PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 35 
he change of circumstances in the horticultural | tion has been more than verified, and you cannot 
. со Н 
world, it could be maintained in a state of effi- traces of smoke on the Chiswick trees ; 
ciency ; and I may be allowed = speak asa | and even if they had not been su jj 
me sore — thirty or | maleficent influences, t ey have been subjected to 
forty years 1 ееп connected with | a competition far more keen than the shows have 
Chiswick (applause), and o гч st say that many of | had to endur е imperial establishment at Kew 
se 
my ie rial days and hours have been im there. | has been opened, with 300 aeres at its disposal, in 
my feelings are entirely in favour of а comparatvely pure climate, and is now, you may 
Chiswick, and I should wish Chiswick to be main- say, virtually as accessible as Chiswick, with every 
ained and s 
sib ; lant: 
the same time we come do impossibilities, and | and trees in perfection and to study them there, 
we cannot cut our eyes to the change which is | which they can do with more advantage than they 
t the a pida of horticulture in | could at Chiswick. What then could we, with 
England generally, к in this metropolis in par- | twenty acres of flat, poor, gravelly soil, on a lease 
е four points in which | of which more than half is expired, expect to do 
Chiswick x was айлану, useful in those former | against the imperial establishment of Kew ? 
days: E» f all as an experimental garden; | "Therefore I consider it is quite childish to т 
"быс from whence rae plants that | about revi ving the horticultural and botanical 
were Арий ed by the Soeiety's collectors, orob- | interest of Chiswick. I say this with pain, rem 
tained in other ways, might be distributed ; thirdly, | with a firm and full conviction on my m 
asa юн ‘of Arbor retum, where the finest specimens now come аг = third point, which is ет Chis- 
ibited wick 
n the wi ; ucleus for the introduction and dis- 
i fourth аза theatre for great shows. If you Saar See of rare plants. That, lieve, gave 
will allow me, I will take up each of these points. | Chiswick in the first instance its prestige; and as 
I remember the first show that was ever held at long as the world was comparatively unexplored, 
Chiswick ; it was a poor affair, still it was begin- | and as longas there were portions both of America 
mng; and I saw that gradually interest increased | and — an uth America, and Nor- 
in these shows, and the flood.tide of auis tis thern India—to say nothing of New Zealand, from 
set in and bore them ш ыо until they cam whence large нна of hardy plants might be 
form a very large, not to say the largest poetic of obtained, which the zealous collectors of the Society 
the income of the Ho tural р - | sent in wonderful ion to our Gardens; 
t member of the then Council of the Society | as long as that went on, there was a source of very, 
те me his great fears as to the precarious | very great interest concentrated in Chiswick, But 
ition of the Society's pros perity; for their | now nearly the whole world has been explored, as 
os drag матанын е shows, which, | far аз hardy plants are concerned; a few remain, 
although then re was no appearance of their | no doubt, lurking in the Rocky Mountains, but an 
ity wanin, зд might at io time be subjected | expedition is organised for bringing them. The 
ро 
to eclipse, Well, for Several years they ned on | same may be saidiof the Himalayas, from which the 
ink, on one i w sti 
however, that such a financial permitted to seale those h far then, 
рй = ng should b d er | as the collecting of new plants of gene 
withou ing а certain amount of rivalry, emu- | interest is concerned, we have very nearly got to 
lation, а and o apaiia Then it was that other | the - ыы our tether. No doubt there is a multi- 
and op ieties, in no unfriend у spirit, | tude re hothouse and greenhouse plants still 
Were set = pus it was that the Botanic Gardens | to тайкы and with a view to that we have sent 
in Regent's Park were opened, and then wasdemon- | Mr. Weir д: Brazil апа New Granada : in Brazil 
е 
New Granad 
Seen, that by far the arger proportion of the | he has а "with a great deal of suecess; but as 
People who flocked to Chis vi did not go there | these plants are chiefly for the enjoyment of only 
to see the exhibitions, but for other rpurposes,alien | the few, I do not think a Society like ourselves 
entirely to the purposes of secre mie and for | should eni — expenditure for their introdue- 
which 4 the Botanie Gardens at Re ent's tion. Sof erefore, as regards the third point, 
Park 
а чыгу маме = even greater gor Chiswick is Seal effective, as far as it can be, as a 
Mx isw herefore left е hic ants can 
p Р. аз exhibitions were concerned, to the Now I come to the fourth point, and the most im- 
Tm Votaries of* hortieulture, and the numbers | portant one of all—Chiswiek as an experiment: 
Ost Were not sufficient to make those exhibitions ab ; а урке һеге, е labours of half a 
might е day for Chiswick one by; ce collection of the most valua 
Testor as well try to restore the Hept as нан Д of fruit have been er, and 
We he of the Chiswick exhibitions о ү. — additions have been made 
"e come to another respect in which Chis- | fresh varieties have been introduced. I believe 
Was eminently useful; that was, as an Arbore- | Mr. Cole i is s perfectly justified in saying, as re; 
i ра а рат = where rare plants could be seen | this, the most ететан feature of the Horticul- 
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, that ful t is at j momen ‚ (hear, * 
pe hear London, ; and that җ war. impossible | In the only points in which Chiswic of the pre- 
in health. years to maintain a collection of plants | sent could by possibility be compared to Chis- 
d vitality there. Already the predic- xd of the past, I believe there is nothing to fear 
