. In 1870 less than 1,000 tons of fruit, in whatever 
form, were forwarded to eastern points; in 1880 the total did not exceed 3,
000 tons; for 1890 shipments of fresh fruit amounted to 52,500 tons, and 
of dried fruit, 33,000 tons. For the three years ending with 1889 the 
trade with New York alone increased in more than ten-fold ratio; in 
Chicago almost as much, and in either city California fruits were hawked 
around their streets, and were for sale at moderate prices in hundreds of 
stores and booths. Said the New York Sun; "The products of Pacific slope 
orchards and vineyards are now competing with our own fruit products, and 
beating them out of their boots, so to speak, in spite of the 3,000 miles 
of disadvantage under which Californians labor in comparison with local 
growers." 

Between the two divisions of the Californian exhibits are scores of long 
tables covered with groups of apples, including the russet, Ben Davis, 
Northern Spy, and their kindred, from all the states. New York and 
Michigan occupy the central spaces, flanked by Wisconsin and New Jersey. 
"York state" apples have ever been favorites, even with western people, 
and assuredly her 110 varieties displayed in Horticultural hall will not 
dispel the charm, especially her Newton pippins and Hudson river apples. 
Of excellent quality also are her grapes, pears, strawberries, and other 
fruits, smaller than western descriptions, but, as is claimed, superior as 
to flavor, texture, and durability, the rich western soil favoring rapid 
growth and bulk at the expense of finer qualities. Minnesota and Illinois 
are grouped beyond New York, the latter occupying a tasteful pavilion, 
divided into sections, in which are displayed her berries arranged 
according to locality. Iowa also maintains her reputation as a fruit-
growing region. Tokay and other grapes, and the large orange cling peaches 
of the western states are also on exposition, some of the latter almost as 
large as summer squashes, preserved in liquids, and displayed in glass 
jars. 

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The strongest feature in Missouri's exhibit was her choice collections of 
peaches, berries, and apples, the famous olden fruit farm of Howell 
county, and other orchards of the Ozark mountain country sending frequent 
consignments of peaches in season, while, earlier during the terms of the 
Fair, southern Missouri sent strawberries of wonderful size and flavor. In 
her exhibition of fresh fruits, replenished and varied throughout the 
season, Missouri was a competitor with such states as Delaware, New York, 
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, 
and Iowa. There were also 1,000 glass jars of all sizes and shapes, filled 
with nearly all the fruits, berries, and vegetables of the temperate zone, 
preserved in antiseptic fluids, so that for several years some of them 
have almost retained their natural appearance. Arkansas shows many 
specimens of apples, pears, peaches, plums, and small fruits, all of 
excellent quality, and especially her apples, whose flavor and staying 
qualities are strongly commended. 

A theme of almost universal comment are the exhibits of the far western 
states, apart from that of California. From Colorado come berries as 
bright and fresh as her own mountain air, with fruits preserved in 
alcohol, and wax models, taken in facsimile during the autumn of 1892, of 
more than 600 specimens of apples, peaches, pears, quinces, and melons. 
Idaho sends her preserved grapes, prunes, egg-plant, radishes, and other 
fruits and vegetables, some of which were raised at an elevation of six 
thousand feet above sea level. Oregon, Washington, and Montana have 
thousands of green and preserved specimens of apples, apricots, cherries, 
peaches, pears, plums, prunes, grapes, and berries. The Oregon and 
Washington booths were somewhat of a surprise; for even among the more 
intelligent class of visitors, many were not aware that either state could 
send anything more than samples of their farm products, fish, and lumber. 
Certain it is that few expected to see here such clusters of Black Hamburg 
grapes as Oregon sent, some of the bunches weighing nearly a dozen pounds. 
Her orchard fruits are also of choicest quality, and especially her 
apples, which, for thirty years or more, have been largely raised for 
export. 

Adjacent to the Oregon pavilion is the Florida section, where he who is so 
disposed may compare the fruits of the furthest south with those of the 
far northwest. At the entrance is an archway of russet oranges, 

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and near by a tall cocoa-nut tree raises its head almost to the ceiling, 
around its trunk an assortment of nuts, with portions of the shell 
removed. The walls are lined with gigantic palm fronds, beneath which are 
rows of cocoanuts and pineapple plants, the latter in all stages of growth 
and bearing. By Florida were sent the first peaches to the Exposition, 
with a small collection of early tomatoes, cucumbers, and other fruits and 
vegetables out of season in the north and west, all the result of private 
enterprise, for there was no state appropriation for any purpose. 

The artificial fruits of Germany are wonderful specimens of artistic 
manipulation. Crisp lettuces, large apples, somewhat speckled, juicy 
pears, plums, and berries, parsnips and turnips — cut through here and 
there to show the interior structure — and other fruits and vegetables are 
spread before the visitor in such perfect imitation that the closest 
inspection almost fails to detect them. 

Near the California orange tower is a collection of Italian fruits, mainly 
shipped from Palermo, and opposite is a small display of apples and pears 
from New South Wales. When their history is known, certain red and yellow 
apples from the Australian colony attract much attention; for the latter 
have traveled hither via the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco, and the 
former by way of the Suez Canal, the Mediterranean, London, and New York. 
Both were shipped from the same orchard near Sydney, and those which 
crossed the Pacific arrived at the Fair two weeks earlier than the 
consignment forwarded by the Isthmus route. 

North of the main western portal is the Canadian exhibit, her specimens of 
berries and other fruits, fresh and preserved, arranged in four pavilions, 
and on triple rows of tables, the province of Ontario making the largest 
display. While preserved fruits form the bulk of the collection, the 
apples, peaches, and berries grown in the garden region enclosed by the 
great lakes are as fresh as though shipped from Michigan or Wisconsin. 
Quebec has also a moderate exhibit, and Nova Scotia and Prince Edward's 
Island prove their capability for producing the finest of fruits. Among 
the apples from British Columbia are some choice specimen from the 
orchards of Lord Aberdeen, now governor-general of Canada. 

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Seeds, vegetables, horticultural implements, dried and canned fruits, 
nuts, and other articles from the United States and foreign lands are 
mainly grouped in the northern section of Horticultural hall. In a corner 
adjoining the display of fresh fruits the New Jersey firm, mentioned as 
contributing one of the most extensive and attractive exhibits in the 
floricultural department, erected a miniature fortress of seeds, contained 
in glass cases, and in thousands of paper envelopes. The summit of the 
glacis is covered with plume-like grasses, and beyond are rows of 
vegetables raised from the seed. Canada's space near by presents an 
unpretentious group of vegetables, fresh and canned, preserved fruits, and 
pickles. Thence eastward is the German collection of seeds, models of 
vegetables, garden ornaments, lawn mowers, and all kinds of garden 
apparatus. Three of the largest Erfurt and Quendlinburgh houses are 
represented in the hall, and another firm calling itself Purveyor to the 
royal Prussian and Ducal Coburgh-Gotha courts makes an extensive exhibit. 
One of the Erfurt establishments has on the screens of its pavilion a 
series of paintings symbolic of horticultural pursuits, with tasteful 
scrolls and cornucopias, gods and goddesses, plumb of aspect, and flowers, 
fruits, and vegetables in every stage of growth. 

