The Harvard Garden in Cuba-A Brief History
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The Harvard Garden in Cuba-A Brief History Marion D. Cahan Begun in 1899, the Atkins Garden became a model for the development of many later tropical botanical gardens. The Harvard garden in Cuba was Harvard’s vir- Agriculture, to seek his opinion about expand- tually unknown jewel. Few people, other than ing the sugar cane industry in Cuba. Wilson those actively involved in the study of tropi- discouraged him, believing that the climate cal plants, have ever been aware of its exis- of Cuba was not suitable for the enterprise, tence. While the garden was primarily devoted and warned against spending large sums of to the improvement of sugar cane for commer- money on a wholly doubtful venture. Atkins’s cial purposes, it was also the site of research response at the time was, "When one lawyer in other areas of tropical agriculture and gives me advice that I do not like, I go to botany. The unique blend of economic real- another lawyer," and so he consulted Profes- ity and academic vision that characterized the sor George Goodale of Harvard for his opin- garden produced farsighted results that sub- ion, who in turn consulted his colleague, sequently served as a model for the develop- Professor Oakes Ames of the botany depart- ment of tropical botanical gardens in other ment. Both Goodale and Ames supported countries. Atkins’s proposal with enthusiasm, and his- As a center for tropical plant research and tory eventually proved Atkins right about the sugar cane investigation, the Harvard Botanic suitability of Cuba for expanded sugar cane Station was established on the Atkins sugar cultivation. estate at Soledad, Cienfuegos, Cuba, in the As a result of that first meeting in Cuba in summer of 1899 at a conference attended by 1899, Edwin Atkins gave Harvard University businessman Edwin F. Atkins and Professors a gift of $2,500, of which $2,000 was to be Oakes Ames and George L. Goodale, both of used for a traveling fellowship in economic Harvard University. This meeting initiated botany. The recipient of this fund was to visit the development of what was to become one certain stations in the far eastern and western of the richest tropical gardens in the world. tropics where experiments on the improve- Without the vision of the those who were so ment of economically important plants, par- deeply involved in its conception and ticularly sugar cane, were in progress. implementation, this institution would prob- In these early days, there was no official ably not have been created. connection between the Botanical Garden of Harvard University and the garden in Cuba- The Inception of the Garden the latter being Mr. Atkins’s personal As a businessman, Edwin Atkins was property-nor was there an endowment or interested in increasing the profits from his land to which the university had title. The sugar cane operation. He had previously con- cooperative efforts of Atkins and Harvard to sulted Edward Wilson, then Secretary of further research and development in the field 23 Enterolobium cyclocarpum (Legummosae) growing in the Harvard tropical garden in Cienfuegos. The tree is 50 feet tall with a spread of 100 feet. Photographed in 1928 by Alfred Rehder. of tropical botany served their mutual benefit. island became a colony of Spain, and slaves The first superintendent, Robert M. Grey, was were eventually brought in from Africa to paid by the Atkins fund, chiefly for services work the fields that were created by cutting rendered in the development of sugar cane. down the indigenous forest. While the island Both Ames and Goodale were optimistic and was initially populated by the descendents of keenly interested in establishing a biological these slaves and by immigrants from Spain, institute in Cuba. Goodale, whose primary many other nationalities settled in Cuba, interest was zoology, "adopted" the garden on including an influx of North American his own authority. At a later date, Professor businessmen in the mid-1800s. Ames was appointed its first official director. The town of Cienfuegos, located on the western side of Cuba, was founded in 1819 as Early History a result of the development of sugar lands by The history of the garden is inextricably Trinidadian families who had come to the linked to the history of Cuba. Shortly after the island with their slaves for that purpose. Even- discovery of the island by Europeans, the tually the area became one of the most eco- native American Indians were either killed or nomically important parts of the island. An died as a result of introduced diseases. The American, Elisha F. Atkins, had established 24 ’ A panoramic view of the palm collection at the Harvard tropical garden. Photograph by E. G. Stillman, 1941. A vista of the Harvard tropical garden. Photograph by E. G. Stillman, 1941. 