CHAPTER VII 
Growth in 
Popularity. 
KEW, 1850 TO 1865 
After the completion of the Palm House in 1848, no striking 
addition to the general features of Kew was made for some years. 
There was plenty to do to complete the work already 
begun, and to develop the various departments on 
lines already decided on. Yet the early ’fifties were 
notable years at Kew. The wonderful aquatic lily, Victoria regia, 
first opened its flowers there in June, 1850. The number of visitors, 
which had increased from 9,174 in 1841 to 179,627 in 1850, mounted 
up to 329,900 in 1851 — the year of the Great Exhibition. The fine 
collections of rhododendrons and other plants from the Himalaya 
sent home by Dr. Hooker were known to include some of the most 
ornamental flowering plants in existence, and their development was 
being watched with the keenest interest. The Sion Vista, the noblest 
prospect in Kew, was formed in 1851. 
An interesting item in the report for 1850 is an account of the 
despatch of plants to the Island of Ascension. Sir Joseph Hooker 
has recorded that in 1843, after the return of the Ant- 
arctic expedition to which he had been attached, it 
was decided to attempt to clothe with vegetation this 
lonely isle, at that time a naked, sterile spot. It is said that in 1843 
there was but a single tree upon the island, and not any shrubs at 
all. The matter was put into the hands of Sir William Hooker for 
him and Kew to deal with. Living plants and seeds of species 
likely to succeed there were accordingly despatched year after year. 
Gardeners were also sent out to attend to them. Ascension was then 
under naval control, and in a report presented to the Admiralty 
in 1865 on this experiment, it was shown that it had been com- 
pletely successful. “ The island now possesses thickets of upwards 
of forty kinds of trees, besides numerous shrubs and fruit trees, of 
which, however, only the guava ripens. These afford excellent 
43 
Island of 
Ascension. 
