722 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
July 16, 1892. 
them very lovely, and beds or borders of mixed 
colours are pleasing objects of beauty. One thing 
however is most desirable in order to ensure the 
lasting character of the Viola, and that is early 
autumn planting except in damp cold situations. 
In such, spring planting is advisable, but autumn 
planting when it can be done so that the plants may get 
fine root hold and strong before winter sets in is the best. 
Plants should be obtained in September or October 
if possible. With later purchases, it is safest to 
plant in a sheltered place, close together when the 
plants can be protected from cutting winds which 
harm a great deal more than severe frost, and 
transplant with balls of earth at the end of March 
or early in April. 
Some of the very best for masses are the following 
sorts, which are generally well known and are very 
cheap, viz.: — 
Whites. — Countess of Hopetoun, first and best 
of all, dwarf and compact, a wonderful and early 
bloomer, and universally grown. Countess of 
Wharncliffe (syn. with Lord Fitzgerald), pure snow 
white and of excellent close habit. Mrs. McDonald, 
a stronger growing variety and a profuse bloomer 
and excellent. One of the most effective and 
charming of all is Mrs. Pearce, white tinted with 
lavender and very fragrant, as so many are. It has 
a close compact habit and is a wonderful bloomer, and 
not one plant out of quite 150 has given way to the 
heat we have had. 
Yellows. — Bullion, rich deep yellow and a most 
profuse bloomer. Yellow Boy : there is more of the 
Pansy habit in this variety, but it is a good yellow of 
excellent constitution, good habit and a very free 
bloomer, and stands hot weather well. Ardwell 
Gem is a pale yellow of good close habit and a very 
free bloomer, but when late planted gives out in hot 
weather. The Queen, pale yellow, similar in colour 
to Ardwell Gem but taller and a very free bloomer 
and excellent bedder. 
Blues. —True Blue; there is more of the blue 
colour in this variety than in any other, dwarf and 
compact in habit, medium sized flower, very early 
and continuous in bloom, and of good constitution. 
The best blue variety. Ormonde is of the Holyrood 
type, a very free bloomer and grand in a mass, the 
colour so rich and telling, a blue violet. Mrs. Charles 
Turner is of very dwarf compact habit, very free 
blooming, of a bright blue tinted violet colour. 
Of other shades of colour The Mearns stands out 
prominently, bright rosy-purple with light top petals ; 
Lady Amory is deeper in the rich purplish tint of the 
lower petals with light top petals ; Mrs. Grant is a 
light flower with darker centre ; Gaiety and Gold¬ 
finch are also excellent bedders. both light coloured 
flowers with a yellow tint in them. These are all 
excellent bedding varieties, and many others could 
be added, but when large masses are wanted the 
above named are most desirable. — IF. Dean. 
--- 
THE MISSOURI 
BOTANICAL GARDEN. 
Founded by IIenry Shaw. 
In the year 1851 Henry Shaw, a prosperous mer¬ 
chant of St. Louis, Missouri, spent some time visit¬ 
ing the World's Fair at London and other points of 
interest in England. While walking through the 
famous gardens of Chatsworth, where the chiefs of 
the great house of Devonshire had for several hundred 
years lavished much wealth, Mr. Shaw first planned 
to have in his own country a garden of somewhat 
similar nature. It was here according to his own 
statement, that he said to himself : “Why may I not 
have a garden too ? I have enough land and money 
for something of the same sort in a smaller way.” 
Out of these plans and questionings grew the famous 
Missouri Botanical Garden and Tower Grove Park, 
which stand as a monument of what Mr. Shaw has 
done for the cause of horticulture, for they were 
given by him to the people. The bequest will in¬ 
crease in worth and usefulness as time goes on, for it 
has a broad business-like basis. 
Henry Shaw was born in Sheffield, England, July 
24, 1800. His father was a manufacturer of grates, 
fireirons, etc. The family removed to Canada in 
1818, and the next year Henry, then of age, after 
spending some time in Louisiana, went to St. Louis, 
at that time a small tradingpost. With the assistance 
of an uncle he bought a small stock of cutlery, and 
through habits of industry and self-denial and good 
business methods he acquired a large fortune by the 
time he had reached his fortieth year. 
