174 
PARK AND CEMETERY. 
ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS, KEW, SURREY, 
ENGLAND. VII. 
ARBORETUM. 
The Arboretum contains 3,000 distinct varieties of 
trees and shrubs. In Queen Caroline’s time the Rich- 
mond Gardens possessed agreeable wild features and 
their designer — Bridgeman introduced “morsels of a 
forest appearance” in its vistas and Sir Henry Capel’s 
love for plants prompted him to give forty pounds for 
two lentiscus trees — said to be the finest “greens” 
(evergreens) in England in the latter part of the seven- 
teenth century. Perhaps the real starting point of the 
Arboretum was the removal of the Duke of Argyle’s trees 
and shrubs from his seat near Hounslow to the Kew 
Gardens in 1762, at that time the property of the Prince 
of Wales. 
In 1768 Sir John Hill published a catalogue of plants 
cultivated at Kew — 
which included about 
600 trees and shrubs. 
Originally the Botanic 
Garden compr i s e d 
about 11 acres and in 
1844 forty-seven acres 
were added wherein 
to establish a Pinetum. 
In 1847 the 2 5 ° acres 
included in the “Pleas- 
ure Grounds” were 
added and no pains 
were spared by Sir 
William or hit suc- 
cessors to amass the 
finest and most com- 
plete collect on of 
hardy trees and shrubs 
possible to be formed. In 1866 old beeches, elms and 
oaks rather neglected for the previous half century were 
revealing the effect of a sterile, gravelly, fungused soil 
and proper means were adopted for the salvation of 
those redeemable. 
The weaker specimens were removed and the re- 
mainder supplied with nutritious soil— a timely opera- 
tion that preserved many of those that remained the 
most majestic individuals on the grounds to this day. 
The preserving and restoring hand of Sir William is 
prominently marked in the Arboretum. In the winter 
of 1866-7 the snow-storm wrought havoc amongst the 
trees, particularly the tender pines and cypres es and 
more than half the shrubs were completely destroyed. 
Evergreen oaks were stripped of their foliage and the 
majority under fifteen feet high perished and of the 
Monterey Pine of California (Pinus insignis) barely one 
escaped death. Araucarias and Deodars suffered ma- 
terially, Laurustinus were in most instances killed; the 
Sweet Bays absolu'ely and the Portugal Laurels and 
Aucubas severely injured. The Sikkim Rhododendrons 
were in general defoliated. Considerable injury was 
largly due to the weight of the snow and the low lying 
and flatness of the grounds, but the singular fact remains 
that in 1860-61 less damage was experienced at Kew 
than at other neighboring localities while in 1866-67 it 
was vice versa. Araucarias chiefly suffered at the bases 
where the snow settled in the lower branches while 
Deodars were affected above this level. The poverty 
of the soil is notable as recorded in the growth of 88 
Deodars on the Syon-vista after twenty-two years growth, 
in 1868 they still were less than ten feet in average 
height. This vista extends from the stately Palm House 
across the Thames and Syon meadows to the Syon 
wood, nearly three quarters of a mile distant. Three 
thousand feet of its length are in the Gardens — where 
its width is eighty-four feet. The failure of the Deodars 
on this vista prompted Sir Joseph to plant Douglas firs 
alternated with evergreen oaks within the rows of Deo- 
dars. 
The planting of collections was scrupulously at- 
tended to — usually disposing the old world species of 
an order on one side 
of the gravel or turf 
walk or avenue, and 
the new world repre- 
sentatives on the op- 
posite. The condi- 
tions involved under 
the concession of the 
Pleasure Grounds to 
the Botanic Garden 
under Sir William 
Hooker were with the 
intention that they 
should be formed into 
a “National Arbore- 
tum,” andac cordingly 
the main features of a 
plan prepared in 1846 
(See Won plan) by W . A. Nesfield— 
whom we believe was the designer of Regent’s Park — for 
this purpose were carried out at that time and have ever 
since been worked upon. To-day in a circuitous ram- 
ble the entire collection of trees from Magnoliacese to 
Conifer® can be inspected in regular botanical sequence. 
In the case of Roses, Azaleas, Rhododendrons, etc., a 
special additional area is set aside in juxtaposition to 
the area allotted to the species — for the reception of the 
most ornamental species, varieties and hybrids — with a 
special appellation as the “Rose Garden;” “Azalea Gar- 
den;” Rhododendron Dell,” etc. 
Perhaps the most lucid manner of conveying an idea 
of the Arboretum is to briefly comment on certain in- 
dividuals, leaving them to suggest their own traits as we 
are impressed by them in personal inspection. The Ar- 
boretum consists practically of plants in the North Tem- 
perate and Arctic Zones. The South Temperate Zone 
is about the same as the North Temperate in tempera- 
ture but the seasons are reversed. But few of the South 
Temperate region plants grow well in the North Tem- 
perate although curious enough there is no difficulty vice 
versa. In the temperate zone of Europe there are about 
10,000 plants; in America about 10,000 more and in 
Asia still incompletely explored — about 10,000 more. 
Of this number about one-third are trees and shrubs. 
From a photograph l.y A. Rehder. 
ARAUCARIA IMBRICATA. 
