98 



DEPARTMENTAL COMMITTEE ON BOTANICAL WORK 



5m- W. T. 



TMselio)!- 



Dycr, 



K.C.M.G., 



F.R.S. 



29 Nov. 1900. 



In 1899 I applied for an inexpensive annexe to relieve 

 the congestion in Mnseum No. III., and especially for 

 the exhibition of a large series of prints and photo- 

 graphs illustrating foreign, colonial, and Indian botani- 

 cal establishments, the latter being especially calculated 

 to give some idea of the botanical worh of the Empire 

 as a whole. The application was absolutely ignored, 

 although the Treasury Minute of July 24th, 1872, 

 prescribes that the opinion of 1;he Director is to be 

 taken on such points. 



13. The position of Museums No. I. and No. II. is 

 cramped, and it would be difficult to add to them. Any 

 further museum accommodation would have to be in the 

 form of a separate building. Museum No. III. could 

 be easily relieved by the erection of an inexpensive 

 annex. 



The Herbarium stands in a separate precinct, and 

 several acres of land are available for extensions. 



14. It is necessary to premise ^lat the herbarium and 

 library are intended for research as well as for the 

 current scientilic business of the establishment. Duly 

 qualified persons are freely admitted on making proper 

 application. Persons with definite enquiries, and 

 travellers seeking instruction are also received. But 

 the general public is not admitted, and could not be 

 with the existing staff and accommodation as to space. 

 The regulations governing admission have been already 

 set cut. 



The collection of prints and drawings is perhaps the 

 largest in existence. It is contained in 464 portfolios, 

 and the number of sheets is approximately 66,000, con- 

 taining 106,000 figures. 



It is not available for public use, if by that is 

 meant that anyone may turn it over. But it is accessi- 

 ble, like the hex-barium, to qualified nersons. Artists 

 and horticulturists are also allowed access to it, and 

 for the identification of cultivated plants it is more 

 useful than the herbarium itself. The staff of the Royal 

 Gardens make constant use of it for this purpose. It 

 cannot be doubted that such a collection saves the her- 

 barium much wear and tear. 



Attention may be drawn to the fact that Sir Joseph 

 Banks attached great importance to the existence of a 

 collection of drawings at Kew, and bequeathed for its 

 use those (1,484 in number) made at his expense of 

 plants which had grown there, besides providing for 

 the salary of Francis Bauer, as resident draughtsman, 

 after his own death. 



15. The official publications are : — (i.) The Kew 

 ^Bulletin, commenced in 1887, at the instance of Par- 

 liament, and directed to be the vehicle for publication 



-of any information whether official, economic, or scien- 

 ■tific to which it was desirable to give publicity. It is 

 edited by the Director, and printed and sold for the 

 Stationery Office, (ii.) The Icones Tlantarum is pub- 

 lished in parts from time to time, and contains figures 

 and descriptions of new or interesting plants drawn 

 from the Herbarium. It is prepared by the scientific 

 staff and edited by the Director. It is the property of 

 the Bentham Trustees, for whom it is published and 

 sold, (iii.) The Botanical Magazine is a quasi-official 

 publication in so far as its contents are prepared at 

 the Herbarium, and it is mostly devoted to coloured 

 figures and descriptions of new or interesting plants 

 which have flowered at Kew. It is edited by the late 

 Director, Sir Joseph Hooker, and published Ijy private 

 enterprise. 



This, however, gives a very imperfect idea of the 

 .amount of work annually turned out at Kew by mem- 

 bers of the staff, or by others working there. Publica- 

 tion is obtained in various ways, either independently, 

 through the medium of societies, or in scientific 

 journals. 



Mr. E. S. Salmon, for example, has published his 

 elaborate monograph of the Erysiphacese, prepared at 

 Kew, in the memoirs of the Torrey Botanical Club in 

 America. 