The finest garden in St. Louis at the time Shaw 
began business there belonged to Madame Rosalie 
Sangrain. Her daughter many years afterward re¬ 
called how young Shaw, while taking his daily after¬ 
noon horseback rides into the country would stop at 
the garden fence, admire the flowers and exchange 
pleasant words with the owner. 
The Missouri Botanical Garden, Mr. Shaw’s first 
work in extensive public gardening, was begun in 
1857. The area included in the garden, of which we 
give illustrations on pages 405 and 407, was 44.7 
acres, divided as follows ; garden proper, 9.4 acres ; 
arboretum, 20.5 acres ; fruticetum, 8 acres ; vegetable 
garden, 3.5 acres; grove, 6 acres; lawn, 2.7 acres. 
The grounds about the garden include an equal or 
greater acreage of pasture-land, and can be used for 
any extensions which may from time to time be found 
desirable for the garden. Two large greenhouses 
and several smaller ones afford facilities for the 
cultivation of exotics, and for the propagation of 
tender and half-hardy plants used for bedding during 
the summer. 
In 1866, Tower Grove Park, adjoining the garden 
and comprising 276.76 acres, was given to the public 
by Mr. Shaw. The museum building was erected in 
the garden as early as 1858-9, partly at the suggestion 
of Sir William J. Hooker, the director of Kew 
Gardens, England, who wrote thus to Mr. Shaw : 
“ Very few appendages to a garden of this kind are of 
more importance for instruction than a library and 
economic museum, and these gradually increase like 
a rolling snowball.” The selection of books for this 
library was wisely intrusted to Dr. Engelmann, in 
consultation with Hooker, Decaisne, Brown, and other 
of his botanical friends. At this time Dr. Engelmann 
urged Mr. Shaw to purchase the large herbarium of 
the then recently deceased Prof. Bernhardi, of 
Erfurt, Germany, and this was at once done. The 
herbarium contains about 20,000 mounted specimens 
of flowering plants and some 4,000 of cryptogamous 
plants. It is impossible, according to a recent report 
of the garden, at present to state the exact number of 
species cultivated in it, but the number is large and 
receives constant additions. From a descriptive list 
of the economic plants cultivated in the garden in 
1886, it appears that it then contained 232 such 
species. The inventory made by the administrator 
of the estate shows 55 named species or varieties of 
agave and 106 species of named palms ; and the col¬ 
lections of cactus and of several other plants that 
interested the late Dr. Engelmann is quite large. 
The educational features of the garden are also sup¬ 
plemented by the extensive variety of trees and 
shrubs growing in the adjacent Tower Grove Park, 
which was given to the city by Mr. Shaw : although 
the management cf this park is entirely distinct from 
the Botanical Garden, and they were primarily in¬ 
tended for quite different purposes. 
More than 20,000 trees have been planted in the 
park proper since 1866; and these trees were all 
raised in the arboretum of the garden. Mr. Shaw 
used to say when planting them, that he did not ex¬ 
pect to see the trees reach maturity ; but nearly all 
the trees in the collection that he helped to plant 
and nurse, were fully grown when in August, 1889, 
his coffin was borne beneath their shade to his 
mausoleum in the garden. Mr. Shaw's trusted 
assistant, James Gurney, is still superintendent of the 
grounds. 
It was the aim of the liberal founder of these 
grounds to omit nothing that could make them the per¬ 
fection of a pleasure ground. Throughout the large 
area of the garden there are abundant walks and 
drives. There is a pool devoted to aquatics, a laby¬ 
rinth, an observatory, a summer house rnd play¬ 
ground, and a music stand and a concourse, besides 
many other features designed to interest and amuse. 
Mr. Shaw’s purpose in establishing the Missouri 
Botanical Garden was clearly set forth in his will. 
The bequest to the public ran as follows : “To estab¬ 
lish and endow a Botanical Garden, easily accessible, 
which should be for ever kept up and maintained for 
the cultivation and propagation of plants, flowers, 
fruit, forest-trees, and other productions of the vege¬ 
table kingdom ; and a museum and library connected 
therewith and devoted to the same and to the science 
of botany, horticulture and allied objects, for the 
promotion of science and knowledge.” To provide 
for its maintenance for ever Mr. Shaw bequeathed 
additional real estate, the income from which affords 
an ample fund for prosecuting the work of the garden. 
