28 



HORSE HELP IN THE GARDEN. 



The Kew collection of succulents is contained in 

 house No. 5, and is remarkable for its immensity, 

 having been vastly improved by Mr. W. Watson, 

 who is at the head of the tropical department, and 

 who has written that admirable little book " Cactus 

 Culture for Amateurs." The " rage " for the cul- 

 ture of these plants is fast growing and in a few 

 years we may see the cacti family most popular. 



A block of houses, seven in number, form what 

 is known as the T range, from its resemblance to 

 that letter. In this block we have growing a varied 

 group of plants, cape heaths, begonias, stove plants, 

 Victoria ngia (this takes up a whole house), eco- 

 nomic plants and the orchid collection. 



The palm house is a magnificent building ; in fact, 

 the finest of its kind now standing. It was built 

 from plans drawn out by Decimus Burton and com- 

 pleted in 1848 ; therefore, it has been standing 41 

 years. Its entire length is 362 feet, the center is 

 100 feet wide and 70 feet high, while the wings are 

 50 feet wide and 30 feet high ; this house alone con- 

 tains 45,000 square feet of glass. The glazing is 

 tinted green, in order to prevent the sun's rays from 

 scorching. The frame work is entirely of iron, fixed 

 at the base into solid blocks of Cornish granite, 

 thereby making it proof against wind and weather. 

 Here are many fine specimens of palms, magnifi- 

 cent examples of the beautiful Pritchardia pacifica, 

 which with its gorgeous stem and graceful leaves 

 rears its head high in air ; Sabal pabnetto, S. Black- 

 biiriiiana, Lhdstosia chi7iensis, Seaforthia elcgans (now 

 called Arc/ionfop/ia'iiix Cunninghaini). These are 

 all magnificent specimens, nearly touching the roof 

 with their crowns. These will no doubt in time be- 

 come too large for this building, when they must be 

 destroyed and their places filled with smaller speci- 



mens. A large specimen of the screw pine, Pan- 

 danus odoratissiiiius, is to be seen in this house ; it 

 is 40 feet high and has a girth of about 150 feet. It 

 is a noble plant, and produces cones freely, each 

 so large that a half bushel would scarcely hold it. 



The palm house contains many other valuables 

 besides those noted above. A grand display of 

 cycads are to be found in one of the wings. The 

 very large specimens are placed on the floor, while 

 the smaller ones are placed on the stage which goes 

 round the border of the house. 



A word about the temperate house. This stands 

 away a considerable distance from the others, and 

 like the preceding one, is very large, but it is built 

 in quite a different manner. The plans for it were 

 also produced by Decimus Burton, and though it 

 has never been finished, it covers three-quarters of 

 an acre of ground ; it will, however, in time be 

 completed, when it will cover the enormous space of 

 one acre and two-thirds. The centre portion is 212 

 feet long and about 140 feet broad, with a height of 

 60 feet. It is utilized mainly for large specimens 

 of Australian, North American and New Zealand 

 trees and shrubs Foremost among the notables 

 are a couple of fine specimens of Araucaria Bidwillii 

 (The Moreton Bay Pine), each about 50 feet high 

 and having a girth of about 60 feet. Many lofty 

 specimens of Cyathea niediiUaris and Dicksonia ant- 

 arctica help to adorn the body of this house, while 

 the side shelves are staged with smaller specimens 

 of eucalyptuses, acacias, cordylines, etc. 



In addition to the houses above mentioned there 

 are many others which, though smaller, are none the 

 less important, as in them are nursed the plants 

 which are received from all parts of the world. 



Kew, E7igland. P. Weathers. 



HORSE HELP IN THE GARDEN. 



One of the most remarkable things observed in 

 going from one section of the country to another is 

 the different methods in use for doing the same 

 thing. The West can teach the East many ways 

 of economizing labor, especially in the substitution 

 of horse for hand labor in the operation of the farm. 

 The farmer's garden, however, is even more neg- 

 lected in the West than at the East, and is usually 

 made upon the same plan or omitted altogether. 

 What there is about onions and lettuce and beets 

 that require them to be grown in rows six feet long 

 upon little beds three inches high in a yard with a 

 picket fence around it, is more than I could ever 

 understand. Professional gardeners have long 

 since discovered common sense methods of growing 



these crops, but the majority of farmers have given 

 the subject little thought and continue to make 

 their gardens or allow their women to make 

 them in the way their fathers did who came from 

 England, where land is dear and men are cheap 

 and time no object. It makes me sick to see a 

 woman wading around among the weeds in a garden 

 patch looking for a mess of something for dinner, 

 while just over the fence is a 40-acre field of corn 

 with not a weed in sight. Why not take away the 

 fence, and let the rows of vegetables continue on 

 from the rows of corn ? The garden then will be 

 better cared for. We have tried the English garden 

 long enough ; let us have an American garden for 

 American farmers. A. A. Crozier. 



