^7^ 



K 



VISIT TO KEW GARDENS BY RAIL DIRECT. 



[Continued from p. 149. J 



How many plants are here surrounding us, the fruits of which are 

 as familiar as our daily bread ! Here are all the varieties of the Tea- 

 tree ; there is the Coffee ; and in yonder tub is the Sugar-cane. The 

 Cocoa, the various spice-bearing shrubs, including the Nutmeg, are 

 all here and flourishing ; here also is the Cotton-tree, the Indigo- 

 plant, and the Papyrus from which the Egyptian paper was made. 

 Overhead wave the Cocoa-nut, the Mango, and the Fan-palms ; whilst 

 the magnificent Ferns of our Australian colonies shed an inexpressible 

 air of elegance over the whole arrangement. 



It is the work of days, not of hours, to examine the contents of 

 this noble collection ; the longer we stay, the more we find to admire ; 

 and few can depart without the acknowledgment that the nation's 

 money has been well bestowed upon the whole establishment. 



Nothing appears to us wanting but an imj)ortation of fire- flies. 

 Nothing could possibly be more attractive than a late evening hour 

 spent in this building, if it was well lit up with these natural lamps. 