The New York firm of Henderson and company has a large assortment of 
seeds, and, in the form of a mound, reproduces in papier mache all kinds 
of market garden products. On the summit of the mound is a model of its 
establishment, with workmen at the windows, elevators running to and from 
the several floors, and customers passing in long procession through the 
entrance way. Henry A. Dreer of Philadelphia, and J. c. Vaughan of Chicago 
and New York, have also attractive exhibits of seeds, and there are 
smaller collections from Ohio, New Jersey, and Utah exhibitors. 

Many American, French, and German establishments show, either in the form 
of illustrations and pamphlets, or as actual exhibits, the latest garden 
appliances, both for useful and ornamental purposes. There are lawn mowers 
of regular size and in miniature, motionless, and engaged in cutting 
imaginary grass from imaginary lawns. Rustic vases, stands, seats, 
monuments, seals, alligators, and other hideous beasts supposed to add to 
the attraction of garden landscpaes, are also profusely displayed. From 
Indiana a Bedford firm sends a number of ornamental pieces composed 
entirely of stone, its works being in the very midst of limestone 
quarries. Some of the figures are works of art, as those by Leonard Volk, 
the Chicago sculptor, and the typical gypsy, both of which are on the roof 
of the pavilion. Adjoining this another Indiana firm has samples of wire 
network for fences and gates. Its pavilion is of wire, the square open-
work pillars trellised with vines, and within the enclosure are piles of 
manufactured articles. 

The French exhibit in this connection, occupying a narrow strip along the 
northern wall, consists largely of literature devoted to the subject, with 
the advertisements of houses which furnish fancy baskets, seeds, twine, 
and all kinds of apparatus for heating conservatories, and hot-houses. A 
Troyes firm has a collection of knives, shears, and pruning hooks, some of 
them in fantastic shapes, and suggestive rather of surgical instruments 
than the purposes for which they were fashioned. 

A liberal space in this vicinity is occupied by California products, 
displayed in the form of pavilions fashioned entirely of canned fruits, 
towers of almonds and walnuts, and tier upon tier of boxes filled with 

Page 446

prunes and raisins, the last representing an industry whose growth may be 
inferred from the increase of pack, from 6,000 boxes in 1873 to more than 
1,000,000 boxes in 1893. Of excellent quality are the prunes, and other 
dried fruits of Idaho, and the preserved fruits, jellies, and pickles of 
Kansas, and Colorado. Even the New Mexican Pueblos, the oldest of our 
native races, were imbued with the spirit of the day, erecting a little 
booth across which are printed words of greeting, and placing therein 
bottles and jars of preserved fruits. 

New Mexico has also sent us as a work of art, a reproduction of the 
Horticultural building itself, in the shape of a model in silver filigree, 
more than 100 pounds of metal being used in its construction. In this 
connection may be mentioned another exhibition of fine metal and filigree 
work, a case filled with wreaths and flowers, closely resembling 
imitations in wax, displaying the skill of a German artisan. The Greek 
pavilion lies opposite the one which contains the products of Ohio cider 
presses. Its contents consist mainly of the figs of Attica, the Corinthian 
grape or currant, and other dried fruits from mainland and Peleponnese. 

Among the gallery exhibits may first of all be mentioned a tower 
constructed of cases of English walnuts, forming a portion of the 
California collections; but here also are booths filled with the canned 
and dried fruits of many climes. A considerable space is occupied by the 
San Francisco firm of Lusk and company, in whose pavilion, tastefully 
decorated with silken banners, are displayed all the canned fruits of the 
golden state. In a corner of the gallery is shown a very simple device, 
which is interesting many fruit growers, and has been adopted by not a 
few. It consists of a long rod, with shears, and a canvas tube attached, 
so that be merely pulling a cord the stem of an apple or orange is cut, 
and the fruit falls into the receptacle placed beneath. 

Pecans, neatly packed in cases, with photographs of Pecan bayou, as well 
as of the Swinden pecan orchards at Brownwood, call attention to a 
prominent Texan industry. Among other illustrations, scattered throughout 
the gallery is one of a special train of canned fruit shipped from San 
Jose, California, and elsewhere are views of the public gardens of Bremen, 
and the villas of Nice. Except for its well appointed restaurants, these 
almost complete the contents of the gallery, or such, at least, as here 
need special mention. 

Thus, as briefly as the nature of my subject would permit, I have 
described the more salient and many of the minor features in the 
department of Horticulture, an attractive display 

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to all classes of visitors, and to many the most attractive in all the 
wide grounds of Jackson park. For the skillful grouping and management of 
all these varied and varying collections, credit is due, among others, to 
the chief of the department, John M. Samuels, and to John Thorpe, Charles 
Wright, and H. M. La Rue, superintendents, n the order named, of the 
bureaus of floriculture, pomology, and viticulture. 

In conclusions a brief description may be added as to the outdoor exhibits 
in connection with this department, its conservatories, hot-houses, and 
grounds, with some further mention of the thousands of horticultural and 
other specimens, contributed in lavish profusion from every quarter of the 
world. During the autumn of 1892, palms, ferns, nursery trees, and 
decorative and aquatic plants arrived by the car-load from the United 
States, from Spanish-American countries, from Europe, Australia, and 
Japan, until winter put a stop to further shipments. Almost before the 
snows had melted, the greenhouses near the Horticultural building 
presented signs of life, and by the middle of April at least 200,000 
plants had been received at the conservatories. 

In early winter thousands of Chinese primroses, hanging in dainty groups 
of variegated pink, white, blue, and red, represented the floral 
contributions of England, Germany, America, France, and Italy. Then came 
the Persian violets, richer even than the Chinese blossoms, issuing in 
regal splendor from the enfolding bulb. During the lenten season, the 
cineraria came forth in innumerable clusters, ranging in color from the 
purest white to the deepest purple. Crimson, yellow, bronze, and lavender 
calceolaria also revealed their beauties under the feeble rays of the sun, 
side by side with the English primrose, and the German hyacinth. Japanese 
ferns, trained in grotesque imitations of beast and fish, European 
pansies, and geraniums of many varieties helped to complete the opening 
chapter in the horticultural annals of the Exposition. 

