MODERN BOTANIC GARDENS 47 



known only to experts all of which in some way 

 or other it comes within the province of Kew to 

 receive from all parts of the world, to study, to 

 test, and to redistribute. The mildews and fungoid 

 growths which attack such economic plants con- 

 stitute in themselves one most formidable branch 

 of microscopic investigation. The plant-life of the 

 whole world, in consideration of our wide-spread 

 colonies, may be said practically to centre in Kew. 

 Living or dried, the student may expect to find 

 there specimens of the greater number of all known 

 plants ; and any serious scientific inquirer can 

 claim the courtesy and help of its staff in solving 

 questions of doubt or interest. The practice of the 

 science of botany is indeed no dilettante profession, 

 though it is common enough, even in these days, 

 to hear it spoken of as though it were of no account. 



But there is a side-issue which belongs more 

 nearly to the subject of English gardening. In 

 the vegetable kingdom beauty in some form is 

 inextricably intertwined with service ; and the most 

 recent development of the modern botanic garden 

 is not only to make known in popular fashion 

 the inexhaustible wealth of decorative plants, but 

 to show the best ways in which they can be used 

 and cultivated. 



Take, for example, the lessons of a brief winter's 

 walk which Kew offers to all garden-lovers who 

 come there, looking for helpful and timely hints. 

 How few, even of the most eager of these, recog- 

 nise what can be done by suitable choice of shrubs 

 and bulbs by flower, by colour of stems and 

 branches, or by fruit to brighten the winter gar- 



