INTRODUCTION 
xviii 
existence because the vegetation of distant lands could only be 
studied at home by means of specimens ; these supplied the material 
for the botanical survey of the Empire which was early begun 
and is still in progress — thirty-seven volumes have been published ; 
the museums contained every kind of vegetable product capable of 
utilisation, and exhibited them in an instructive way ; the library 
was their necessary complement, as well as of the herbarium ; the 
laboratory furnished appliances for the investigation of plant-diseases 
and the study of the intimate processes of plant-life ; finally, the 
North Gallery revealed to an untravelled public the most striking 
features of the vegetation of British Possessions. Work so varied 
could only be accomplished by the co-operation of a skilled and 
numerous staff. This Kew has always had the good fortune to 
attract. I say good fortune advisedly, for the work involves in great 
measure the effacement of the individual where the establishment as 
a whole must bear the responsibility and receive the credit. 
The relations of the Colonies and India to Kew have more than 
realised the expectations of the report. There are some sixty distinct 
governments under the British Crown — I have not counted them 
recently — and in any technical difficulty all have resort to Kew. 
It did what was possible when coffee-leaf disease brought financial 
disaster to Ceylon ; the fortunate identification of a single leaf 
started the rubber industry of the Gold Coast ; Kew sent tea to 
South Africa ; it gave cinchona to India, and a dose of quinine can 
now be purchased at any Indian post-office ; it transferred the 
South American rubber plants to the East, with results which have 
been described as fraught with “ wealth beyond the dreams of 
avarice.” A chain of Kew-trained men dot the course of the future 
Cape to Cairo railway. Scientific members of the Kew staff hold 
important positions in India and the Transvaal, and a former 
assistant director has done noble work in restoring the agricultural 
prosperity of the West Indies. India has recognised its debt by 
supplying Kew with a director. 
All this is better understood in the Colonies, and perhaps even 
