[Vol. 2 



200 ANNALS OF THE MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN 



matter of great use & ornament, prouving serviceable not only 

 to all Physitians, Apothecaryes, and those who are more immedi- 

 ately concerned in the practice of Physick, but to persons of all 

 qualities seruinjj; to help ye diseased and for ye delight & 

 pleasure of those of perfect health, containing therein 3,000 

 seuerall sorts of plants for ye honor of our nation and Univer- 

 sitie and service of ye Commonwealth." 



A further interesting piece of information given by Basker- 

 ville is as follows : 



"Anno 1670. Here w T as built by the Income of the money 

 given by the ffounder a fair greenhouse or Conservatory to pre- 

 serve tender plants and trees from (he Injury of hard winter." 



This conservatory covered with a roof of stone slates is 

 shown in Loggan's plan and was of sufficient solidity to be 

 transformed early in the eighteenth century into the her- 

 barium, library, and professorial residence, but it was subse- 

 quently demolished. 



The conservatory was heated in severe weather by means 

 of a four- wheeled fire-basket, or wagon filled with burning 

 charcoal, which was drawn backwards and forwards along the 

 path by a gardener. 1 



Similar conservatories, or orangeries, were common in 

 English gardens, and the building now used as a Museum 

 (No. Ill) at Kew, was erected as an orangery in 1760. 



The first wooden greenhouses ever made were those erected 

 at Oxford, in 1734, on either side of the Danby Gate. 2 



Although the Garden was founded in 1621, it appears that 

 some twenty years elapsed before Jacob Bobart was appointed 

 the first gardener, owing probably to delays caused in prepar- 

 ing the site. Under his supervision the Garden attained a con- 

 siderable reputation and was visited by many distinguished 

 people, including Evelyn and Pepys. Bobart *s catalogue of 

 the plants cultivated, published in 1648, enumerates 1,600 

 plants, 600 of which were British, and many Canadian; it may 

 be taken as evidence of his successful management of the 

 Garden. 



1 See Gardeners' Chronicle N. S. 23:73*2. f. 168. 1886. The figure is repro- 

 duced in Giinther, R. T. Oxford Gardens p. 92. Oxford and London, 1912. 



2 See engraving in Oxford Almanac, 17<>(>; reproduced in Giinther, loo. cit., 

 plate facing p. 153. 



