366 



TEA DISTRICTS OF CHINA. Chap. XXI. 



Cabul. All these things will one day find their way 

 to Europe, and some of them may prove of great 

 value. 



As may be expected this little spot is particularly 

 rich in the vegetable productions of the Himalayas. 

 Besides those I have already noticed, I might add 

 A. Webbiana and Pinus excelsa. Less known than 

 these was a fine horse-chestnut called Pavia indica, 

 a noble poplar {Populus ciliata), a species of Buxus 

 — the box-tree of the hills, Andromeda ovalifolia, 

 and Ilex dipyrena. Two fine species of evergreen 

 oaks were also observed, named Quercus dilatata and 

 Q. semecarpifolia. Amongst herbaceous plants I 

 noticed some pretty primroses, Lilium giganteum and 

 Wallichianum, and Fritillaria polyphylla. Here 

 also was the once famous Prangos plant in full bloom. 



But this establishment is of great value in another 

 point of view. Connected with it are a number of 

 native gardeners, who are out in the hills for months 

 every autumn, collecting seeds of ornamental and 

 useful trees and shrubs for distribution all over the 

 world where such plants will grow. If we consider 

 the thousands of the Deodar and other Himalavan 

 pine-trees which are now to be found in every Eng- 

 lish nursery, we must perceive the vast amount of 

 benefit which an establishment of this kind, small as 

 it is, confers upon England. 



In these days, when our Indian empire has become 

 so greatly extended that it embraces every variety of 

 climate and soil, one regrets that a place of this kind 

 should be so small. Perhaps the Mussooree garden 



