358 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [NOVEMBER 
dens may be estimated from the fact that there are some plants such as 
vanilla, which will only grow naturally there, and that there are others, such as 
roses, which can only there be successfully propagated. Castleton must 
therefore always be the great propagating center. 
It is scarcely necessary to say anything in Jamaica about the importance 
generally of botanic gardens, for the need for them has been continuously 
recognized there for more than one hundred years. The value of those exist- 
ing in Jamaica, Trinidad, and Demerara, is so evident that lately botanic 
gardens have been started in Antigua, Dominica, Montserrat, and St. Kitts, 
Nevis, among the Leeward Islands; in Grenada, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent 
among the Windward Islands; and still more recently in British Honduras. 
e€ movement is also going on other parts of the world; for 
instance, botanic gardens have lately been pare in Lagos, and the Gold 
Coast on the west coast of Africa. 
tanic gardens in the tropics do the work on the plant side of agricul- 
tural departments in temperate climates. They are in themselves experi- 
products, and in distributing plants and imparting useful information, than 
most agricultural departments. 
The whole of the botanic gardens in the British Empire are more or less 
in communication with one another, exchanging seeds, publications, etc., and 
all look up to the Royal gardens at Kew as to their head for advice and 
assistance. Imperial federation is already in existence as regards the botanic 
gardens and their work. If any special variety of a plant or any new culture 
comes into notice, information and plants are sought sometimes directly from 
the local gardens ; sometimes through Kew as the botanic gardens’ clearing 
house. The director of Kew gardens has at his disposal the services of 
experts in every branch of botanical inquiry, and is hoeiniaste most naga to 
aid colonial gardensin every way. Any intricate q 
istry, in diseases of plants, in insect pests, in the value of products, etc., can 
be determined by reference to Kew. Colonial gardens are therefore not iso- 
lated, but are branches of an agricultural department as wide as the British 
Empire itself. 
In 1896 the following paragraphs are found: 
Although the means and the number of men at my disposal are — 
n 
the United States, we try to follow at a very long distance the aims an 
methods adopted by them. Dr. A.C. True, the director of the office of experi- 
ment stations in the United States, has lately given a lucid exposition of the 
objects and work of these stations, and an extract from his bulletin will very 
clearly illustrate what we should always be striving after here. 
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