In My Vicarage Garden 



entitled to. To this the answer is that no public 

 garden could admit such a claim, and that at 

 Kew the officials are not the owners of the plants, 

 but trustees for the nation, and they have no 

 right to give flowers or plants away merely to 

 please themselves by pleasing their friends. But 

 as trustees they have to improve and extend the 

 property, and when they can do so by exchange 

 of plants or by giving plants to others who will 

 help the work at Kew by growing plants which 

 are not easily grown there, or by helping in the 

 scientific study of the plants, they are not found 

 to be illiberal. 



It is worth mentioning that gardening is 

 carried on at Kew under great difficulties. The 

 soil is a wretched one — in some places little 

 better than a sea-shore — and the steady increase 

 of houses between it and London is bringing a 

 large supply of London smoke. But in spite of 

 these and other difficulties the work goes on 

 steadily and successfully, and every year it seems 

 to be growing in popular favour ; so that on Bank 

 Holidays the numbers are often over eighty 

 thousand, and it is pleasant to record that very 

 little damage is done to the garden, and the 

 conduct of the many visitors is very rarely open 

 to complaint. 



From what I have said it may be supposed 



that I have a very high opinion of the value of 



Kew as one of our best national institutions ; and 



though I do not go so far as to say that every 



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