25 



or canal, would be very expensive, as well as injurious to 

 many plants, and the idea of carrying the tenants of that old 

 and splendid garden to St. Petersburgh was abandoned. In 

 the interim, one of the old houses had been rebuilt, and 

 another had been put in order for the expected arrivals. On 

 the 22d March, 1823, Dr. Fischer was appointed Director of 

 the Imperial Botanic Garden (that was ordered to be its 

 future name), and the establishment was placed under the 

 immediate care of the Minister of the Interior ; the foundations 

 of the new houses, the plans of which had been approved of 

 by the Emperor, were laid on the 26th June, 1823, and the 

 erections were carried on so vigorously, that by the fall of the 

 year 1824, every thing was ready for the reception of the 

 plants obtained in the intervening period. The requisite funds 

 were liberally furnished by the Home Department. At this 

 time the number of species, including annuals, amounted to 

 about fifteen hundred. It was necessary to obtain plants 

 for the new houses and borders; much, existing in St. 

 Petersburgh, was purchased, and in August, 1823, the gar- 

 dener, F. Falderman, recommended as head gardener by the 

 Horticultural Society of London, brought with him a large 

 collection, partly purchased, partly obtained as gifts from 

 Kew, Chiswick, Chelsea, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Liverpool. 

 The same autumn, Her Majesty, the late Empress-mother, 

 added a valuable collection from her gardens at Pawlowsk; 

 and thus our houses were soon filled with no less a number 

 than twenty-four thousand plants. It is delightful to record 

 the eager liberality which supported our endeavours in this 

 good cause. . 



During the subsequent winter, seeds, amounting, through 

 the contributions of many kind correspondents, to fourteen 

 thousand eight hundred and eighty-four sorts, were sown, and 

 prospered bevond expectation. 'Plants were, however, still 

 wanting to fill the most lofty houses. The money originally 

 granted for the projected Moscow purchase, say 100,000 

 Roubles (about £4,000 sterling) was therefore devoted to the 

 obtaining of what we had been disappointed in getting from 

 the Gorenka Gardens. Dr. Fischer proceeded in May, 1824, 

 on a journey to visit the most celebrated gardens of other 

 towns, and saw those of Dorpat, Konigsberg, Berlin, Hamburg, 

 Bonn, Dyck, Louvain, Brussels, and Enghien. What had been 

 bought at Paris, or bestowed by the liberality of the adminis- 

 trators of the Jardin des Plantes, was sent by way of Havre 

 to Cronstadt, under the care of a gardener brought out for that 