During the later spring, large beds of pansies skirted the Horticultural 
hall, and blossoms by hundreds of thousands were massed between it and the 
banks of the lagoon. Here were contributions not only from New York, 
Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and other states, but from Germany, Great 
Britain, France, Italy, and Belgium. Begonias, cannas, zinnias, and phlox 
flashed their bright hues around the building, these and other floral 
displays giving color to the home of the Fair. 

In truth there was barely a week, between the months of May and October, 
that failed to reveal a fresh series of flowers and blossoms, 
rhododendrons, hyacinths, primroses, tulips, and pansies in May; roses and 
lilies in June; sweet peas, peonies, tea roses, clematis, and begonias in 
July; hollyhocks, carnations, dahlias, asters, 

Page 448

verbenas, hydrangeas in August and September; and chrysanthemums, orchids, 
and various flowering annuals later in the season. The grounds adjacent to 
the hall, the banks of the lagoon, and the Wooded Island opposite, were 
mainly selected for the outdoor display of flowers, which was not only the 
herald of the Fair but continued throughout its term. The competitive 
exhibit of cannas, in which New York and Pennsylvania were rivals, was the 
finest ever witnessed in the United States, including more than 5,000 
plants, though Pennsylvania restricted her collection entirely to French 
varieties. 

The neighboring grounds, surrounding the Woman's building, were lavishly 
but tastefully decorated by France, and here was well represented the 
floricultural art of this nation of artists, fostered, as it is, by the 
Jardin des Plants and the gardens of the Tuilleries, the Luxembourg, and 
the Museum. 

But it was upon the Wooded Island that the richest of the floral exhibits 
were concentrated. Here is a resting place, with winding walks, shady 
nooks, and picturesque summer houses covered with vines, with shrubbery 
and flower-beds at every turn, and with willows drooping gracefully toward 
the waters, above which sea-gulls, and other aquatic birds are flitting to 
and fro. Three bridges of the Venetian order connect with the terraces 
fronting the Horticultural building, and with the southern shore of the 
lagoon. One of them, of Japanese design, leads from the mainland to a 
quaint structure at the northern extremity of the island. Here many 
visitors linger before this so-called temple of Hoodo, or wander through a 
garden laid out with rare ingenuity. Here was the weird looking, long-
petalled chrysanthemum, the national flower of Japan, and here bloomed the 
fragrant rose which the Japanese call wichuriana, before a stranger to 
this country. In this locality, more than in any other, the visitor was 
introduced to new and unusual forms of floral life. 

The Wooded Island was the special home of the rose; at its southern 
extremity was a gorgeous bed of 

Page 449

these flowers more than an acre in extent, and near by blossomed fields of 
rhododendrons and lilies from Belgium, Holland, Great Britain, and the 
United States. The rhododendrons contributed by the Horticultural society 
of Ghent were remarkably beautiful, fully maintaining the reputation of 
that city as a floricultural centre. The roses came from almost every 
country in the world, forming the most complete collection ever gathered 
together, while honeysuckles and other vines were trained over the 
surrounding fences, appearing like solid masses of blossoms and foliage. 
Germany covered half an acre with her cheerful garden flowers. The holly 
trees and yews of England were not far away; and Pennsylvania and New 
York, California, France, and Austria, planted specimens from their fields 
and forests on this cosmopolitan island. But there was also a distinctly 
American exhibit, in the form of a magnificent bed of sunflowers on the 
highest point of the island, their hardy faces hanging in clusters of 
thousands, and dispensing afar their homely fragrance. 

He who is so disposed may wander over the bridge connecting, toward the 
south, with a smaller island, and there for a moment linger over the 
picturesque reproduction of an American hunter's camp, and the diminutive 
bark cabin of an Australian pioneer. The former is the headquarters of the 
Boone and Crockett club, an organization of prominent sportsmen throughout 
the United States, whose object is to preserve the large game of the 
country, especially that of the Yellowstone or National Park. The 
structure is built of rough logs, and within, over the rude 

Page 450

fireplace, is the skull of a grizzly bear. On the floor are deer skins, 
and over the doorway are the broad, spreading antlers of an elk. Woolen 
blankets, skins, saddles, and lassos are strewn carelessly over rude 
tables, bunks, and chairs; field glasses and weapons lean against the 
rough walls, or are fastened to them; a pile of fuel is neatly stacked in 
a corner of the room; in short, there is nothing omitted from the 
furniture and equipments of a hunter's cabin. The camp is under charge of 
Elwood Hofer, who, for the occasion, was relieved from his task of 
capturing animals in the Yellowstone, or National Park, for the 
Smithsonian Institution. 

Though officially classed with Agriculture, the Forestry exhibits will 
here be described in connection with Horticulture, to which department 
they would appear to be more akin. Though foreign lands are also 
represented, the specimens are gathered mainly from the United States, 
whose forests, as it would seem, are not destined to remain much longer on 
the face of the earth, for apart from other uses, some 40,000,000,000 
cubic feet are annually converted into lumber, representing an industry 
which keeps busy about 100,000 establishments and several hundred thousand 
men, with a value estimated at $800,000,000 a year. 

Of all the Exposition structures the Forestry building is, more than any 
other, symbolical of the purposes for which it was designed, forming, as 
it does, an integral portion, and perhaps the most interesting portion of 
the exhibits which it contains. A plain, unpretentious edifice, 500 by 200 
feet, and with its main facade fronting on the lake, in style of 
architecture it is of the rustic order, its roof thatched with bark, its 
sides of wooden slabs from which the bark has been removed, and its 
entrances fashioned in various kinds of wood. 

Page 451

But the most unique and attractive feature in this temple of Forestry is 
the colonnade which supports the roof of the spacious veranda, formed of 
the trunks of trees twenty-five feet in height, but otherwise of different 
proportions, arranged in groups of three, and with the largest of each 
triplet in the centre. About thirty states are here represented, and the 
flags and coats of arms of participating nations and commonwealths appear 
above the cornices of the veranda. A passing examination of these columnar 
trunks shows that the larger specimens are of red cedar, Douglas fir, bull 
and white pine, western hemlock, the black spruce, the bald cypress, the 
tulip poplar, the white oak, and the green ash. The principal minor 
specimens are the Ohio buckeye, the Sitka spruce, the western larch, the 
red alder, the arbor vitae, red oaks, aspens, and yellow and white 
birches. Here are represented the forests of Canada, of the east, the 
south, the Pacific slope with its far northwest, including all the wooded 
regions from the Arctic ocean to the gulf of Mexico. 

