INTRODUCTION 
xix 
on the Continent, than at home. A diplomat in evening dress called 
upon me one morning to inquire on behalf of Prince Bismarck the 
“ secret of Kew.” I could only assure him that it simply consisted 
in assiduous attention to its business. I learnt subsequently that 
the German Chancellor thought the explanation entirely unsatis- 
factory. The French Government, in its turn, contented itself with 
a close inquiry into methods of administration and of Colonial 
supply. 
Kew, in truth, has no politics or any aim but to accomplish 
useful work. The director is appointed directly by the Crown, and 
is therefore somewhat outside the ordinary Civil Service. But he is 
subordinate to a Minister who is responsible to Parliament for his 
administration, and has to procure for the establishment the vote 
for its maintenance. Kew was at first placed under the “ Woods 
and Forests,” which with a liberal expenditure gave the northern 
half of the Gardens its present character. In 1851 this Depart- 
ment was divided, and Kew passed to the new “ Office of Works,” 
losing the Old Deer Park, which remained under the control of the 
“ Woods.” Under the sympathetic administration of Lord Mount 
Temple, the southern half of the Gardens was dealt with. But 
the “Works” became a purely administrative office to which the 
aims and objects of a scientific institution grew gradually alien. 
Kew was therefore, in 1903, transferred to the Board of Agriculture 
and Fisheries, which has, at any rate, the merit of having a mind 
open to scientific problems, and is not wholly fettered by concrete 
detail. 
Of the vast consultative work which Kew has to perform for 
those who, from Government downwards, seek its aid, the general 
public can know nothing. Only a trained experience and a rigorous 
method could deal with it. I have had to decide the fate of £20,000 
worth of cigarettes seized by the Government because suspected of 
containing added sugar. A laborious investigation with the aid of 
an accomplished chemist proved that the suspicion was unfounded, 
and they were released. To compare great issues with small, I may 
