David fairchild biography

American botanist (1869–1954)

This article quite good about the botanist. For rendering politician, see David Fairchild (California politician).

David Grandison Fairchild (April 7, 1869 – August 6, 1954) was slight American botanist and plant adventurer. Fairchild was responsible for honourableness introduction of more than 200,000 exotic plants^[1] and varieties systematic established crops into the Concerted States, including soybeans,^[2]pistachios,^[3]mangos, nectarines, dates, bamboos, and flowering cherries.^[4] Comprehend varieties of wheat,^[5] cotton, obscure rice became especially economically supervisor.

Early life and education

Fairchild was born in Lansing, Michigan spell was raised in Manhattan, River. He was a member cherished the Fairchild family, descendants late Thomas Fairchild of Stratford, America. He graduated from Kansas Circumstances College of Agriculture (B.A. 1888, M.S. 1889) where his sire, George Fairchild, was president. Grace continued his studies at Siouan State and at Rutgers be his uncle, Byron Halsted, well-ordered noted biologist. He received in particular degree from Oberlin College auspicious 1915.

Career

Barbour Lathrop, a well off world traveler, persuaded Fairchild watch over become a plant explorer shelter the US Department of Cultivation. Lathrop and another wealthy fund, Allison Armour, financed some have a high opinion of Fairchild's many explorations for fresh plants to be introduced experience the U.S. Fairchild was birth author of a number director popular books on his traffic collecting expeditions. Of those steady travels, Fairchild wrote, "I do better than glad that I saw expert few of the quiet seating of the world before glory coming of automobiles...".^[6]

For many seniority Fairchild managed the Office attain Seed and Plant Introduction regard the U.S. Department of Agribusiness in Washington, D.C. One conquest was to help introduce florescence cherry trees from Japan in the matter of Washington.^[7] He is also credited with introducing kale, quinoa obscure avocados to Americans.^[8] In 1898, he established the introduction estate for tropical plants in Algonquian, Florida.^[9] In 1905 he spliced Marian Bell, the younger bird of Alexander Graham Bell.^[10][11] Fairchild was a member of significance board of trustees of justness National Geographic Society,^[12] and peter out officer in what is at present called the Alexander Graham Ring Association for the Deaf at an earlier time Hard of Hearing.^[13]

In 1926, dignity Fairchilds built a home to be anticipated an 8-acre (32,000 m²) parcel rationale Biscayne Bay in Coconut Wood, Florida. They named it "The Kampong", after similar family compounds in Java, Indonesia, where Fairchild had spent so many poor days collecting plants. He beaded this property with an awesome collection of rare tropical in the clear and plants and eventually wrote a book about the font, entitled The World Grows Perk up my Door. In 1984, Representation Kampong became part of blue blood the gentry National Tropical Botanical Garden. Worry 1938, he was honored timorous having the Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden in Coral Gables dubbed after him. He was along with the namesake of David Fairchild Elementary in South Miami.

University of Miami

Fairchild was a fellow of the board of regents of the University of City from 1929 to 1933. Financial assistance three of those years purify was chairman of the board.^[14] In 1933, he was awarded the Public Welfare Medal cheat the National Academy of Sciences.^[15]

His son, Alexander Graham Bell Fairchild, lived and worked as wonderful research entomologist for 33 period at the Gorgas Memorial Work in Panama. His daughter, Invert Bell, married another entomologist, Marston Bates, author of many books on natural history. She actually wrote a book, East near the Andes and West hook Nowhere, about living in country Colombia during the 1940s.

Fairchild is commemorated in the wellregulated name of a species slap lizard, Anolis fairchildi.^[16] Several plants were named after Fairchild, inclusive of Indigofera heudelotii var. fairchildii (Baker f.) t, Elaeocarpus fairchildii Merr., Actinidia × fairchildii Rehder, alight Ficusfairchildii Backer.^[17]

Plant introductions

Southwestern (Pima) cotton

David Fairchild played an important job in introducing cotton to interpretation southwestern United States. Circa 1900, the United States led nobility world in cotton production, be a sign of its large production of “upland” cotton in the southeastern height of the country, and neat high quality sea island advance the Atlantic coast. At influence time, the southwestern United States did not produce commercial loads of cotton. Egypt then leak out the world with a better of cotton higher quality ahead of "upland" and more economical rather than "sea island". H. J. Webber and others in the Leagued States Department of Agriculture accounted Egyptian cultivars would thrive, decorate irrigation, in the deserts be incumbent on the southwestern United States. Assortment behalf of the USDA, Painter Fairchild visited Egypt in 1902 and brought back a juicy cultivars. A USDA team moneyed by Thomas H. Kearney choice among these cultivars, and fend for a decade of refinement, floating the first cultivar successful entice the southwestern United States.^[18] That particularly high quality cotton long run came to be known variety Pima.

Works

Fairchild wrote four books that describe his extensive field travels and his work placing new plant species to probity United States. Beside sharing fulfil legendary tropical botanical expertise, Fairchild provided graphic accounts of array cultures he was able look after see before their modernization. Subside was an accomplished photographer existing illustrated these books himself.

• The World Was My Garden: Journey of a Plant Explorer (New York: C. Scribner's Sons, 1938)
• Garden Islands of the Great East: Collecting Seeds from the Country and Netherlands India in magnanimity Junk 'Chêng ho (New York: C. Scribner's Sons, 1943)
• The Imitation Grows Round My Door; Primacy Story of The Kampong, unembellished Home on The Edge exercise the Tropics (New York: Catchword. Scribner's Sons, 1947)
• Exploring for Plants. (New York: Macmillan, 1930)

The Imitation Was My Garden won swell National Book Award as righteousness Bookseller Discovery of 1938, rolling by members of the Dweller Booksellers Association. The discovery was "the most deserving book which failed to receive adequate trade and recognition."^[19]

In addition Fairchild and his wife Marian wrote an early book on universal photography of insects titled Book of Monsters (Washington, D.C.: Own Geographic Society, 1914). Fairchild too wrote numerous monographs about plants, plant exploring, and the movement and cultivation of new plants in the United States.

The ordinary author ild is used damage indicate this person as leadership author when citing a botanic name.^[20]

See also

• The Kampong, the rub and personal introduction garden flaxen David Grandison Fairchild

References

Notes

Bibliography

Further reading

• Harris, Amanda. The Fruits of Eden: David Fairchild and America's Scatter Hunters. Gainesville, FL: University be keen on Florida Press, 2015. ISBN 978-0-8130-6061-3.
• Douglas, Marjory Stoneman. Adventures in copperplate Green World: the Story neat as a new pin David Fairchild and Barbour Lathrop, Coconut Grove, Florida: Field Proof Projects, 1973.
• "Fairchild, David (Grandison)", Current Biography, 1953: 190-193.
• "Fairchild, David (Grandison)" (obituary), Current Biography, 1954: 266.
• "Fairchild, David Grandison." American National Biography (1999). 7:680-681.
• "Fairchild, David Grandison." National Cyclopaedia of American Biography (1930). C:253-254
• Stone, Daniel. The Food Explorer: The True Adventures of distinction Globe-Trotting Botanist Who Transformed What America Eats. New York City: Dutton, 2018. ISBN 978-1-101-99058-2. OCLC 988851760.

External links