March 28, iSSS.] 



Garden and Forest. 



53 



but when I bent some of them to-day, as flatly as did the snow 

 and whid, they cracked and were destroyed. Was it tliat the 

 gradual pressure of the snow prevented the disaster tliat my 

 more sudden bending caused ? 



Wliile I rejoiced at having my woodland still intact, there 

 was one aggravating feature about it all. I anticipated a har- 

 vest of dead limbs for my andirons; but they too withstood tlic 

 tempest. To-day they looked down at me with a tantalizing 

 "no 3'ou don't" expression that robbed me of half the pleasure 

 of seeing Black Alder laden with its crimson berries resting 

 upon a dazzling drift of unstained snow. 

 Near Trenton, New Jersey. Ckas. C. Abbot f. 



Foreign Correspondence. 



The Kew Arboretum — IT. 



BEFORE giving details of some of the most important col- 

 lections and of tlie most remarkable specimens here, it 

 may be as well to say a few words regarding the general aspect 

 and position of the Kew establishment. 



stands the Kew Observatory — we pass through the collections 

 of Cypresses, Yews and tlieir allies, until we reach the Pines and 

 Firs, which are arranged at the head and along the southern 

 side of a noble expanse of ornamental water wlience the sup- 

 plies for garden purposes are pumped liy engines at some dis- 

 tance away in the wood. Just across tlie Thames at this point 

 is Syon House, a place rich in historical associations. A little 

 to the left is the Isleworth entrance, and on tlie left banlc of tlie 

 river a short distance up the stream, is the pretty village of Isle- 

 worth. Following the course of the Thames we go through a 

 very rich collection of Oalvs; behind this strip and between it 

 and the wood is a dell in which Rhododendrons lu.xuriate. 

 After the Oaks come tlie Elms, and the extremely numerous 

 and very varied forms of our native species are particularly 

 puzzling. The Oal« and Elms practically occupy a consider- 

 able tract of ground, the whole length of the river frontage of 

 the Arboretum ; here and there, however, are groups of Coni- 

 fers to block out the sight of the Brentford docks on the oppo- 

 site bank of the stream. Not far from here Edmund Ironsides 

 defeated the Danes in 1016, and more than six centuries later 

 Prince Rupert gained a victory over the P.irliamentarv troops. 



Bridge at Leathertor, England, page 52. 



The village of Kew is situated on the right bank of the Thames 

 about six miles from Hvde Park Corner, and was a roval resi- 

 dence as far back as the reign of Henry YIII. The chief entrance 

 to the Gardens (there are five puljlic entrances altogether) is 

 upon Kew Green, one of the most delightful of the tree-sha- 

 dowed stretches of sward which form such a pleasant feature 

 of many of the villages in the neighliorhood of London. About 

 three hundred yards in a westerly direction from the large and 

 handsome wrought-iron gates stands the Dutch House, or, as 

 it is now always called, Kew Palace, a homely structure of red 

 brick, said to have been erected in the time of James I. by Sir 

 Hugh Portman, a Dutch merchant knighted by Queen Eliza- 

 beth. Here it was that Queen Charlotte died. The palace is just 

 outside tlie garden boundaries and is the property of Her Ma- 

 jesty Queen Victoria. Turning to the left, at a right angle, the 

 main walk — one of the most frequented of the Kew prome- 

 nades — leads towards the ornamental water in front of the great 

 Palm House. From the Palm House there is a magnificent 

 avenue of Deodars, terminated — at the Richmond limit of the 

 Arboretum — by the Pagoda, one of the remaining fantastic 

 creations of the first Queen Caroline. Leaving the Richmond 

 entrance to the left and skirting tlie Old Deer Park — in wliich 



A good proportion of the Arboretum (which covers an area 

 of over 178 acres) is occupied by noble stretches of Oak and 

 Beech woods, with here and there fine specimens of Spanish 

 Chestnut, Horsechestnut and other large trees. Lender these 

 grow countless thousands of Wild Hyacinths, or, as they are 

 commonly called in many parts of this country, Blue-bells 

 {ScUIa nutans). When in flower in May and June the mag- 

 nificent masses of color attract large numliers of artists. 

 Visitors, too, from central and eastern Europe, whether 

 botanically inclined or not, are struck with the sight. 



The Botanic Garden proper is about 70 acres in extentand is 

 famous for its beautifully kept lawns, flower-beds, and single 

 specimens and groups of miscellaneous deciduous and ever- 

 green trees and shrubs arranged for landscape effects — not 

 planted in botanical sequence. 



The Arl.ioretum is frequently called the Wilderness, and 

 under this name it is mentioned in " Shandon Bells" by 

 William Black, who makes the hero, Fitzgerald, and his artist 

 friend, John Ross, " go splashing through the mud to Kew, to 

 see wliat the wilderness part of the Gardens (a favorite haunt 

 of theirs and but little known to the public) was like in driving 

 rain, or in feathery snow, or in clear hard frost, when the red 



