6 PREFACE. 



At the instance of the Royal Society the practice was 

 commenced in 1772 of sending out collectors of plants 

 to foreign countries from Kew. Francis Masson, in 

 whose honour the genus Massonia was named, twice 

 visited the Cape of Good Hope for this purpose ; first, 

 from 1774-6, and secondly from 1786-95. He " collected 

 and sent home a profusion of plants unknown till that 

 time to the botanical gardens in Europe." 



James Bowie (commemorated in Bowiea) collected at 

 the Cape for Kew from 1817-23. He introduced, 

 amongst numerous other plants, the well-known Clivia 

 nohilis. 



The method of growing Cape bulbs in this country 

 originally adopted at Kew is thus described b}" Smith 

 {Records, pp. 312, 3 J 3): — '"The garden collection of 

 bulbs were grown in glazed frames, called the bulb 

 borders, attached to the fronts of the Botany Bay, Cape, 

 and Palm Houses, the length of the whole being 234 

 feet, width 5 feet. They received heat from the flue 

 that heated the house, through openings left in the 

 brickwork, and in severe winters they were protected 

 by shutters. In these borders the principal of Masson's 

 and Bowie's collections were well maintained for many 

 years." 



This system, which has been since reverted to partially, 

 is admittedly the best when the bulbs are planted out 

 But for the bulk of the collection it is more convenient 

 to gi'ow them in pots. When at rest these are kept in 

 a private house (No. XVII. u.), from which, when in 

 flow^er, they are removed to the Cape House (No. VII.). 



No trustworthy statistics are available as to the 

 number of species of tender bulbous plants cultivated 



