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increased in size and interest under Aiton’s management, and the 
active influence of Sir Joseph Banks, that by the end of the century 
it was famed throughout Europe for the great collection of plants 
it contained. The healthy sapling, which was raised and nurtured 
so well by Aiton, has now developed into a robust and vigorously- 
growing tree. Kew, as it exists to-day, however, has been formed 
by the fusion of two Royal properties—Kew and Richmond 
Gardens. The Royal Gardens of Richmond, which are now merged 
in Kew, were a favourite resort of Queen Caroline, the consort of 
George II., and it may not be uninteresting to Scotsmen to recall 
that it was in them that Jeannie Deans, after her journey on foot 
from Edinburgh, pleaded with Her Majesty for the life of her sister 
Effie, as is so touchingly described by Scott in the ‘“ Heart of 
Mid-Lothian.” The third Earl of Bute took an extremely active 
part in developing the botanical side of Kew, and it was he who, 
about 1760, planted the most of the old trees which still adorn the 
Arboretum near the main gate. Curiously enough, too, it was an 
Aberdonian, by name Francis Masson, who was one of the first of 
the Kew “ collectors,” who travelled abroad in search of new plants. 
At the expense of the Kew authorities, he went to the Cape of Good 
Hope in 1772, and sent home over four hundred species of plants 
which had not been seen before in Europe. This excellent practice 
of sending collectors to different parts of the world continues, and 
by its means Kew is greatly enriched. 
The Gardens, as they exist to-day in their great extent and 
variety, are the result of the labour of many hands, but the name 
most associated with them is, of course, that of Professor Sir Wm. 
Hooker, who in 1845 resigned his position of Regius Professor of 
Botany in Glasgow University, to become Director of Kew. At 
that time the Gardens were only 15 acres in extent. They now 
include nearly 300 acres. Over two hundred men of all grades, about 
sixty of whom are professional gardeners, are employed in them. 
There is an annual grant from Parliament of £22,000 for their 
upkeep; and growing in the open air or under glass there is a collec- 
tion of the flora of the known world, unsurpassed in any other 
country. Kew, in fact, is the floral Mecca of the world. It is at 
once a great educational and a pleasure resort, and it is satisfactory 
to know that, though it is visited by Londoners in their thousands 
every week, and in their tens of thousands on bank holidays, it is an 
exceptionally rare thing for the flowers or trees to be in any way 
damaged. Sir Joseph Hooker succeeded his father as Director, 
