8 BOTANIC GARDENS. 



dred and seventy acres are included, of which seventy are planted 

 as a botanic garden and the remainder as an arboretum and 

 public park. Besides the large number of well-planned conserva- 

 tories, greenhouses, museums, and other buildings, it contains a 

 number of structures which reflect somewhat of the varied his- 

 tory of the institution. The main palm house is three hum 

 dred and sixty-two feet in length, with a central dome seventy 

 feet in height, and the temperate house has a total length of 

 five hundred and eighty feet, covering an area of an acre and a 

 half of ground. In addition,the garden contains fourteen smaller 

 glass houses. The herbarium and library, which occupy the old 

 palace of the King of Hanover, are probably the largest and most 

 complete in the world. While the research work carried on in 

 the gardens has been principally taxonomic, by the co-operation 

 of the twenty-four gardens of which Kew is the organic head, 

 much of value has been accomplished in the acclimatization of 

 useful plants. There is also located in the garden the Jodrell 

 Laboratory, in which some important results in physiology and 



The Cumberland Gate, Rotal Gardens at Kew, with Giard on Ddtt. 

 Looking outward. After a photograpk. 



morphology have been reached. Its operations, however, are 

 greatly constrained by lack of suitable endowment. 



I quote the following explanatory paragraph from a guide to 

 the grounds : 



" It may be mentioned that Kew is not only a great educa- 

 tional establishment and pleasure resort, but also the recognized 



