THE 





February, 1858. 



O one who has enjoyed an hour at Kew 

 Gardens, but must ever after take a 

 lively interest in all that relates to the 

 maintenance of that splendid establish- 

 ment, the interests of which have for so 

 many years been most zealously cared 

 for by that eminent botanist, Sir William 

 Hooker. Professional gardeners and 

 students of horticulture, to whom it is 

 a place of frequent resort, have long 

 ^l been aware of a fact which the public 

 i generally have scarcely yet become ac- 

 quainted with — that the choicest part 

 of that unrivalled collection has entered 

 on its decline, and will, perhaps, be 

 I speedily lost to the nation, for want of 

 a little pecuniary help from the public 

 purse. More than two years ago, Sir 

 William Hooker called the attention of 

 Sir Benjamin Hall to the condition of the stately Conifers of Australia and 

 New Zealand, and the splendid palms and shrubs of the tropics, as 

 " suffering beyond recovery for want of suitable winter shelter ;" but 

 though the matter was named in the House of Commons, the First Com- 

 missioner declined to render the least help, because the estimates were 

 heavy, and the nation could not afford to provide shelter for a few of its 

 choicest botanical pets. Sir William is not the man to be disheartened 

 by trifles, and he appealed again — that though many of the Chilian, 

 Mexican, and Norfolk Island trees and shrubs — " for the possession of 

 which the Royal Gardens of Kew have long been celebrated" — had 

 suffered beyond recovery, and could only be mentioned "in the past 

 tense," others might " yet be restored by the needful amount of space, 

 light, and temperature," which would be afforded them in a conservatory 

 constructed especially to meet their wants, for " during sixteen years of 

 NO II. — vol. i. c 



