98 
ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS, KEW 
and of special scientific interest. The same holds good in regard 
to the trees in the botanical collections. Here all the trees of 
one genus are brought together, the predominant aim being to give 
to each one a sufficiency of space for its proper development, and 
by careful cultivation (pruning, manuring, etc.) to enable it to re- 
present as perfectly as possible its particular kind. 
But whilst this phase of tree cultivation will most strongly attract 
the student and connoisseur, the lover of woodland beauty for itself 
The Woods ^ rawn ra ^ er to two separate, somewhat thickly- 
wooded areas in the south-western part of Kew. The 
larger of these areas is roughly triangular and about sixty acres in 
extent. Its three sides are bounded by the Holly Walk, the Old Deer 
Park, and the Northern Pinetum. It includes the wooded or eastern 
part of the Queen’s Cottage grounds. The second and smaller area 
is known as the “ Hollow Walk Wood ” ; this, too, is three-sided — 
the Rhododendron Dell (or Hollow Walk) defines its limits on one 
side, the Sion Vista on another, and the Hornbeam Avenue on the 
third. Before the construction of the Lake and Sion Vista, these two 
pieces of woodland were joined, and successive encroachments on 
the outskirts to meet the demands of the increasing botanical collec- 
tions have considerably reduced their extent. But the arboreal vege- 
tation of Kew, in esse and in posse, is greater than ever it was before. 
The majority of the larger trees, judging by those that have had to be 
felled, were planted from 150 to 200 years ago, and, as the greater sylvan 
areas are entirely situated in what were the Richmond Gardens of that 
period, we may safely assert that the woodland beauty of the twentieth- 
century Kew Gardens is largely due to Caroline, consort of George II. 
The dominating tree of these woods is the beech, many fine speci- 
mens of which exist. The light soil is not the most suitable for the 
common oak, which likes the stiff soil of the Midlands ; 
but many examples are to be found, a few of them 
of notable size. Three foreign trees, the sweet chest- 
nut, the horse-chestnut, and the Turkey oak, thrive exceedingly well. 
The woods are practically made up of these five species. The elm 
is abundant in Kew, but is confined chiefly to small groups or in- 
dividuals in the northern part. The lime, too, is plentiful about 
the grounds and in the woods of the Queen’s Cottage. The only 
other tree found in any quantity is the hornbeam. 
For those who care to find them, there are beautiful stretches of 
Prevailing 
Trees. 
