38 
sitated the closing of these two structures to the public for 2 
portion of the year. The beds in the Temperate House have 
been largely replanted and the Musa collection in the Palm 
House (No. 5) has been thoroughly overhauled and some of the 
largest specimens retubbed. The festoon of ivy surrounding the 
Range Terrace having become worn out, it has been, replaced 
by a collection of Wichuraiana Roses supported on iron pillars 
and chains. Owing to the heavy fogs experienced in November— 
December, a sticky layer of soot, etc., was deposited on the glass 
roofs, which had to be washed with mops. The effects of the 
fog on the collections under glass were worse than anything 
experienced for many years. The leaves of many plants, parti- 
cularly Begonias, fell off, and the flowers and buds of the 
majority of plants which bloom in winter were spoilt. 
Arboretum.—The large and continuous influx of new Rhodo- 
dendrons, chiefly from China, has rendered the provision of 
more space for them necessary. Another of the slopes of the 
mound on which King William’s Temple stands has been cleared 
of a miscellaneous plantation of shrubs and planted with various 
representatives of this genus, a few of the larger trees being left 
to provide the shade many species cf Rhododendron delight in- 
Thanks to the generosity of various friends of Kew, especially 
Mr. J. C. Williams and Mr. Lionel de Rothschild, M.P., a great: 
number of seedlings of new species are now in the nursery, 
raised from seed collected by Mr. Forrest and the late Mr. Reginald 
Farrer. How far they will be adapted to the climatic and other 
conditions of Kew has yet, of course, to be proved. 
The removal of a deodar which stood at one corner of the 
Water-lily Pond has provided an opportunity of enlarging the 
area and improving the outline of this popular feature of Kew. 
Mr. L. de Rothschild has kindly promised to provide Kew with 
a selection of the best varieties from his fine collection of hardy 
Nymphaeas at Gunnersbury. 
About half the potato plot in front of Kew Palace was sown 
with grass seed and made into lawn again, the remainder being 
cropped with Up-to-date potatoes. Considering that this was 
the third potato crop taken from this piece of ground in succes- 
sive years without manure, the yield was very good, although 
somewhat reduced by disease. 
Although there was a good crop of grass, the weather during 
June and July was so unsettled that the harvesting proved very 
troublesome, and much of the hay was of very inferior quality. 
The removal of a few superfluous common trees near the 
collection of beeches has enabled us to give more space to young 
trees recently acquired. In 1902, when the last edition of the 
‘ Hand-list of Trees and Shrubs ”’ was published, the collection 