Tower Grove Park, also given to the public by Mr. 
Shaw, and planted at his expense, depends for main¬ 
tenance upon the city of St. Louis. 
In its educational aspect the Missouri Botanical 
Garden occupies a unique place among institutions 
of its kind. Provision is made here for giving (free) 
adequate theoretical and practical instruction to 
young men desirous of becoming gardeners. The 
course of instruction in this department does not 
duplicate that now offered by the numerous state 
Agricultural Colleges of the country, but is quite 
distinct, and limited to what is thought necessary 
training for practical gardeners. It is not intended 
that many pupils shall be trained at one time. Six 
scholarships for such pupils have been established, 
and admission thereto is based on the results of com¬ 
petitive examinations, with certain exceptions in 
favour of young men between the ages of 14 and 20. 
Vacancies, as they arise, are filled annually after 
public announcement. 
Garden pupils, under the conditions of acceptance, 
are regarded as apprentices in the botanical garden, 
and as such are required to work in it, under the di¬ 
rection of the head gardener. They are advanced 
from simpler to more responsible tasks, and from one 
department of the garden to another, until they are 
thoroughly familiar with the work of all. Garden 
pupils are paid for their services in the garden, and 
the absence of pecuniary means need not deter any 
young man from obtaining horticultural training. 
Each regularly appointed garden pupil holding a 
scholarship is entitled to the following wages, payable 
fortnightly : For the first year, $200 ; for the second 
year, $2504 and for each year after the second, $300. 
Plain, but comfortable lodgings, convenient to the 
garden, are also furnished. After the first year 
pupils are not required to do manual labour in the 
garden for more than five hours a day. The 
remainder of their time is devoted to the study of 
horticulture, forestry, botany, entomology, and they 
are granted free tuition in the School of Botany. 
The Henry Shaw School of Botany was founded 
about the year 1883, with the assistance and advice 
of the late Dr. Asa Gray, of Harvard College. With 
the concurrence of a board of directors Mr. Shaw 
endowed the school as a department of Washington 
University, with real estate yielding a revenue of 
over $5,000, and placed it in such relation with the 
largely endowed Missouri Botanical Garden and Ar¬ 
boretum as would practically secure their best use 
for scientific study and investigation, to the professor 
and students of the School of Botany. A professor¬ 
ship of Botany was therein established, known as the 
Engelmann Professorship, which has been filled 
since September, 1885, by Professor William 
Trelease, formerly of Wisconsin University. The 
working year for the School of Botany is divided into 
three terms. Classes for the study of particular 
groups of plants, and special work for advanced 
students, are planned as the demand for them 
appears. On the application of six persons, a class 
for day or night work, in any branch that can 
be taught with profit, will be formed whenever prac¬ 
ticable. The elementary classes are so conducted 
as to require no previous knowledge of botany ; but 
admission to advanced classes depends upon a suffi¬ 
cient familiarity with the subjects to render the work 
profitable. 
Several other special bequests were made by Mr. 
Shaw in the interests of the Botanical Gardens, 
among them these : 
“ One thousand dollars annually for a banquet to 
the trustees of the garden, and to the guests they 
may invite—-literary and scientific men, and friends 
and patrons of the natural sciences ; $409 annually 
for a banquet to the gardeners of the institution, and 
invited florists, nurserymen, and market gardeners of 
St. Louis and vicinity, said banquet to be presided 
over by the director of said botanical Garden ; $500 
annually for premiums or prizes for any flower show 
or exhibition that may be established by amateurs 
and horticulturists of St. Louis ; $200 annually to the 
Bishop of the Episcopal Church of this diocese, in 
consideration (if he approve of the same) that an 
annual sermon be preached in such church, and by 
such minister as he may select, on the wisdom and 
goodness of God as shown in the growth of flowers, 
fruits, and other products of the vegetable kingdom 
—to be paid annually out of the funds of the said 
Botanical Garden.”— Amcrican Gardening. 