Among the most beautiful of the columns which flank the great trees are 
the silver maples which once grew on the banks of western rivers, or on 
the Atlantic coast from Maine to Georgia, and the red maples of the 
swamps, which still are found at intervals from Canada to the gulf. More 
delicate still are the birches, for the birch is essentially a tree of the 
north. Carrying out the idea of displaying the primary forms of forest 
wealth in the structure of the building, its sides are composed of slabs, 
the frames of doors and windows being sections of logs with the bark 
removed. From the roofs of the verandas depend borders, or cornices, 
fashioned from limbs and saplings into simple geometric figures. Bark 
covers the roofs of both verandas and main structure, a rustic fence 
surrounding the latter. In the erection of the building wooden pins were 
substituted for nails and iron bolts, for the design of the architect, 
Charles B. Atwood, was to illustrate the substantial and economical work 
which can be done by American builders with wood alone. In carrying out 
this idea, and in making the building itself the primary exhibit of the 
department, about $100,000 was expended, and more than 2,500,000 feet of 
timber were consumed. 

Page 452

A superficial examination of the Forestry building fails to disclose any 
main portal, for all the doors are square, and of similar pattern. Once 
within, however, the visitor discovers a spacious vestibule fronting the 
east, which may be considered as the principal entrance. Here is an 
illustration of the decorative qualities of yellow pine and cypress from 
the Southern Lumber Manufacturers' association, the sections of wood 
forming the square pillars and panels of the dado, the round columns 
above, the rich border of cypress, and the ceilings themselves, being 
highly polished, and dressed so as to show all the details of graining. 

Passing thence, the visitor finds most of the massive exhibits fronting 
the vestibule, or grouped in its neighborhood. Around him are the products 
of the forests of Michigan, Wisconsin, Washington, West Virginia, North 
Carolina, and Missouri, and before him gigantic sections of pine and 
hemlock from Canada, and slabs of polished woods from the wilds of 
Australia, while in the very centre of the hall is a massive monument 
containing specimens from all the exhibiting states and countries. Scores 
of huge blocks and polished sections of wood are arranged around the 
mammoth redwood from California, which has carried away the honors of the 
entire display, an arrow and the head of a brass tack upon its face 
indicating the diameter of the tree at the time of the event which the 
Exposition celebrates. Another object which attracts almost as much 
attention is one of the axes which England's premier uses so vigorously 
upon the trees of his Hawaarden estate. 

To he northeast of the vestibule are the evidences of Michigan's forest 
wealth. A rustic gateway gives entrance to the exhibit, the cabinet which 
incloses it being highly polished, and neatly paneled bird's eye maple, 
oak, elm, walnut, and other varieties entering into its construction. An 
odd conceit, and one deftly executed, is that of placing 

Page 453

in the cornices several transverse sections of small logs, with the bark 
only removed, hatchets, saws, and compasses carved out of wood appearing 
at various points, and completing the decorative scheme. Over the main 
entrance is the symbol of the state, two stags engaged in combat with an 
eagle between them, and specimens of pine, cedar, and poplar are 
contributed by her experiment station. The furniture factories of Grand 
Rapids and other cities of southern Michigan find in the specimens of 
walnut, oak, maple, and pine here displayed, one of the secrets of their 
success. In a small photograph gallery within the pavilion are shown the 
enemies of Michigan woods, one view depicting the ravages of the web-worm 
upon the poplars of a city avenue, every leaf being stripped from the 
branches, while upon the opposite side of the street is a row of 
flourishing maples exempt from the plague. In a corner of this section is 
a rough fireplace made of logs, and in the centre a miniature fortress of 
gnarled trees. Various forms of manufacture are also represented, as 
sulphite fibre, basket-work, and wooden-ware. 

Wisconsin has erected a neat pavilion built of her native woods, with six 
varieties in each of the twenty hexagonal columns which support the birch 
bark roof. The floor is of cherry and birch planks, and between the 
pillars of two-score blocks of timber which have a commercial value. In 
the centre of the structure are logs of pine, oak, and other varieties, 
with smaller sections arranged on stands. In branches and seeds are also 
represented the pine, spruce, birch, and hemlock forests of northern 
Wisconsin, as well as the cultivated elms and other ornamental trees of 
the southern portion of the state. Upon the walls and scattered throughout 
the specimens are many colored pictures and photographs depicting scenes 
in logging camps, saw and lumber mills, showing some of the largest loads 
of logs which have ever been hauled from western forests, one of them 
twenty-one feet high and twenty in width. 

A score of people might stand on one of the mammoth disks of cedar which 
Washington has laid upon the floor; and this is by no means the best that 
the forests of the evergreen state can do, though here as in her own 
building is an imposing display. Missouri woods include many varieties, 
with rough sections of trees and others dressed and polished, among which 
may be noticed the delicate graining and tinting of the holly, aspen, 
yellow cypress, and silver maple. This exhibit is inclosed by a wall of 
tree trunks cut in regulation lengths, including about 150 massive 
specimens. 

In an adjoining section, the forests of West Virginia, are displayed in a 
collection of photographs. Forests of pine, spruce, chestnut, beech, oak, 
cherry, and black gum, and logging scenes in the mountains, and along the 
rivers, are all represented by the artist, and there is a circular tower 
of woods with gigantic poplars and tulips at the base. A lumber company 
shows hardwood capable of taking a beautiful finish; a Parkersburg mill 
company has an exhibit of brush handles and wainscoting, and the Standard 
Oil company one of the barrels used in its export business. 

North Carolina has an extensive and varied display, rugged specimens and 
photographs of timber trees conveying an excellent idea of her forest 
growth. Here also is a large display of nuts, seeds, cones, and bark, and 
a small collection of balsam, turpentine, 

Page 454

and other products of the pine, for which the state is noted. The exhibit 
is arranged in a series of cabinets, the bases of which are composed of 
native woods, and the upper portions of large photographs of the forests 
from which they were cut, some of them 7,000 feet above the level of the 
sea. A valuable feature in this section is the views which illustrate the 
results of scientific forestry, as conducted on the Asheville estate of 
George W. Vanderbilt. In one of the corners is the graceful form of the 
palmetto tree, the symbol of the sister state, which is not represented in 
this section of the Fair. 

Among the many interesting groups lying south of the main vestibule are 
the Jesup collection of American woods, and the exhibits of California and 
New York. The Jesup collection is a duplication of the cabinet in the New 
York museum of natural history, similar in scope to the display of native 
woods in the Government building. Each of the 430 specimens is labeled 
with an outline map, showing the area in which the tree is indigenous, 
together with a description of its characteristics. Here, for instance, 
one learns that the hemlock belt ranges from an altitude of 2,700 feet in 
British Columbia to 10,000 feet in the sierra of central California; that 
the Douglas fir grows from 200 to 300 feet in height, and that it is the 
most generally distributed timber tree of the Pacific coast; that the 
arbor vitae flourishes best in the swamps of the north, and the cottonwood 
on the banks of the Ohio river, and that he balm of Gilead species has as 
its territory Canada, the United States westward to Colorado, and the 
entire northwest as far as the Arctic ocean. 

In the adjacent exhibit of California the redwood, laurel, walnut, maple, 
elm, locust, madrona, and the so-called big trees stand row by row like 
gigantic sentinels, their faces polished, and displaying all the beauties 
that timber can be made to assume. To many visitors these are somewhat of 
a revelation, for here were for the first time shown to them the 
excellencies of California woods for cabinet and ornamental purposes. Here 
also are festoons of cones, burls of curious shape, and an unadorned 
section of a redwood that might serve for an ordinary table. 

The New York state exhibit, which occupies a large space in the eastern 
portion of the hall, presents a striking illustration of the forest growth 
of the empire state. In revolving frames are thin sections of her trees, 
with their seeds, bark, and leaves, and within each frame are photographs, 
one showing the tree from which the 

Page 455

different parts were taken, and another a portion of the trunk. Among the 
collection are such varieties as the Norway pine, the English cherry, 
hickory, spruce, balsam, balm of Gilead, fir, tamarack, larch, hawthorn, 
cedar, sycamore, black walnut, poplar, hackberry, birch, elm, ash, maple, 
and chestnut. Many of these are also reproduced in photographs, together 
with landscape scenes adjacent. Another feature in the New York exhibit is 
that which shows the texture of different woods, and different portions of 
the same wood. Sometimes the specimens do not exceed the twelve-hundredth 
part of an inch, and when placed against the light, not only show forms of 
geometric combination but reflect colors of exquisite tint. When examined 
under a microscope even greater wonders are revealed. 

In the southern section of the hall Connecticut has a rustic booth of 
cherry wood, its specimens of burl oak, walnut, pine, ash, hickory, etc., 
in sections of which one side is polished, and with seeds, foliage, and 
twigs as adjuncts of the display. No less artistic is the exhibit of 
Massachusetts, both of them demonstrating that while eastern woods are of 
smaller size, the grain is finer, and the timber more durable than in 
western varieties. A New Jersey firm in this vicinity shows some of the 
uses of eastern spruce and poplar in a group of tubs, pails, bowls, 
measures, and pans, pressed from the pulp of these woods, and said to wear 
like metal, besides being odorless and seamless. 

In this vicinity Colorado places a giant poplar cut from the first tree 
planted under her timber culture act of 1877. Great firs, spruces, and 
other varieties form the corner pillars and base of the booth, while above 
are the trunks of such trees as the black-thorn, dog-wood, hackberry, wild 
cherry, black cottonwood, dwarf birch and maple, hazelnut and mountain 
mahogany, some of them taken from the canons of the foot hills, and others 
from the mountains thousands of feet above. In a series of frames are 
sprigs from the yellow and fox tail pine, the black birch, red fir, cedar, 
sage brush, box elder, and quaking aspen; also a row of jars filled with 
buffalo berries, wild plums, choke cherries, and seeds of 

Page 456

the Douglas fir and balsam. The bulk of the silver state's exhibit comes 
from her agricultural college. 

Close to the Connecticut pavilion are the exhibits of Florida, Arizona, 
and Idaho, the woods of the peninsula state being mostly furnished by 
railroad companies. Those of Arizona and Idaho consist mainly of pine, the 
former state asserting that while she has been called a treeless desert, 
there are within her domain 2,000,000 acres of pine untouched by the 
woodman's axe. 

In the southern portion of the Horticultural hall are grouped the 
individual exhibits, one corner being filled by a mammoth redwood wine 
tank, constructed within the building by a San Francisco firm. Across the 
way is a pyramid of tubs, pails, and other wooden ware from a Chicago 
house, and near by is a large assortment of wooden knives, forks, rolling 
pins, scoops, bowls, and medallions. A pulp and paper company shows in a 
series of jars, with explanatory labels, the processes through which 
spruce chips pass, from the crude material to the bleached pulp, and to 
colored rolls of paper. Not far away are booths in which is shown cork in 
various devices, some of them approaching the artistic, such as pictures 
made of the shavings and other fine sections, one of the exhibitors 
reproducing St. Peter's and picturesque scenes on the Rhine, with 
remarkable fidelity. Among other exhibits are trees in their natural 
state, and trees of which nothing is left but their outer coverings, or 
the portions from which the cork is cut. There is cork piled up in slabs, 
like cord wood, and cork tables, towers, and pavilions. 

Near these are specimens of wood-turning, in the form of snakes coiled for 
attack, billiard balls, charms, watch chains, stair and chair ornaments, 
flowers, and nearly everything that has been accomplished in the way of 
decorative wood-turning. A choice and varied display of foreign woods is 
that of the E. D. Albro company of Cincinnati. Upon a large platform, 
above which are the flags of many lands, is grouped an array of polished 
slabs, such as are used in cabinet work. Surrounding the platform are rows 
of upright posts, cut from valuable timber, as the ebony of Ceylon, the 
red Brazilian tulip, the 

Page 457

rich brown lignum vitae, the fine grained and yellowish shittim from 
Palestine, and the Amazonian cocobola, rosy red, and with patches of gold 
near the bark. Piled high upon the platform are slabs of mottled brown 
Persian walnut, yellow Brazilian satin-wood, the Turkish ash, and the 
white mahogany of Mexico with its delicate cream color. Near by is a 
collection of implements, such as are used in lumber regions, and adjacent 
to these a group of household appliances in structural form, manufactured 
from the aromatic cedar of Virginian forests. A Detroit firm displays a 
large plank from a California redwood, with the oil finish of which it 
makes a specialty. A Chicago establishment has a pavilion composed of many 
varieties of wood, in the finishing of which its varnishes are used, and a 
manufacturer of wooden faucets, saturated with india rubber, has a 
structure built of bark, with arched doorway whose keystone is of cork. 

The northeastern quarter of the Forestry building contains, in addition to 
the exhibits already described, those of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin, 
Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oregon, Virginia, Louisiana, and 
Kentucky. The display of Louisiana, whose forests are yet almost 
untouched, forcibly illustrates one of the great resources of the southern 
states. The pavilion is of cypress, pine, oak, ash, and other native 
woods, surmounted with a cupola, and with pillars and ceiling handsomely 
carved and inlaid. In the decorative scheme are reproduced the leaves, 
flowers, and branches of Louisiana trees, and within are represented in 
various forms her sturdy oaks, her lofty pines, her graceful willows, her 
rapid-growing chinas, and stately beeches and ash, with the creamy-
blossomed magnolia, the fan-like palmetto, the wide-spreading elm, the 
moss-hung cypress, and the odorous cedar. Some of the specimens are in the 
form of large square blocks, one side retaining the bark, and the other 
showing the wood stripped of its outer covering, with samples of hewn 
timber, such as reveal the beauties of the polished surface. Upon the 
blocks are partially manufactured articles, illustrating the uses, 
commercial and ornamental, to which the wood may be put. An interesting 
series of maps and charts explains how the timber is cut and floated along 
an intricate system of bayous to the saw-mills on the Mississippi. 

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Virginia has but a scant display of forest woods, while Kentucky is 
somewhat of a surprise. The entrance to the latter section is through a 
hollow segment of a sycamore tree, sixteen feet in diameter, which grew in 
the neighborhood of Fairview, the birthplace of Jefferson Davis. To the 
right is a huge yellow poplar; to the left a great white oak, and in a 
series of pyramids are native woods in 150 varieties, while in a relief 
map are shown the timber areas, the logging streams, and other matters 
connected with the lumber interests. 

Minnesota has also an interesting exhibit in her rustic pavilion 
surrounded by a fence upon which are perched in life-like form, birds, 
gophers, and other specimens of her fauna. The display is of an 
instructive rather than a massive character, such as might have been 
expected from her boundless forests, and the numerous industries connected 
therewith. A few blocks of pine there are, bearing carved stars upon their 
faces; but elsewhere are only simple specimens of cultivated trees. A 
section of European larch is shown, which is said to have grown further 
north than any tree of its kind. A block of Minneapolis cottonwood is 
historic, for it was hewn from the first tree planted in that city, nearly 
forty years ago. All the native varieties are on exposition, and among 
transplanted species are the Russian mulberry, the Lombardy poplar, the 
Scotch and Austrian pine, the Norway spruce, the diamond willow, and the 
European larch. 

In connection with the Minnesota display may be mentioned her State 
Forestry association, by which the exhibit was organized. To this 
institution credit is due for its efforts in calling attention to the 
wholesale destruction of forests, and the climatic and other evils 
resulting therefrom. It has also repeatedly urged upon congress the 
appointment of a board of forestry commissioners for protective purposes, 
and to promote the science of arboriculture. 

Among the purposes of the Forestry department of the Exposition is to 
collect information from every quarter as to the amount of valuable 
standing timber, the effect of forest destruction on climate and soil, and 
the results which have followed the adoption of various timber culture 
acts. It is intended to demonstrate the wealth of our forests, ascertain 
the ratio of consumption and destruction, and the efforts made to 
counteract this destruction, through the preservation of timber tracts, 
and the planting of new areas. This is accomplished not only in the 
exhibits themselves, but in maps, photographs, reports, and literature 
devoted to the science of forestry. Nebraska and North 

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Dakota especially demonstrate the benefits of tree-culture, and one of the 
most prominent objects in the former section is a life-sized portrait of 
J. Sterling Morton, to whom Arbor day owes its origin, for many years a 
resident of that state, and now secretary of the national department of 
agriculture. The Nebraska pavilion is of the rustic order, with a mammoth 
cottonwood disk at one of the entrances, and on arches and pillars, 
composed of cottonwood, linden, honey locust, ash, and elm, are sprigs of 
green grown from the trunks since they were placed in Forestry hall. One 
of the curiosities here displayed is a horseshoe embedded in the heart of 
a big cottonwood hung on one of its limbs a dozen years ago, and 
imprisoned by its growth. 

In the huge logs cut from planted trees exhibited by North Dakota, is 
shown what may be done in the way of arboriculture on prairie soil. A 
thick section of bark forms the back of a chair, the body of which is hewn 
from the trunk, and the various specimens are labeled with the ages of the 
trees, and the conditions under which they are planted. Near at hand is 
the square pavilion in which Ohio presents a complete display of medicinal 
plants, with more than eighty specimens of native forest trees in the form 
of twigs, leaves, flowers, fruit, and section of trunk and bark, in the 
rough and polished; the latter profusely illustrating the graining of 
woods suitable for turning, cabinet work and interior finish. The walls of 
this structure are covered on both sides with framed specimens of herbs, 
bark, twigs, flowers, fruit, and foliage, the pillars forming samples of 
rough wood, and polished slabs the panels below the cornice. 

At the northern end of the Forestry building Pennsylvania shows several 
hundred varieties of her native woods, together with a model saw-mill, 
with logs being drawn up its front incline, and in the yards behind piles 
of finished lumber, while on the roof are rows of water barrels as a 
safeguard against fire. Into the Oregon booth adjacent, the visitor enters 
between huge sections of yellow fir and spruce, the latter cut from a tree 
305 feet high, and 16 at the base. Within, the commission has a 
beautifully finished office, the side walls formed of polished planks of 
fir and spruce, contributed by the lumbering and mill companies of Astoria 
and Portland. 

In the northwestern portion of the Forestry building is a collection of 
cedar, pine, oak, cherry, cottonwood, and other varieties from the 
territory of Utah, one that seems out of place, pushed aside, as it is, 
into a corner among the foreign exhibits; for here is a valuable 
exposition of what can be done in the way of tree-planting under most 
adverse conditions, and nowhere has arboriculture been conducted with more 
of system and success. 

Almost in the centre of the western division of the hall are the exhibits 
of New South Wales and Canada. In the Australian collection are more than 
ninety varieties of hardwood, enclosed by upright planks, polished to a 
distance of six feet from the floor, and forming an excellent sample of 
antipodean workmanship. From the top of the booths float the flags of the 
Australasian colonies, and above all is an ensign bearing the inscription 
"Advance Australia," which is seen in many other departments of the 
Exposition. The outer wall is largely composed of the most valuable of 
Australian timbers; ironbarks, red, grey, white, and black; gum trees, 
spotted, grey, blue, red, and white; 

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blackbutt, woollybutt, and tallow wood. Some of them grow to a remarkable 
height, the blue gum-tree reaching an altitude of more than 300 feet. 
Piles of monster logs are trimmed to show the fibre of the tree, one of 
red cedar from New South Wales being nine feet long and six in diameter. 
There are also slabs of lignum vitae, river oak, rosewood, quince, black 
oak, sassafras, myrtle, and elm, with sprigs, bark and seeds of the same 
varieties, and in large photographs, hung upon the walls, are depicted the 
vast forests from which they were taken. Among the most valuable forest 
trees of New South Wales are the red gum and iron bark, one of the uses of 
which is illustrated in a large pile of railroad sleepers in the centre of 
the enclosure. A few feet away is a photographic reproduction of Sydney 
streets, representing the paving of one of her thoroughfares with pine 
blocks. Pictures of lumber mills and factories indicate the development of 
industries whereby the raw material is transformed into primary forms of 
manufacture. 

Massive logs, blocks, and slabs of timber, heaped within and around the 
areas occupied by Quebec, Ontario, British Columbia and the northwest 
territory display their wealth of pine, spruce, tamarack, cedar, balsam, 
birch, ash, maple, cherry, butternut, and other valuable woods. Quebec has 
a strong exhibit with many materials in the rough, and an exposition of 
the progressive stages in the manufacture of wood pulp. The entrance to 
her section is broad and square, composed of untrimmed logs, and a wigwam 
of bark in the rear is suggestive of the fragrance of her forests. Ontario 
and British Columbia have each a separate pavilion, the former showing a 
large picture frame inlaid with native woods, and a model of a church, 
also designed to display the variety of her forest products. British 
Columbia, whose pavilion is adorned with the heads of deer, has several of 
the largest sections of Douglas fir contained in the Forestry building. 

In the French section, adjacent to the Canadian groups, are specimens of 
cabinet woods, cut veneers, osier work, and mosaics in wood, fashioned and 
grouped with the skill and taste of the Frenchman. In paintings, 
photographs, and maps are scenes among the picturesque regions of the 
French Alps, thickly clad with the pine forests which the government 
protects with zealous care. There is also an excellent display of 
conifers, and of such forest products as pitch, tar, and resin. 

The German collection is in the northwestern portion of the hall, grouped, 
for whatever reason, among those of South American nations. This exhibit 
may be considered as the chief exponent of scientific forestry, as 
represented at the Fair. In maps are shown the forest distribution in many 
portions of the empire, the changes in their condition under forest 
management, during a large number of years, and the temperature of the 
soil within and without the forests. Instruments are displayed recording 
the temperature of the soil, and measuring the growth of trees, and there 
are models of logging railroads and tree-planting tools. In a chart 
prepared by the royal forest inspector of Bavaria is explained the nature 
of the soils in his territory, and the experimental station at Munich 
describes, in an object lesson, the ravages of the 

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pine moth, while the forestry schools connected with the universities 
contribute to the interest of the display. There are also specimens of 
tannin and tannin extracts, basket ware, cork, and that which is made of 
cork. 

Germany may be considered as the mother of scientific forestry among 
European countries. In the seventeenth century arboriculture was studied 
by her learned men, and a hundred years later was being systematically 
taught in her colleges. Meanwhile the movement had spread to russia and 
Austria, and later, schools of forestry were also established in France 
and Spain, where before the application of remedial measures, many of the 
mountainous and wooded districts, formerly supporting large populations, 
had become almost deserted. Today, apart from the United States, the 
governments of all the leading countries in the world so manage their 
forest tracts as not only to insure their preservation, but to derive 
large revenues therefrom. France has 7,500,000 acres of national forest 
lands, and individuals nearly twice that area. One half of the 20,000,000 
acres of Prussian timber lands produces a net annual income of $6,500,000, 
while Saxony's 400,000 acres yield a return of more than $1,200,000. Here 
in truth are lessons which our own republic might profitably lay to heart. 

In the Russian section, photographs and maps convey information as to the 
areas covered by forest lands, and also reproduce the imperial hunting 
parks, and the pavilions erected thereon. Leaves and seeds are displayed 
in mounted specimens, and the department of the Volga furnishes models of 
the ovens used for boiling pitch, and the rafts that convey it to centres 
of shipment or consumption. The St. Petersburg institute of forestry sends 
a collection of wooden implements from the peasantry, and the government 
of Kazan has a collection suggestive of the apiarian industries of that 
section of the empire. 

Adjoining the New South Wales section, Mexico shows her woods, roots, 
fibres, dye-stuffs, and medicinal products. Four hundred different species 
of native woods are here displayed in the 2,000 polished specimens 
contained in a simple, rustic pavilion, its square main entrance, composed 
of disks, presenting a unique appearance. Resins, vegetable wax, copals, 
such as are used in the manufacture of varnish, and chewing gums, add 
variety and interest to the exhibit. 

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Brazil, the Argentine Republic, and Paraguay have remarkable collections 
of the woods used for ornamental purposes, together with barks, dyes, and 
medicinal herbs. The first has a large pavilion fashioned from small 
trunks and interlacing limbs, its main entrance in the form of an archway 
of Gothic architecture. Mahogany is a prominent feature, for this is one 
of the most valuable of Brazilian woods. Perhaps the finest of the cabinet 
woods are from the banks of the Tocantins, a tributary of the Amazon, a 
separate structure within the pavilion being composed of specimens from 
the forests of the great river. Among the collection are also samples of 
inlaid wood-work and basket-work. 

Of somewhat similar character are the exhibits of the Argentine Republic 
and Paraguay, each having some 300 varieties of wood and many medicinal 
plants. In the Argentinian section is a crocodile dragging its unwieldy 
frame over a mahogany stump. The main collection of woods is in the form 
of a truncated pyramid, surmounted by an octagonal block of fragrant 
cedar. 

Crossing the central nave we come to the exhibits of Spain, the Philippine 
Islands, and Cuba, the features in which are the huge square timbers of 
Cuban mahogany, and the Spanish collection of native woods and corks. 
Close to the northern portal of the Forestry hall is an enclosure 
surrounded by a high bamboo fence, within which are the choicest of 
Japanese forest products. A special effort is made to show the 
adaptability of the woods to receive a hard finish, and the delicacy of 
their graining. A rough, brown piece of wood, labeled cinnamora camphora, 
is a specimen of the tree from the roots of which the camphor of commerce 
is manufactured. There are also such articles as bamboo, rattan, and 
lacquer ware, sago-palm baskets, wooden water-pipe, palm-ropes, charcoal, 
seeds, sap, nuts, and sections of trees, great and small. The national 
department of agriculture and commerce sends a collective exhibit, 
comprising timber and planks, cabinet, ornamental, and fossil woods, barks 
and galls for tanning and dyeing, vegetable wax and resins, wood pulp for 
paper, and maps, plans, and illustrations of forest management. Colored 
pictures of various trees and flowers are shown, and upon the outer walls 
of the pavilion are depicted in graphic art wild scenes of the mountain 
forests. 

