160 KEW GARDENS 



a studious intent. But by far the majority of 

 holiday visitors come clearly in a true holiday 

 spirit, roaming here and there like butterflies 

 from clump to clump of bloom or greenery, to 

 carry away a general impression of something 

 bearing the same relation to their own familiar 

 back gardens as Windsor Castle or Chatsworth 

 to a semi-detached suburban villa. 



The visitors make as miscellaneous a collec- 

 tion as the plants. Exotic promenaders will be 

 common on Sundays, when our foreign guests 

 are apt to complain of a want of public amuse- 

 ments. All classes are represented, from dis- 

 guised millionaires perhaps seeking a hint for 

 their own newly laid out grounds, to servant 

 girls fondly persuaded that the lilies of the field 

 can show nothing to match the glories of their 

 holiday array. Family parties are much in 

 evidence. There is always a large proportion of 

 youngsters, whose parents and guardians may be 

 tempted to improve the occasion with useful 

 information, more or less correct. Here would 

 be a chance for Mr. Barlow to open the minds 

 of Masters Sandford and Merton, or for the 

 tutor of Evenings at Home to lecture his in- 

 quisitive pupils. But the reader need not be 



