254 



Garden and Forest. 



[May 29, 1889. 



orators boast of as planted in Nebraska during recent 

 years, ever survived the first summer, or liow many 

 among them promise to become of any permanent vahie 

 to the community ; or to know what proportion of the 

 people of the United States who plant trees do it intelli- 

 gently, and so reap the benefits which should come from 

 their expenditure of money and time and labor. 



It has grown to be a custom in several parts of the coun- 

 try to reward children in the public schools for planting- 

 trees, the amount of the reward being in proportion to the 

 number of trees planted. A much wiser plan would be to 

 give the reward five years after the trees are planted to the 

 child who had reared the best tree. Quality is better than 

 quantity in tree-planting, and the experience which a child 

 would gain in caring for a single tree intelligently during five 

 years would be worth more to him individually in after 

 years and to the country at large than the careless planting 

 of a much larger number, which, like the twelve Michigan 

 trees, were only planted to perish — a result which is not 

 calculated to have a stimulating or useful influence upon a 

 youthful mind. 



Kew Gardens. 



SO many of our readers visit London every summer that 

 we are sure to do them a service by reproducing for 

 their benefit the following extract from an article which 

 recently appeared in the S alur day Review, n^ou the greatest 

 botanical and horticultural establishment in the world, 

 where lovers of plants have more to learn than in any 

 other spot : 



" From time to time one of those people who apparently 

 enjoy creating a little sensation by airing their imperfect 

 knowledge of facts uplifts his voice in the House of Commons 

 as aggrieved at the great expense to which the nation is put in 

 maintaining the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew. He is pos- 

 sibly under the impression — as, indeed, are the majority of 

 people — that Kew Gardens are mere highly ornamental open 

 spaces, to which the public and the inhabitants of Kew, espec- 

 ially, are granted admission at all times. Under these circum- 

 stances the keeping up of so many costly conservatories is, in 

 the opinion of those who are not aware of the truth, inexcus- 

 able ; and, although they have a vague idea that the Victoria 

 Regia costs a small income to enable it to bloom annually, to 

 the delight of holiday-makers and of our cousins from across 

 the Atlantic, they would willingly vote for such a decrease in 

 the grant accorded by the nation to the Directors of these 

 Gardens for their proper preservation that before many 

 months the most beautiful of Water-lilies would have ceased 

 to exist and the great Palm-house be a howling wilderness. 

 There is, however, every just reason why, instead of being 

 diminished, the grant to Kew should be augmented. Let any 

 intelligent person take the trouble to go systematically around 

 these Botanical Gardens, and he will be at once convinced of 

 their great importance, not only to England, but to the colo- 

 nies and the Indian Empire ; for they are emphatically not 

 mere pleasure-grounds, but have a distinctive function to per- 

 form in the commercial economy of the country, and are the 

 headquarters of a vast organization, having ramifications in 

 every part of the known globe — and, we might almost say, the 

 unknown, for missionaries and travelers are constantly sending 

 to Kew from newly-discovered lands specimens of the rarest 

 of plants, many of which are absolutely unknown to botanists. 

 The staff of learned men engaged here is not a large one, but 

 its activity and intelligence cannot be over-estimated. Thanks 

 to them, no less than three important publications are issued 

 every month from Kew — the Botanical Magazi7ie, edited by 

 Sir Joseph Hooker ; Icones Plantarum, which deals with the 

 dried or colorless specimens of plants ; and the Bulletin of 

 Miscellaneous hiformation ; and to these may be added a 

 number of special pamphlets, issued from time to time, treat- 

 ing of fresh discoveries, which are sent out to the colonial 

 Governors, directors of museums and botanical gardens, as 

 well as to the leading scientific men of Europe. 



