THE GARDENING WORLD. 
January 10, 1903. 
20 
* THE JOURNAL OF THE KEW GUILD. 
Kew is still growing, but the territory of Kew is very re¬ 
stricted, like that of the Helvetii of old, and flue groat family 
of Kewites is .extending all over the globe, there being no 
modern Caesar to hold them back. The great spider-web, with 
Kew in the centre, is getting wider, and the radiating lines get 
more thickly planted a® the years roll by. The Kew Guild is 
merely a bond of brotherhood, and the “ Journal ” is the missive 
that passes from the headquarters to the uttermost ends of the 
earth, thus linking the scattered brotherhood together. 
4 > + 4 ♦ 
Mr. John Reader Jackson. —Last year Mr. Jackson retired 
from the post of keeper of the museums at Kew, and will 'be 
remembered by many old Kewites, who listened to his lectures 
on economic botany. He was born in the same year as the 
late Queen Victoria ascended the throne, and held his post 
at KeKv for forty-three years'. When he first took up his 
duties there, he was only twenty-one year's of age, but the 
museum then was only a small house projected by the late 
Sir William Hooker for botanical instruction, but the depart¬ 
ment gradually grew, until it now occupies three large and 
separate buildings, all of which were under Mr. Jackson’s 
keeping. In spite of his continually increasing work, he found 
time to contribute numerous articles on his own special topic 
to various publications, and in 1900 wrote a valuable, ‘work 
under the title of “Commercial Botany of the Nineteenth Cen¬ 
tury.” That he is now enjoying his retirement in Devon will 
be gratifying to hundreds who knew him. 
Appointments. —These have been fairly numerous during 
the year, including the appointment of Sir Joseph Dalton 
Hooker, G.C.S.I., as a foreign Knight of the Order “ Pour le 
Merite,” by the German Emperor. Mr. George Nicholson,, 
F.L.S., was appointed as one of the two English delegates to 
attend the Conference on Hybrids at New York last summer. 
Mr. T. R. Sim, F.L.S., an old Kewite, is now Conservator of 
Forests in Natal. Mr. Frank Garrett has taken charge of the 
gardens at Blenheim Palace. Many other appointment® have 
been made, all of which are recorded in the “ Journal.” 
4 > 4 4 4 
Increase op Staff. —In 1879 the entire .staff of skilled gar¬ 
deners consisted of seven foremen and thirty-one gardeners ; 
but the oast year witnessed five foremen and sixty gardeners— 
a good indication of the skilled bands now required to keep 
•the place in order, independently of labourers. 
^ 4 4 > 
Kew on the First Coronation Day. —Preparations for the 
Coronation on June 26th brought a vast congregation of people 
together in London, but the illness of the King, .and the post¬ 
ponement of the Coronation, and the closing of most places of 
amusement, sent- the people to Kew, populating the whole place 
as if it had been a Bank Holiday. No such crowd of orderly 
people ever entered Kew on one day. Although nearly 80,000 
entered the place in two days, they did not even leave' a basket¬ 
ful of orange peel and paper, which would seem to indicate that 
most of them belonged to the elite of the kingdom assembled. 
* 4 > 4 - * 
The Birth of a Stork.— The waterfowl are a fertile source 
of annoyance to the gardening fraternity at Kew, but particu¬ 
larly those who have charge of beds or. tender plant® of any 
kind within range of the daily walks of these aquatic bipeds. 
The pelicans are reckoned the worst offenders, doubtless on 
account of their big feet, notwithstanding the popularity of 
these birds 'with the public. Storks are philosophical in their 
demeanour, and, being light-footed, are fit society for other 
well-behaved students who foregather at Kew, and may be 
tolerated where pelicans and policemen would be inadmissible. 
A baby stork made its appearance, and met .with a cordial wel¬ 
come. Moreover, the “ Standard,” which registered the fact, 
stated that this is the first stork “that ha® ever been hatched 
and reared in England.” 
4 ♦ ♦ ♦ 
News from Old Kewites—Mr. R. J. Dinn.— Writing from 
Risen de Oro, Teneriffe, this member of the Guild says that 
the burning of waste into arable land is an expensive affair, and, 
we should add, a troublesome and difficult task. The land is 
covered with diy stone dykes, and is itself very stony, but 
all these stone® have to be turned under in ord er to ‘bring the 
good soil on the fop. It reminds us of a farmer ‘who, when 
asked- why he did not gather the stones off the land, said that 
the soil would not be deep enough if he- did so: The irrigated 
fields on this dry island are for the greater part planted with 
bananas, tomatoes, and potatoes, chiefly for export to this 
country. The woody vegetation Would seem to consist, chiefly 
of pepper trees (Schinus Molle), gum trees, Ficus elastica, and 
F. laurifblia, all planted, of course. 
4 4 4 4 
Mr. Norman Gill has charge of the Memorial Garden® at 
Cawnpore, India, and says that the head Malli gets the enor¬ 
mous salary of eight rupees per month, chews opium, smokes 
“ ganga,” and knows nothing about gardening. “ Can’t be 
dismissed because be has been here thirtyAihre© years!” 
Banana® grow well here; yeti scarcely a good variety is ob¬ 
tainable. The Loquat (Photinia japonica), he says, is one of 
the best paying crops of fruit grown. On the other hand, 
Cawnpore is the place for sport — for shooting anything, from 
wild cattle to ping-pong. 
4 4 4 4 
Mr. C. W. Smythe had shooting of another kind. He belonged 
to the Imperial Yeomanry, or had to belong to it, after landing 
at Port Elizabeth, on April 5th, 1901, while the guerilla war¬ 
fare was at its height in South Africa. He was stationed at 
Harri'Smith, and on Christmas Day their small camp of 100 was 
rushed by 1,200 Boers. After doing his duty, and accounting 
for two out of three Boers confronting him, his share of the 
remaining business was a broken leg and arm. The Boers then 
attempted to rob him, but found him possessed only of a small 
bottle of castor oil and some flour. Fortunately, he is now 
convalescent. 
4 4 4 4 
Mr. C. J. IIowlett, writing from the Botanic Gardens, 
Graaff-Reinet, Cap© of Good Hope, complains of not. being able 
to do any botanising on account of martial la'w, which shut 
him up in town. A tremendous hailstorm cut up the fruit 
trees, knocking down the fruits, and cutting up the' