by Daniel Stone
The wealthy partook most often: Jansen, A. A. J., Susan Parkinson, and A. F. S. Robertson, eds. Food and Nutrition in Fiji: A Historical Review. Suva, Fiji: Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Fiji School of Medicine, 1990.
so sought-after: Williams, Thomas, and James Calvert. Fiji and the Fijians. New York: D. Appleton, 1859, pp. 179–80.
“It is as good as bakolo”: St. Johnston, Alfred. Camping Among Cannibals. London: Macmillan, 1889, p. 229.
a regular display of slaughter: St. Johnston, Alfred. Camping among Cannibals. London: Macmillan, 1889, p. 229.
the king was led to believe: Fairchild. The World Was My Garden, p. 96.
Later he learned that Lathrop: Fairchild, David. “Uncle Barbour.” 1934. TS, Barbour Lathrop Collection, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden Coral Gables, FL.
For Fairchild, it was the farthest: Fairchild, David. “Travel Journal.” Fairchild Collection. Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. Coral Gables, FL.
The first to discover Hawaii: Zhao, Xiaojian, and Edward J. W. Park. Asian Americans: An Encyclopedia of Social, Cultural, Economic, and Political History. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood, 2013, p. 239.
She tried, with her limited military: Liliuokalani. Hawaii’s Story by Hawaii’s Queen. Rutland, VT: Tuttle, 1964.
someone else from the Department: Fairchild, David. Pocket notebook. Undated. Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. Coral Gables, FL.
crawled off dizzy and sick: Fairchild. The World Was My Garden, p. 100.
He talked with a man: Fairchild, David. “Travel Journal.” Fairchild Collection. Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. Coral Gables, FL.
it struck him that, in comparison, Vesuvius: Fairchild, David. “Travel Journal.” Fairchild Collection. Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. Coral Gables, FL.
the musicians played the soft, slow notes: Fairchild, David. Pocket notebook. Undated. Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. Coral Gables, FL.
keen to return to the Bohemian Club: Fairchild, David. “Uncle Barbour.” 1934. TS, Barbour Lathrop Collection, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. Coral Gables, FL.
“I had never beheld so many”: Fairchild. The World Was My Garden, p. 104.
George Fairchild greeted: Fairchild, David. Pocket notebook. Undated. Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. Coral Gables, FL.
Fairchild recalled stories: “Kansas Items of Interest.” Hutchinson Gazette, July 29, 1897.
CHAPTER SIX: One Cause, One Country
Harvey’s Ladies and Gentlemen’s Oyster Saloon: Boese, Kent. “Lost Washington: Harvey’s Restaurant.” Greater Greater Washington, June 3, 2009. Accessed April 28, 2015.
Every president: Sheir, Rebecca. “The Tasty History of D.C.’s Restaurant Scene.” WAMU 88.5, January 17, 2014. Accessed October 28, 2015.
soft-spoken and reserved: Grubin, David, and Judy Crichton. “Spirit of the Age.” Transcript. In America 1900. PBS. November 3, 1998.
recommended Swingle for the job: Whitlock, Barbara. Swingle Plant Anotomy Reference Collection. “Walter Tennyson Swingle.” August 20, 2009.
an old man who let only to young men: Fairchild. The World Was My Garden, unpublished draft. Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. Coral Gables, FL.
They discussed their travels and their futures: Swingle, Walter. Letter to David Fairchild. December 20, 1898.
a roomful of Florida citrusmen: Whitlock. “Walter Tennyson Swingle.” 2009.
“My god”: Fairchild, David. “Early Days of SPI.” Speech, Washington, D.C., October 9, 1922.
Newsboys yelled, “Extra Star!”: Fairchild, David. “Early Days of SPI.” Speech, Washington, D.C., October 9, 1922.
“I hereby place my services”: Kazin, Michael. A Godly Hero: The Life of William Jennings Bryan. New York: Anchor, 2007, p. 86.
the ship exploded: The Learning Network, New York Times index.html. “Feb. 15, 1898 | U.S. Battleship Maine Explodes in Havana Harbor.” February 15, 2012.
311 to 6: “The War of 1898: The Spanish-American War.” Hispanic Division, Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/rr/hispanic/1898/index.html.
They gloated: Cosmas, Graham A. “Securing the Fruits of Victory: The U.S. Army Occupies Cuba, 1898–1899.” Military Affairs 38, no. 3 (1974): 85–91.
Congress investigated why so many soldiers: Alger, R. A. “The Food of the Army During the Spanish War.” North American Review 172, no. 530 (1901): 39–58.
Soldiers marveled at: The Cuba Review and Bulletin, Vol. 10. New York: Munson Steamship Line, 1911–1912, p. 15.
one of the strangest résumés in American history: United States Congressional Serial Set. 1888–1889. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1889, p. 401.
In Wilson’s wood-paneled office: Pieters, A. J. “Seed Distribution by the United States Department of Agriculture.” The Plant World 13, no. 12 (1910): 292–96.
It wasn’t uncommon for packets: Fairchild, David. “Early Days of the Seed Distribution Program.” Unpublished essay. Date unknown.
stories of farmers in the Upper Mississippi Valley: “Rise of Industrial America, 1876–1900: Rural Life in the Late 19th Century.” Library of Congress. Accessed April 27, 2015.
He had scrawled: Fairchild, David. Personal notes on page margins, 1898. Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. Coral Gables, FL.
While Fairchild spoke: Fairchild. The World Was My Garden, p. 106.
whose populist campaign had riled farmers: Blaine, Mary Kate. “Rise of the Populists and William Jennings Bryan.” The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.
“Don’t let them crowd you out”: Fairchild. The World Was My Garden. unpublished draft. Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. Coral Gables, FL.
In 1898, there were just 1,600 people: George, Paul S. “Miami: One Hundred Years of History.” South Florida History 24, no. 2 (1996). www.historymiami.org/Fastspot/research-miami/topics/history-of-miami/index.html.
In 1829, Henry Perrine: Perrine, Henry. Tropical Plants: Report [of] the Committee on Agriculture to Which Was Referred the Memorial of Henry Perrine, Asking & Grant of Land in the Southern Extremity of East Florida, Etc. Washington, D.C.: United States Congress House Committee on Agriculture, 1838, p. 14.
Eventually, his limp body: McIver, Stuart. “Massacre the Day an Island Died Indian Key Was Once the Capital of Dade County.” Sun Sentinel (Florida). August 11, 1985.
The Royal Palm, a five-story temple: Piket, Casey. “Miami’s First Luxury Hotel.” Miami History. January 15, 2012.
“I was thrilled to find tropical territory”: Fairchild. The World Was My Garden, p. 113.
Fairchild returned to Washington: Fairchild. The World Was My Garden, p. 113.
a new appropriation of twenty thousand dollars: Allen, E. W. 1901. “Appropriations for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.” Science 13 (328). American Association for the Advancement of Science: 572–74.
A nervous collapse: Fairchild. “The Early Days of SPI.” Unpublished essay. Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. Coral Gables, FL.
“David,” he said, “you’re no more fit”: Fairchild. “The Early Days of SPI.” Unpublished essay. Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. Coral Gables, FL.
“I do not approve of it at all”: Fairchild. “The Early Days of SPI.” Unpublished essay. Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. Coral Gables, FL.
a gold USDA seal: Letter with golden seal found by the author. National Geographic archives. March 2016.
Wilson suggested that Fairchild look: Fairchild. The World Was My Garden, p. 117.
CHAPTER SEVEN: Crossing Countries
“California,” he reported, “is to us”: Nordhoff, Charles. “California: How to Go There and What to See by the Way.” Harper’s New Monthly Magazine 44, no. 264 (1873).
Now those heading west: Gruen, J. Philip. Manifest Destinations: Cities and Tourists in the Nineteenth-century Am
erican West. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 2014, p. 31.
The summer had brought: “Heavy Rains Affect American Crops.” Chicago Daily Tribune, June 17, 1898.
Each success brought bursts: Brands, H. W. The Reckless Decade: America in the 1890s. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2002, p. 23.
The Transcontinental Railroad connected: “Railroad Maps, 1828–1900.” Collection Connections. U.S. Library of Congress. Accessed April 29, 2016.
Delicacies like mutton chops: Butler, Stephanie. “Dining Across America in Rail’s Golden Age.” History. December 13, 2012. http://www.history.com/news/hungry-history/dining-across-america-in-rails-golden-age.
a long-nosed plant enthusiast: Chamberlin, Susan. “The Life of Dr. Francesco Franceschi and His Park (Part II).” Pacific Horticulture Society, 2002. Accessed April 29, 2016.
The squash had originated: Reader, Laurel. “Zucchini: A Treat in the Heat.” Master Gardener Journal, 2013. http://cals.arizona.edu/maricopa/garden/html/pubs/0403/zucchini.html.
Each morning a passenger on board: Fairchild. The World Was My Garden, p. 120.
expensive paintings and first-class libraries: “Comfort, Courtesy, Safety, Speed.” Ocean Crossings, 1870–1969, On the Water, Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Accessed April 29, 2016. americanhistroy.si.edu/onthewater/exhibition/5_3.html.
Lathrop was always granted the best cabin: Douglas. Adventures in a Green World, p. 13.
“Kingston, Jamaica, was the first foreign port”: Fairchild. The World Was My Garden, p. 121.
“Eaten after peeling off the thick rind”: Fairchild, David. Pocket notebook, 1898. Fairchild archive. National Tropical Botanic Garden.
a lumpy reddish fruit called an akee: Newton, Amanda Almira. Blighia sapida (fruit). 1924. USDA Pomological Watercolors, National Agricultural Library, Beltsville, MD.
“Mr. Lathrop had an extraordinary palate”: Fairchild. The World Was My Garden, p. 122.
He rarely missed the opportunity: Fairchild. The World Was My Garden, p. 123.
The vegetable pear would later: Passmore, Deborah Griscom. Sechium edule. 1910. USDA Pomological Watercolors, National Agricultural Library, Beltsville, MD.
“Mr. Lathrop was enthusiastic”: Fairchild. “Plant Exploration.” Unpublished draft of autobiography. Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. Date unknown.
alternating between potatoes and wet moss: Husby, Chad. “Botanical Travel.” Telephone interview by author. April 18, 2016.
wet cigarette paper, banana leaves, and sorghum moss: Harris, Amanda. “Packing Methods.” Telephone interview by author. March 7, 2016.
a “Dago dazzler”: Fairchild. The World Was My Garden, p. 119.
His associates at the USDA: Fairchild, David. “Uncle Barbour.” 1934. TS, Barbour Lathrop Collection, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. Coral Gables, FL.
Wilson’s agricultural report for 1897: James A. “Tama” Wilson Papers, RS 9/1/11, Special Collections Department, Iowa State University Library.
“The Old World contains many things”: United States. Department of Agriculture. Yearbook of Agriculture 1897. By Geo. Wm. Hill. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1898, p. 11.
Yet America’s farmers were finding: Hicks, John D. The Populist Revolt: A History of the Farmers’ Alliance and the People’s Party. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1931, p. 54.
the newest railroad, the newest oil discovery: Kirwan, Albert D., Revolt of the Rednecks: Mississippi Politics 1876–1925. Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 1951.
“There is a screw loose”: Polk, Leonidas L. Progressive Farmer, April 28, 1887. Accessed April 30, 2016.
America’s doctrine of expansion: Goodwyn, Lawrence. The Populist Moment: A Short History of the Agrarian Revolt in America. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1978.
The nation was buried beneath: McCarty, Kenneth G. “Farmers, the Populist Party, and Mississippi (1870–1900).” Mississippi History Now. July 2003.
Kansas farmers began to burn their crop: Brands, H. W. The Reckless Decade: America in the 1890s. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995, pp. 177–81.
being stuck in a business: Goodwyn, The Populist Moment: A Short History of the Agrarian Revolt in America.
People in China had farmed for thousands of years: King, F. H. Farmers of Forty Centuries: Organic Farming in China, Korea, and Japan. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 2004.
“What farmers need to do is raise less corn”: Connelley, William E. A Standard History of Kansas and Kansans, Vol. 2. Chicago: Lewis Publishing Company, 1918, p. 1150.
the wicked conditions nearly drove him to suicide: Millard, Candice. River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey. New York: Doubleday, 2005.
Another tuber, which appeared similar to a potato: Fairchild. The World Was My Garden, p. 124.
transferred the virus that caused Caracas fever: Fairchild, David. “Uncle Barbour.” 1934. TS, Barbour Lathrop Collection, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. Coral Gables, FL.
“I was badly frightened”: Fairchild. The World Was My Garden, p. 124.
fracture, gangrene, funeral: Fairchild. The World Was My Garden, p. 9.
CHAPTER EIGHT: Alligator Pears
Agriculturally, the Andes stood alone: Ricker, John F. Yuraq Janka: Cordilleras Blanca and Rosko; Guide to the Peruvian Andes. Banff: Alpine Club of Canada 1981, p. 41.
living with the planet’s most fickle climate: Godoy, Ricardo. 1991. “The Evolution of Common-Field Agriculture in the Andes: A Hypothesis.” Comparative Studies in Society and History 33, no. 2 (1991): 395–414. http://www.jstor.org/stable/178907.
