Domestic Notices : — England. 469 



in this country on a working tour, to acquire gardening information, and the 

 language. 



The Gardens of Buckinghavi Palace are undergoing great improvements and 

 alterations by direction of Her Majesty. Upwards of 200 workmen are em- 

 ployed in diversifying and planting the grounds from the rear of the palace to 

 the triumphal arch entrance at the top of Grosvenor Place. (JVeivsp.) It 

 would indeed be contrary to nature, if an amiable and enlightened young 

 woman were not fond of flowers : and attachment to gardening follows as a 

 matter of course. We trust that, under Her Majesty's auspices, a general re- 

 form will be commenced in the royal parks and gardens, and that in these will 

 be included the substitution of an open iron railway for the present unsightly 

 wall which forms the northern boundary to Kensington Gardens. This wall 

 is a very great public nuisance, from a little way to the west of the Victoria 

 Gate, Bayswater, all the way to Silver Street, Kensington Gravel Pits. We 

 trust that it, and also the present kitchen-garden attached to Kensington 

 Palace, will not be lost sight of by the Commissioners of Woods and Forests. 

 The kitchen-garden ought, undoubtedly, to be joined to the pleasure-ground ; 

 and as to the forcing-ground, as there is no part of the royal family would 

 ever think of walking into it, we would have that and the adjoining barracks 

 thrown into the gardens also. It is now just as easy to purchase pine-apples 

 and melons to any extent which the royal family, or any other, might want, 

 from the London shops, as it is to purchase apples or oranges : witness the 

 numbers that are produced on the occasion of any public dinner. Mr. John 

 Alton, the present kitchen-gardener at Kensington, would, of course, receive a 

 compensation for the loss of his situation in the event of our wishes being 

 realised. 



Keiv Gardeiis. — The illiberal system established at Kew Gardens by Sir 

 Joseph Banks, whereby the rare plants collected there were hoarded with the 

 most niggard jealousy, and kept as much as possible out of the sight of any 

 enquirer, led, in the first instance, to a feelmg of satisfaction whenever it was 

 known that the garden had been plundered, and some of its hidden treasures 

 brought into circulation ; and the indifference with which such thefts were 

 regarded, if they were not actually winked at, by cultivators, led to such great 

 laxity of conduct, that, until the practice was stopped by a prosecution, 

 every private collection became exposed to like depredations; and the false- 

 hoods that were told to cover the theft occasioned a great deal of confusion 

 concerning the native habitation of plants introduced at that period. It was 

 the narrow-minded doctrine of Sir Joseph Banks, that he could only render 

 the king's collection superior to others by monopolising its contents; and by 

 so doing he rendered it hateful and contemptible ; whereas, if he had freely 

 given and freely received, and made its contents easily accessible to those 

 who were interested in them, it would have been a pleasure and a pride to 

 the nation. It is now near twenty years since I have visited that odious and 

 useless establishment. Formerly, I went there often, but always in vain; for, 

 if I enquired for any rare plants which I had reason to believe were in the 

 collection, except those which, from their size, could not be concealed, my 

 conductor always denied any knowledge of them ; and, if I asked whether I 

 could speak to a person better acquainted with the plants, I was told that I 

 could obtain no further information. The multitude of rare plants that have 

 flourished and perished there unobserved I believe to be very great. I owe 

 no thanks to that establishment, but for the mere permission to walk straight 

 forward through the houses. I must do Mr. Salisbury the justice to say, that 

 he repeatedly remonstrated with Sir Joseph Banks in vain on the subject. 

 (^Herbert's Amari/llidacece, p. 247.) 



When I spoke (p. 247.) of the evil consequences which flowed from the 

 bad system pursued there, tending to loosen the ties of morality, and to 

 create a feeling of satisfaction when it was known that cuttings had been 

 stolen from the large plants hoarded there, by which the public were enriched 

 without any perceivable loss to the collection, I should, perhaps, have stated 



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