^22 THE PROPOSED NATIONAL BOTANIC GARDEN. 



" The period of your address was admirably and most happily 

 well-chosen. The establishment of the new Union had filled the 

 hearts of every lover of South Africa with fresh hope for the 

 future, and all were ready to welcome any prospect of a step 

 forward in the way of progress towards combination in efforts 

 for the establishment of institutions for the promotion of science 

 and art which have done so much and proved so beneficial in the 

 life of older countries. 



" This being so, it is natural that there should have arisen 

 both regret and disappointment that so few visible signs have 

 appeared of any tangible results from the Address. It must be 

 recognised and admitted that here in South Africa, as in most 

 other countries, there has been shown rather too strong a ten- 

 dency to look to the Government for the initiation of any im- 

 portant step in our National life. This is only natural in com- 

 paratively poor communities. But it is a tendency which must 

 not and will not last for ever. The work to be done in this case 

 is too vast to be left to individuals. Over the whole of South 

 Africa, from the Cape Peninsula to the Transvaal, and even to 

 Basutoland, there have been isolated workers engaged in collect- 

 ing and investigating the flora of the country, stimulated and 

 assisted so far as may be, by students in the more populous centres 

 of the southern coast. A great deal has been done in this way, 

 without show, but not without cost, both of time and money, in 

 laying the foundations for further advance on which would be 

 erected public centres to serve as a means for pushing forward 

 the work of investigation of our native vegetation. In the science 

 of geology much has been done, and the work of the Geological 

 Commission, which is beyond all praise, has, under the fostering 

 care and the liberal support of the Government, made such pro- 

 gress as to inspire us with the hope that a similar encouragement 

 to the no less important science of botany which has been left so 

 severely alone, would lead to equally valuable results. 



" The new Government is no doubt wise in proceeding cau- 

 tiously. But there are some who think that at least the sub- 

 ject might have been discussed in an inexpensive manner by the 

 appointment of a Select Committee of Parliament, which might 

 have suggested a modest beginning, if only in the way of reform- 

 ing and extending some of the smaller existing gardens in or 

 near the older towns. 



" I quite agree with your view that a beginning should be 

 made in the establishment of one chief garden combining horti- 

 culture with a botanical museum and library, without which last 

 very little can be done. In such matters as these we must 

 avail ourselves of the experience of older countries, and you have 

 very well shown how all the finest gardens in the world have 

 been established near the centres of population. The great 

 thing, one of the most important things, is to ensure the interest 

 of the public. The one British Institution which is the constant 

 admiration and envy of foreign visitors to England, is the Kew 

 Gardens, and besides the Gardens proper, the Museums, the 

 Library of over 30,000 volumes exclusively on botanical subjects, 