25 26 Hura crepitans (Euphorbiaceae) growing in front of the Harvard house at the Harvard tropical garden in Cienfuegos. Photographed in 1928 by Al fred Rehder. a sugar business in Cuba in 1838, heading the At the age of sixteen, Edwin had left the firm called E. Atkins & Co. Initially he had family home in Boston on January 24, 1866, started a banking commission business for and had sailed from New York to take charge Cuban sugar producers, advancing money on of his father’s business interests in Cien- sugar crops and molasses to be shipped to the fuegos. Initially a receiving clerk, within two United States. Through purchases and fore- years he was given responsibility for the closure proceedings, the Atkins Company management of the business, his father hav- eventually acquired many sugar estates, ing assumed the vice presidency of the Union including Soledad, the most important one Pacific Railroad, a post he held until his death developed prior to 1850. in 1882. When Elisha Atkins first came to Cien- The year 1882 marked the beginning of the fuegos, practically all the sugar business was Atkins sugar-producing business in Cuba. in the hands of Spanish merchants. This sit- Soledad, the primary plantation, which con- uation changed during the 1870s when beet sisted of 4,500 acres of beautiful land isolated sugar produced in Europe first provided seri- by hills and mountains, was taken over by ous competition to cane sugar. To counteract Atkins by foreclosure in 1884. With Edwin this situation, Elisha’s son Edwin expanded assuming active supervision, the mill was his father’s commission business to include ready for production within a year with a the actual cultivation and production of sugar. labor force comprised of Africans and 27 Chinese. He gradually acquired more land appointed superintendent of the garden, with and, within twenty-five years, had one of the his salary paid out of the Atkins fund. His most modern and progressively managed tasks were to lay out trial beds for vegetables sugar estates on the island. and to produce new varieties of sugar cane by In 1892, Edwin took over another large plan- hybridizing different strains. The overall pur- tation in the city of Trinidad on a long-term pose of the project was to develop cane that lease and became president of the Trinidad not only was resistant to the fungal diseases Sugar Company, eventually acquiring many but also had a higher sugar content. Perfect- adjacent sugar estates. The success of these ing his own techniques with great success, ventures attracted a large colony of Americans Grey remained in Cuba for over thirty years, to the area. maintaining a record of distinguished service In 1894, general political unrest spread until his retirement in 1936. throughout Cuba, due primarily to Spain’s During the first few years, operations at increasingly repressive presence on the island. Cienfuegos were largely devoted to the sugar Serious problems existed in the form of low cane work; however, Grey also imported many production, unemployment, theft, hunger, other plants and fruit trees from Florida for and poverty. Because of these persistent experimentation, developing one of the largest difficulties, Atkins kept plantation employ- collections of tropical plants in the Western ment at a low level. Fostered by American bus- Hemisphere. An additional purpose of the iness interests, there was a growing sentiment garden, beyond the study of sugar cane, was in the United States to encourage the indepen- to introduce as many different kinds of plants dence of Cuba. The island was still under as possible and to experiment with their cul- Spanish military rule in 1896 when Atkins tivation. Letters from 1901 to 1902 sent to lobbied Washington to protect American Professor Ames by Hugo Bohnhof, an assistant properties. The political tensions ultimately to Mr. Grey, reported good results with let- led to the Spanish-American War, which Spain tuce, tomatoes, cabbage, beans, cucumbers, lost-along with Cuba, her last colony. A brief and artichokes. In later years, experiments American occupation of the island followed with bananas, cocoa, coffee, and rubber proved the conclusion of the war, and in 1898 the successful; however, cotton and tea crops were United States recognized the independence of failures. Cuba. In the early days of the garden, many of the best-known tropical fruit trees were estab- The Growth of the Garden lished on a trial basis. Citrus was one of the The original Atkins fund, established in 1899, early subjects of the research program; was to be used to support the garden after hundreds of hybrid mango seedlings were Edwin’s death. In 1901, the Harvard Botanic produced and tested. A choice collection of Station for research and sugar cane investiga- ornamental plants from Professor Ames’s con- tion was formally inaugurated, situated in the servatories in North Easton, Massachusetts, area called Colonia Limones, a barren but pic- were also sent to the garden in 1901, along turesque site.