" To the right of the grounds stands an ancient mansion of 

 the Georgian epoch, which in by-gone times was inhabited by 

 the King of Hanover. It is now the principal centre of the 

 organization to which we have above alluded, and here is pre- 

 served unquestionably the largest collection of dried speci- 

 mens of flowers and plants in existence. Hither come students 

 of every nationality to gather information which cannot be ob- 



tained elsewhere ; and only the other day, when we were visit- 

 ing the principal hall, a pile of pressed leaves and plants lay 

 upon the table which had just arrived from a Jesuit mission- 

 ary laboring in an unknown region of China. In the Gardens 

 themselves are other special museums of great interest. The 

 splendid Orangery has been converted into a museum for 

 woods, tissues, roots, grains, seeds and models of edible fruits, 

 many specimens of which figured in the great Exhibitions of 

 1851 and 1862, and in the Colonial and Indian Exhibifion. And 

 here we should not forget to mention the handsome gallery 

 presented to the nation by Miss North, which contains the 

 wonderful series of drawings of plants which she made during 

 many years when on her extended travels through tropical re- 

 gions. But, independently of the museums, the out-door gar- 

 dens and the numerous conservatories are arranged on purely 

 scientific principles, and, although they are very picturesque 

 and beautiful, their utilitarian side is never for a moment lost 

 to sight, so that the horticulturist can see for himself in the 

 most practical manner how particular plants should be grown, 

 as well as the results of their careful culture. None of the 

 produce of the Gardens is sold, but the surplus of seeds and 

 young plants is exchanged for other specimens from public 

 institutions of a like character abroad. The great Palm-house 

 is unquestionably one of the most beautiful and extensive in 

 the world, and gives us as fair an idea of tropical beauty as it 

 is possible to conceive without actually visiting a jungle ; but 

 close to it is a small conservatory of far greater value, in which 

 plants of a useful kind are exhibited. Here, for instance, grows 

 the Coca, whence the much-talked-of cocaine is derived. There 

 are also several varieties of Teas, and a little plant, newly dis- 

 covered — the Gymnema sylvestre, to which the attention of 

 Kew was drawn by Sir Mount Stuart Grant Duff — from the 

 leaves of which an alkaloid can be abstracted which deprives 

 us of the taste of sweetness for at least forty-eight hours, with- 

 out injurious effect ; and hard by it is another newcomer, the 

 Miraculous berry of the Gold Coast, the leaves of which, treated 

 in the same manner, produce a totally different result, for they 

 cloy the mouth with a saccharine sweetness so great that it 

 matters not what we eat or drink afterwards it will always 

 have, during the time the effect lasts, the flavor of honey. In 

 short, Kew Gardens is a centre round which not only all the 

 similar establishments in England but those of the whole Con- 

 tinent revolve ; for it is acknowledged that it is the most com- 

 plete of its kind in existence. 



" The learned little world which does its work so regularly at 

 Kew, in its various museums and offices, is of far greater im- 

 portance to the world at lai-ge than is generally imagined. 

 The chief secrets of botany are only now being disclosed ; 

 and, as within only a few years past such a wonderful anass- 

 thetic as cocaine has been introduced, whereby certain opera- 

 tions can be performed with impunity, it would be hard to tell 

 what fresh discoveries are in store for us, and it is only at 

 such an institution as Kew that the scientist can diligently pur- 

 sue researches which may eventually prove of inestimable 

 benefit to mankind. Therefore, independently of their beauty 

 as a pleasure resort, from a purely utilitarian point of view, 

 Kew Gardens have claims upon the general public which it 

 would be folly to ignore, and absolute wickedness to seek in 

 any way to diminish. In connection with Kew it may be ob- 

 served that, notwithstanding the enormous crowds which 

 flock here on a fine Bank Holiday, scarcely a single instance 

 of drunkenness or misbehavior has been registered ; and it is 

 pleasant to record that the tea-house and refreshment-kiosk, 

 introduced after some demur, have proved very successful." 



Boring- Beetles in the Ash Finish of a Chapel. 



A FEW years ago a self-constituted board of visitors invaded 

 the chapel of the Theological Seminary at Andover, 

 Massachusetts, and, like another board, not unknown to mod- 

 ern ecclesiastical history, proved the reverse of welcome to 

 the faculty and trustees of that insfitution. 



Under date of November 9, 1882, the treasurer of the semi- 

 nary wrote us as follows : " You may have noticed in the pub- 

 lic prints reference to a chapel in Andover, the finish of which 

 is being eaten by worms. It is becoming a serious matter, 

 for if it continues to spread, the finish of our new chapel will 

 be ruined." A piece of the mop-board was sent us as a sample 

 of the work, and a few days later Mr. Edward Taylor, the treas- 

 urer, wrote us that the evidence of the work of the borer had 

 been found in various localities about the house, and that it 

 was increasing, and he asked for information as to the best 

 means of prevenfing further ravages from the worms, at the 

 same fime enclosing the following statements published by 

 General Meigs, of Washington, and some suggestions which 



