Our National Gardens 



beeches are magnificent ; an oak and a Spanish 

 chestnut near the lake are perfect pictures. The 

 SaHsburia near the fern-house is one of the largest 

 in England, but the beauty of its shape has been 

 spoiled by its having been originally grown 

 against a wall ; and not far from it is a grand 

 hop hornbeam — the finest I know. But to name 

 all the trees worth noticing would be beyond the 

 object of this paper. 



I mentioned the museums ; they are full of 

 interest, and, as everything is well labelled, they 

 can be examined with comfort ; and to most of 

 us the manifold uses to which plants are put 

 would be surprising. The palms and bamboos 

 alone would give good study for an afternoon or 

 more ; but among the buildings two must be 

 mentioned. The North Gallery is comparatively 

 a recent acquisition, founded, built, furnished, and 

 endowed by the late Miss Marianne North. The 

 furniture consists of a complete series of paintings 

 of the vegetation of almost the whole world, for 

 the most part of a uniform size, and full of in- 

 struction, conveyed in the pleasantest way ; and 

 another complete series of polished woods from 

 all parts of the world. The other building I 

 allude to is the Herbarium, in a large red brick 

 building just outside the chief entrance ; and I 

 mention it because no account of Kew is complete 

 without some reference to the enormous amount 

 of scientific work that is carried on in that build- 

 ing. It is not so open to the public as the other 

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