natural disadvantages, it was not easy to produce anything, 

 even tolerable, in gardening ; but princely munificence, aided 

 by a Director, equally skilled in cultivating the earth, and in 

 the polite arts, overcame all difficulties. What was once a 

 desert is now an Eden. The judgment with which Art hath 

 been employed to supply the defects of Nature, and to cover 

 its deformities, hath very justly gained universal admiration, 

 and reflects uncommon lustre on the refined taste of the 

 noble contriver, as the vast sums which have been expended 

 to bring this arduous undertaking to perfection, do infinite 

 honor to the generosity and taste of the illustrious possessor, 

 who, with so liberal a hand, distributes the superfluity of her 

 treasures, in works, which serve at once to adorn the country, 

 and to nourish its industrious inhabitants." * 



At this time, Sir William Chambers was employed in deco- 

 rating the grounds at Kew with temples, &c, an account of 

 which he published in a large folio book, with many plates, 

 dedicated to the Princess Dowager of Wales, under the title 

 of " Plans, Elevations, Sections, and Perspective Views of the 

 Gardens and Buildings at Kew, in Surrey, the Seat of Her 

 Royal Highness, the Princess Dowager of Wales." 



the Physick or Exotic Garden, f was also begun before 

 the year 1759, by the Princess Dowager; for we find in that 

 year, Mr. William Aiton, a pupil of the celebrated Philip 

 Miller of the Chelsea Gardens, was placed in charge of the 

 Botanical Garden at Kew ; a gentleman distinguished no less 

 by his private virtues, than for his knowledge of plants, and 

 great skill in cultivating them. His professional abilities 

 soon procured him the friendship of the late Sir Joseph 

 Banks, which subsisted for life: the most curious plants 

 were collected from every part of the world, and Mr. Aiton's 

 care in rearing them, was evinced by his attention to the 

 various soils and several degrees of warmth or cold, that their 

 different natures required. The borders in the garden were 

 enlarged for the freer circulation of air where it was needful, 

 and the stoves improved, so as to afford the plants, as nearly 

 as possible, the atmosphere of those climates where they 

 originally grew. J 



* Sir William Chambers. . , 



t This does not appear to have been the first Botanic Garden in Kew ; 

 for Dr. Turner, the Herbalist, "one of the fathers of English Botany had 

 a Botanic Garden here, as well as at Wells, where he was Dean ot the 

 Cathedral. 



% Gentleman's Magazine, 1793. 



