It has been too cold to advance the planting much but is today milder with threats of rain. Mr Vanderbilt telegraphs that he will be here with Phil Codman on the 5th proxo & has wired Bottomley to come here at once. I expect him tonight & that he will help at the planting tomorrow. A number of cases of plants have arrived. I did not know that we had ordered any, nor what they are. Mr. V. asked if I would stay till the 8th. I answered, yes. But if after that I am to go to Atlanta, & then stop in Baltimore & New York; go to {Reid’s} & Twombley’s &c. the winter will be well advanced before I get home. I shall be governed by you but it seems to me that I had better come home, give consideration to more important matters, put in an appearance with the [580]Boston Commission &c, and make a second tour for the New York circuit, South Manchester &c. I don’t think that I shall be able to leave Biltmore for Atlanta before the 8th. Too much to do here. In fact it almost appears to me that I shd spend the winter here, there is so much to be considered. But I suppose that I shall come home make some preliminy study (sketch) of general plan and further planting plans & return in February. Can tell better after seeing Mr Vanderbilt perhaps. Things are going ahead here. Pinchot has several assistants and pupils and a laboring force in the field of 35 men. Some things have been done that I had not expected and not as they would have been had I been consulted, but they do not come perhaps strictly within our professional responsibility—or at least it has not been supposed so—tho’ I feel that we are to blame for such insufficient supervision that they could have been done without our knowledge or advice.

I feel that you are not giving sufficient attention—watch—to Franklin Park work. I am sorry that I had not studied the planting plans and seen that more was done this Fall than has been. Looking ahead it seems to me that a great deal of planting shd be done in the Spring. Of this, the most important is the Parkway opposite Brookline. Can you not advance preliminaries of that at once?—At least skeleton plans can be prepared before I come home. They shd be made so that ready reference can be had to the planting that has been done on the Brookline side, with a view to general correspondence. My idea is to indicate on these skeletons the general character of the planting required stating what shd “predominate” then turn them over to Fischer with instructions to have in view greater variety of detail & to be less cramped with reference to foreign plants &c., Profr Sargent’s hobbies. We ought to take care to secure quite as good plants as he obtained from nurseries. That we can do mainly by correspondence with the nursery men who furnished what he obtained—getting from them the same species, plants one year later. In most cases we can get as good probably at the same prices. In some cases I hope we can by consulting Manning’s correspondence obtain better plants from nurseries that did not enter the competition. We shd pretty much clear out our park nursery, preparatory to moving it next year. You will see that there are lots of work to be done in making detailed plans consulting the stock we have; correspondence; obtaining authority for purchases & making purchases & that the preliminary work of our home office cannot be done too soon to give Fischer time to work up his part in time. I don’t suppose that we need do any planting at Charleston & East Boston next spring but we shd do a good deal of border planting at Franklin Park & plans for the new nursery should be ready soon for consideration by the Board—The most urgent work of Franklin Park next spring will be the completion of the circuit Road. For this the propagating house must be removed.

There is an ugly ¶ about the roofs at Chicago going the rounds. I see it so often repeated & in these local Southern papers as well as in New York [581]Tribune, Times, World & Post (seen here) that I question if its general circulation may not possibly have been provided for by the enemy.

The mountain forestry excursion party, including Sturgis, returned last night. Pinchot starts tomorrow for Dr Webb to discuss Adirondack Forest schemes.

I have something to advise Harry about our plantations at Chicago—a discovery here that may be useful, but this can wait till I see him perhaps. I shd like to hear what he reports of progress. And I wish that you would send me Boston papers.

With a view to intelligent consideration & discussion with Mr. V. of some of Pinchot’s schemes I want the last pamphlet we have upon Avelling & Porters Road locomotive—Traction engine. Particularly a report embodied with it of results in its use in some mining districts in France. The question is: might this not answer Pinchot’s purposes better than an extensive Tramway that he has been thinking of.

Are you fully aware that Mr V has bought 16000 acres some ten miles from here for forestry? & that he thinks of adding a much larger tract? New problems of organization are thus arising, & the question of railways, traction engines, assumes greater importance. But it is Pinchot’s matter as yet—not ours. But we ought to be ready to assist—