The Atkins Gardens was founded by Edwin F. Atkins, formally inaugurated in 1901 and given by him to Harvard University in 1919. The Harvard Experiment Station, as it was originally known, was located in Soledad, Cienfuegos, Cuba on about 200 acres. It consisted mostly of a living collection of woody plants from the tropics and sub-tropics, and also experimental fields for research in tropical crop botany and forestry. In 1932 the station was transfered to the Arnold Arboretum and renamed Atkins Institution of the Arnold Arboretum. The Institute for Research in Experimental and Applied Botany was established in 1946, to administer the Atkins Garden and Research Laboratory, as well as the Bussey Institution, The Harvard Forest and the Cabot Foundation. As a result of increasing administrative difficulties Harvard suspended its support of the Cuban station in 1961, though some experimental work continued at the Univ. of the West Indies.
From the description of Records of the Atkins Garden and Research Laboratory, 1898-1946 (inclusive). (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 76973110