" The material examined has been for a large part 

 found in the rich collection of Erysiphacess in the Royal 

 Herbarium, Kew. This collection includes the types of 

 Cooke and Peck's American species, and is especially 

 valuable in containing Berkeley's herbarium. In this 

 occur, besides Berkeley's types, no less than ninety- 

 eight specimens sent by L^veille to this author 

 (Leveille's herbarium, M. P. Harlot informs me, was 

 destroyed in 1870 during the Franco-Prussian war) ; 



also a number of specimens sent by Castagne, Roberge, 

 etc., and a few examples from Schweinitz's herbarium. 

 For the great facilities afforded me in the use of this 

 collection I am under obligations to the Director of the 

 Royal Gardens, Kew." (E. S. Salmon in "Memoirs of 

 the Torrey Botanical Club," Vol. ix., p. 26). 



The following statement which was prepared for 

 another purpose may serve as an example of the annual 

 output from all sources : — 



Publications, Official and Semi-official, issued 

 from Kew during the year 1894. 





Volume. 



Pages. 



Plates. 



Flora of British India 



VI. 



673-792 







Botanical Magazine - 



CXX. 



circa 120 1 



7332-7391 

 = 60 



Icones Plantarum 



/ Parts of 

 \XXII.-XXIV. 



circa 100 



100 



Index Kewensis 



II. pt. i. 



640 4to 



— 



Kew Bulletin - 



VIII. 



490 



9 



Flora Sinensis - 



II. 



60 



2 



Flora Ins. Tongarum 



— 



60 



3 



Flora Kinibaluensis - 



■ — 



195 4to 



10 



Flora Tibetana - 



— 



40 



2 



Flora Karakoramensis 



— . 



8 



— 



New Ferns 



— . 



12 



— 



Cyperacere Africanse - 



— 



167 



— 



Grevillea - 



XXIII. 



134 



2 



Diseases of Grape Vine 



— 



3 



2 



Orchid Review - 



II. 



384 



34 figs. 



Gardeners' Dictionary 



— 



250 



— 



Hand-list of Trees 



] 







and Shrubs grown 



I Pt. 



296 



— 



in Arboretum 



J 







Total - - 



— 



3,079 



224 



The most important present official work is the con- 

 tinued preparation of the series of Colonial and Indian 

 floras. This when completed will form a detailed 

 botanical survey of the whole Empire. The scheme was 

 l^rojected in 1856, and finally adopted by the Colonial 

 Office in 1863. 



The following qualified persons not members of the 

 Kew staff may be specified as engaged at the present 

 time on considerable works at the Herbarium. 



Sir Dietrich Brandts, K.C.I.E., F.R.S., Forest 

 Flora of India (expense defrayed by Government 

 of India). 



Colonel Sir Henry Collett, K.C.B., Flora of 

 Simla (private venture). 



Sir George King, K.C.I.E., F.R.S., Flora of 

 Straits Settlements (expense defrayed by Colonial 

 Government). 



Dr. Cooke, CLE., Flora of Bombay. 



C. B. Clarke, Esq., F.R.S., monograph of 

 Cyperacese (private venture). 



16. The library of the Royal Botanic Gardens con- 

 tains approximately 19,000 volumes. It originated in 

 the libraries of the late George Bentham, C.M.G., 

 F.R.S., which was acquired by gift in 1854, and in that 

 of the late Sir William Hooker, F.R.S., which was 

 acquired by a special Parliamentary grant in 1867. 



The Kew library is essentially a working library. 

 Great pains have therefore been taken to acquire books 

 which bear in any way on the study of systematic 

 botany. Some valuable books of which the British 

 Museum possessed duplicate copies have been pre-"* 

 sented to it by the Trustees. It contains a very 

 valuable collection of books of travel. It is as far as 

 possible complete in itself. But on occasions recourse 

 is had to the libraries of the Royal Society and of the 

 Royal Geographical Society. 



Binding is done without limit as necessary by the 

 Stationery Office. It is executed with more care than 

 formerly, but requires careful watching. In two cases 

 valuable books have been unaccountably lost by the 

 binders. 



17. There is a printed catalogue of the library, of 

 which a copy is submitted.' This was prepared 

 at the expense of a special grant. It was published in 

 1899, and a limited number of copies are on sale at the 

 Royal Gardens. A list of additions has since been 



