80 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Street, at a cost of £4,200. About this time the annual sub- 

 scription, which had originally been £2. 2s., was raised to £3. 3s. ; 

 a rise which seemed rather to encourage than to check elections, 

 845 new Fellows having joined the Society in 1819-21. In 1822 

 the gardens of the Society were moved from Kensington and 

 Ealing to Chiswick, where a thirty years' lease of thirty-three 

 acres had been obtained from the Duke of Devonshire, the lease 

 being renewed in 1852 for a like period. The gardens of the 

 Society have continued at Chiswick ever since, but their area 

 has been reduced from thirty- three acres to twelve. 



A valuable feature of the Society's work— one which has had a 

 great and enduring influence on British horticulture — may well 

 be referred to here. As early as 1818 it was recognised that, 

 funds permitting, a horticultural society could not do better than 

 take steps to obtain from countries beyond the borders of 

 Europe valuable and interesting trees, shrubs, plants, and seeds. 

 The earliest arrivals came from China, through an active and 

 energetic Fellow of the Society, Mr. J ohn Eeeves ; and from 

 India, through the East India Company. In this way many 

 valuable ornamental plants were introduced into Great Britain, 

 such as Azaleas, Peonies, Koses, Camellias, Chrysanthemums, &c. 

 One of Mr. Keeves's introductions was the lovely Wistaria 

 sinensis, which reached England in 1818. The large tree of 

 this climber at Chiswick is probably a relic of the original intro- 

 duction. The success of these early efforts encouraged the 

 Society to send out collectors at its own cost. This they did 

 with such success that, to quote Mr. Andrew Murray,* " the 

 results have affected the appearance of all England. Nowhere 

 can a day's ride now be taken where the landscape is not beauti- 

 fied by some of the introductions of the Horticultural Society." 

 The first collector sent abroad was Mr. Don in 1821 : he was 

 accompanied by Mr. Forbes, who, landing at the mouth of 

 the Zambesi, unfortunately succumbed to the climate. In 1823 

 Mr. David Douglas was employed as a collector on the recom- 

 mendation of Sir William Hooker, then Professor of Botany at 

 Glasgow. In 1824 and subsequent years Mr. Douglas visited 

 North America down to California, and his explorations bore rich 

 and valuable fruit. Amongst trees we owe to him Pinus Lam- 

 bertiana, P. insignis, P. nobilis, P. grandis, P. ponderosa, and 

 * " The Book of the Royal Horticultural Society, 18G2-1863," p. 15. 