“A pinch of seed may come half around the world”: Fairchild. The World Was My Garden, p. 205.
hamburger in the 1870s: Smith, Andrew F. Fast Food and Junk Food: An Encyclopedia of What We Love to Eat. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood, 2012, p. 322.
delicacy of broiled eels: An American Lady. The American Home Cook Book, with Several Hundred Excellent Recipes. Selected and Tried with Great Care, and with a View to Be Used by Those Who Regard Economy, and Containing Important Information on the Arrangement and Well Ordering of the Kitchen. The Whole Based on Many Years of Experience. New York: Dick & Fitzgerald, 1864, p. 51.
The Incas built their entire diet: “Origin and History.” International Year of Quinoa 2013. http://www.fao.org/quinoa-2013/what-is-quinoa/origin-and-history/en/. Further proof that quinoa peaked late: The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization dubbed 2013 the International Year of Quinoa.
“A Scotchman told me”: Fairchild. The World Was My Garden, p. 128.
surprise Peruvian and Bolivian farmers: DePillis, Lydia. “Quinoa Should Be Taking Over the World. This Is Why It Isn’t.” Washington Post, July 11, 2013. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2013/07/11/quinoa-should-be-taking-over-the-world-this-is-why-it-isnt/.
“as a medicine . . . to remedy catarrh”: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Section of Seed and Plant Introduction. Inventory of Foreign Seeds and Plants. By O. F. Cook. Vol. 1. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1899, p. 46.
Peru’s global claim had been over potatoes: “Preserving Potato Diversity in Peru.” American Museum of Natural History. April 26, 2013. http://www.amnh.org/explore/news-blogs/news-posts/preserving-potato-diversity-in-peru.
Farmers had bred types: Godoy, Ricardo. 1991. “The Evolution of Common-Field Agriculture in the Andes: A Hypothesis.” Comparative Studies in Society and History 33, no. 2 (1991): 395–414.
in the satchel of the English circumnavigator Francis Drake: Mann, Charles C. “How the Potato Changed the World.” Smithsonian, November 2011.
Thomas Jefferson had served at the White House: Rupp, Rebecca. “Are French Fries Truly French?” National Geographic, The Plate. January 8, 2015. http://theplate.nationalgeographic.com/2015/01/08/are-french-fries-t
ruly-french/.
a plant called coca: Fairchild, David. “Uncle Barbour.” 1934. TS, Barbour Lathrop Collection, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. Coral Gables, FL.
Lathrop never heard back: Douglas, Marjory Stoneman. Adventures in a Green World: The Story of David Fairchild and Barbour Lathrop. Coconut Grove, FL: Field Research Projects, 1973, p. 11.
“a flow of saliva and leaves a peculiar numbness”: Talapatra, Sunil Kumar, and Bani Talapatra. Chemistry of Plant Natural Products: Stereochemistry, Conformation, Synthesis, Biology, and Medicine. Heidelberg: Springer, 2015, p. 777.
The suffix “caine”: “Cocaine.” Online Etymology Dictionary. Accessed April 30, 2015.
The large pharmaceutical company Parke-Davis: Spillane, Joseph F. Cocaine: From Medical Marvel to Modern Menace in the United States, 1884–1920. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002, pp. 67–75.
His favorite was an ornamental tree: Fairchild, David. “Uncle Barbour.” 1934. TS, Barbour Lathrop Collection, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. Coral Gables, FL.
there simply wasn’t capacity: U.S. Department of Agriculture. Section of Seed and Plant Introduction. Inventory of Foreign Seeds and Plants. By O. F. Cook. Vol. 1. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1899.
mentioned in his obituary: “David Grandison Fairchild.” Everglades Digital Library. Accessed July 6, 2015. http://everglades.fiu.edu/reclaim/bios/fairchild.htm.
their word for testicle: Green, Tamara M. The Greek and Latin Roots of English. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2008, p. 5.
the fruit could withstand a mild frost: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Section of Seed and Plant Introduction. Inventory of Foreign Seeds and Plants. By O. F. Cook. Vol. 1. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1899.
“A valuable find for California”: Fairchild. The World Was My Garden, p. 130.
He agreed that a fruit so hardy: Fairchild, David. “Uncle Barbour.” 1934. TS, Barbour Lathrop Collection, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. Coral Gables, FL.
nearly a thousand avocados were packed: Fairchild, David. “Uncle Barbour.” 1934. TS, Barbour Lathrop Collection, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. Coral Gables, FL.