August 1, 1914.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



591 



Britain's Tropical Gardens and What They Have Done. 



B 



^■^A^'^■, in its nrijiinal nicaiiing. was a discijursc on fodder 

 and the first Imtanical gardens were, no doubt, planted 

 with strictly utihtarian aims. The tirst were for utility, the 

 second for beauty and then came those intended to serve the 

 cause of knowledge. Finally these objects were combined in 

 tlie gardens of the experiment stations of the modern state. 

 The "herbal gardens" of the middle ages, which were the imme- 

 diate precursors of the botanical gardens of the present day. 

 were planted with medicinal herbs, but in many instances the 

 grower probably was moved more by a desire to know and 

 possess many curious plants. Scholars who had a special liking 

 for the study of plants went from one of these gardens to an- 

 other and wrote down in horrible Dog-Latin descriptions of what 

 they found. These manuscripts were collected, underwent redac- 

 tions, and lists of plants found in "herbal gardens" were made. 

 Frotn these lists ambitious owners planned new gardens, new' 

 lists were made and thus the sciences of gardening and of Imtany 

 d e V e 1 o p e d 



as the years 

 went by. 



I'rom one of 

 those old "med- 

 icine gardens" 

 dates the licgin- 

 ning of the 

 wonderful es- 

 talilishmeiu at 

 Kew. Knglanil, 

 w'hich c V e r y 

 amateur botan- 

 ist in the world 

 dreams of some 

 day visiting. 

 Slowly dcvcld])- 

 ing under suc- 

 cessive owners 

 through several 

 centuries, 1 li e 

 estate was 

 leased as a resi- 

 dence by the un- 

 fortunate 



b'redcric. Prince of Wales, and here liis widow reared her son, 

 who afterward, as George the Third, had an interesting differ- 

 ence of opinion with his American subjects on matters of taxa- 

 tion and kingly rights. That monarch obtained the freehold, 

 enlarged the grounds and continued the improvements made by 

 his parents. In 1840 the Koyal Botanic CJardens. as they Iiad 

 come to be called, became dclinilely a public institution, which 

 remains today the most important botanical establishment in 

 the world. It has had associated with its conduct the immortal 

 names of Hooker and Bcntham. and it has added to Ijotanical 

 science a fund of knowledge which may never be equaled until 

 there is another world to explore. 



But Kew is more than grounds, gardens, collections and 

 treatises. It is a great institution for the study of plants from 

 every possible angle, tlieir relationshi])s, their haliitats, industrial 

 importance, cliinatic and soil requirements, their diseases and a 

 hundred other matters. It is a world institution, not only hav- 

 ing correspondence w-ith learned bodies and individuals every- 

 where, but having what are practically branches in the shape of 

 botanical gardens, forest observatories and experiment stations 

 in all parts of the British empire. 



This work was given great impetus by .Sir William Turner 





The Wl.NTER (i.\RDEN AT KkW GaRDE.N'S, LoNDON 



Thistleton-Uyer, who was director of Kew from 1875 until 190.5, 

 when he became Botanical Advisor of the Colonial Office. Under 

 his influence the usefulness of Kew to all mankind has been 

 strikingly increased. A sound economist and man of imagina- 

 tion and breadth of view, as well as a thorough scientist, he saw 

 that the problem of tropical production was not merely to make 

 money for e.\ploiters, but to furnish the products in abundance 

 and at reasonable cost to those who had need for them. To do 

 this meant that the right plants must be grown in the right locali- 

 ties by the right methods. The natives, on whose efforts the suc- 

 cess of plantations depended, could be interested only by re- 

 muneration which would distinctly raise their standard of living, 

 and this could be given only where right methods of crop-selec- 

 tion and culture were followed. To this humane and broad- 

 minded policy the botanical work of the empire was definitely 

 oiiininittcd. The survey swept the world. If a plant had beauty or 

 utility tlie (juestion of its culture and extension was considered. 



No dictum de- 

 rived from em- 

 pirical knowl- 

 edge stood 

 in the way of 

 a candid exam- 

 ination of an y 

 prol>Icni pre- 

 sented. To fmd 

 the plant, then 

 tind the way to 

 make its culture 

 |)rol"itable. was 

 the work to 

 which Kew and 

 its allies ad- 

 dressed them- 

 selves ; and the 

 results, have 

 been of incal- 

 cul.'iMc licni'lu 

 to the world. 



The Botanical 

 Gardens of 

 Peradeniya. in 



Ceylon, have been declared the finest in the world. They are 

 nearly a century old, having been established in 1821. The 

 .grounds are bounded on three sides by the river Mohaweliganga 

 and are only four miles from the historically interesting town 

 which bears the alluring name of Kandy. For a hundred years 

 hi.gh talent, devoted enthusiasm and deep scientific knowledge 

 have been given to the work of making these wonderful gar- 

 dens. The same patient and skilful effort would have wrought 

 wonders in Greenland, but under a tropic sun the result has 

 been magnificent beyond description. 



The Mohammedans believe that the Garden of Eden w:as 

 located in Ceylon, and there is no doubt that the gardens of 

 Peradeniya have made a finer representation of that ideal spot 

 than imagination could ever depict. The beauties, the marvels 

 of the vegetable world, the delightful fruit, the healing herb, all 

 are there — and there is no angel with flatning sword to turn 

 the visitor away. Avenues of lofty palms, wonderful lianas, 

 giant bainboos and all those miracles of the vegetable world 

 which loom so large in travelers' tales are here assembled for 

 the visitor's delight. There are flowers of marvelous beauty 

 and. as in the Garden of old, "every tree that is pleasant to the 

 sight and good for food." There, too, is the tree of the fruit of 