Adjoining this, in the northwestern corner of the hall, is the Indian 
exhibit, where a British trading corporation displays samples of teak 
flooring and wood paving, railway wheel blocks, and specimens of fabrics 
dyed with cutch. Elsewhere are planks and slabs of vermilion and 

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padouk, and a large door made of teak, the original of which is in the 
royal palace of Mandalay, Burmah. Upon it are scores of carved figures and 
architectural forms, representing the city, the king, queen, ministers, 
and the guardian spirit of the municipality, with other mythological 
characters. 

Embedded among the individual and state exhibits are those of Siam and 
Trinidad, the latter with samples of rich red purple heart, of balsam, 
mangrove, guava, redwood, Spanish ash, and bamboos, in many sizes, 
together with specimens of what has been accomplished in several lines of 
manufacture. In Siam's collection, diagonally opposite from that of 
California, are more than 200 specimens of native woods, some of the 
smaller varieties in the form of baskets and rustic stands. The lordly 
teak is king of all, one solid slab, highly polished, being nine feet 
long, and six in breadth. Large sections of the taback and tamarind are 
also among the evidences of the forest wealth of Siam. 

World's Fair Miscellany

Adjacent to the Horticultural building are propagating houses and frames, 
where space is assigned to exhibitors for growing valuable plants such as 
will not bear transportation. Here also are illustrated modern 
improvements in construction; a Swiss inventor, for instance, erecting a 
green-house of glass bricks which he claims to be proof against cold, 
hail, and other destructive agencies, while others show their systems of 
steam heating, ventilation, etc. A considerable area is also used for 
replacing faded or injured specimens. 

Both for heating and sprinkling ample provision was made. For the former 
purpose there were three boilers, each of 150 horse-power, and an 
elaborate system of engines, fans, and steam pipes, by which the 
temperature of the dome and the front curtains of the hall were adapted to 
the most delicate of tropical plants. 

Near where the Midway plaisance joins Jackson Park are the nurseries for 
the propagation of trees and berries. A large plat on the northern side of 
the avenue is planted in California oranges, lemons, figs, apricots, 
peaches, prunes, grapes, etc., and on the opposite side France shows her 
careful and scientific methods of raising pears, peaches, grapes, and 
other fruits. There is also a large collection of evergreens in this 
locality, with a Wisconsin cranberry bog, showing all the processes of 
flooding, draining, and cultivating. Mexico has a section filled with 
characteristic plants; New York demonstrates how she would train grape 
vines, and a firm which manufactures nitrate of soda produces vigorous 
plants, nourished and stimulated by this fertilizer, side by side with 
others which, for want of it, appear as though sick unto death. In one 
corner of the nurseries is a mass of rank vegetation over which is a sign 
with the inscription, "What to Hit with the Hoe." Here are 125 varieties 
of weeds in actual growth, the exhibit being organized by a leading 
agricultural journal. 

Among the curiosities of Agricultural hall are the American fly trap and 
the California pitcher plant. The leaves of the former are furnished with 
slender, comb-like teeth, the upper surface being set with slender hairs 
which are extremely sensitive. When touched they contract and draw the 
leaf together like a book, entrapping the fly and holding it fast as long 
as it is able to move; when the insect 

Page 465

is dead and motionless, the leaf unfolds. The lower portion of the pitcher 
plant is set with long bristles, inclined downward, like a certain kind of 
patented mouse-trap. Thus the unwary insect falls into the water with 
which the pitcher is partially filled. 

To foreign countries was assigned about one-third of the entire space in 
Horticultural hall, and so great was the interest aroused that they would 
have taken the entire area had they been permitted. The first exhibit was 
received in the winter of 1892 from New South Wales, whose wines also 
received in midwinter were frozen and spoiled, but promptly replaced by 
other specimens. 

Except for wood-pulp the Forestry exhibits contain no completely 
manufactured articles, though there are many in various stages of 
manufacture. In showing the structure and commercial value of woods, the 
usual method was to cut them into transverse, radial, and oblique 
sections, showing the heart and outer portions of the tree, leaving one-
half of the specimen in its natural state, and polishing the remainder. 
There are also barks, gums, resins, and turpentines; lichens, mosses, and 
substances used for bedding and upholstering; specimens of herbs and roots 
having medicinal properties, and cork, both in rough sections, and 
partially manufactured. As a rule the states exhibit the wealth of their 
forests in their crude condition, while individuals display material in 
shapes which fall just short of manufactured products. 

Not far from Machinery Hall, Michigan has a typical loggers' camp. 
Everything is built of logs, even to the large chimneys of the cabin. In 
and around the building are specimens of all the tools used by Michigan 
lumbermen, from the opening of the first camp down to the present time. 
The dining room is remarkably neat, as also are the bunks, with their 
frames made of tree limbs. Side-tracked near the model is a lumber car, 
piled high with hug logs. The load weighs nearly 290,000 pounds, contains 
more than 36,000 feet of lumber, and before being delivered to the 
railroad in Michigan, was drawn on a sleigh for a distance of a quarter of 
a mile by a single span of horses. 

California's exhibit in the Forestry building is a forcible reminder of 
the wonders of forest life on the Pacific coast. Attention first centres 
in the sequoia gigantea, as is called the king of all the big trees which 
have made California famous. They attain a height of 300 to 350 feet, and 
are the tallest conifers in the world, averaging fully twenty-five feet in 
diameter. 

New South Wales and Mexico each claim to have within their domain the 
largest tree in the world. The Australian giant, a species of fig tree, is 
495 feet high. Through the president of her commission, Mexico asserted 
that in the state of Oaxaca there was a tree of the leguminous species 53 
feet in diameter, and while its height had not been ascertained, it was 
undoubtedly the king of the vegetable world. It has been christened Santa 
Maria del Tule. 

Besides having one of the largest displays in the building, Missouri 
contributed to the colonnade of trunks which surrounds it, specimens of 
yellow pine, oak, red oak, cypress, hickory, red gum, and ash. According 
to state authorities, the counties lying along the Mississippi River might 
have furnished much larger samples than those presented at the Fair. 
Nevertheless they are large enough to impress the visitor with the 
commercial value of timber trees which, not many years ago, were viewed 
simply as impediments to the agricultural advancement of the state. 

Of the western states perhaps Minnesota has aroused more general interest 
on the subject of forestry than any other, realizing, as she does, the 
evils resulting from the denudation of her timber tracts. Here it is well 
understood that aside from increasing the beauties of the state, 
arboriculture equalizes the temperature and rainfall, breaks the force of 
wind and flood, supplies material for fuel and fencing, and furnishes an 
ultimate supply of timber which must become most valuable if the natural 
wealth of the state continues to be drained.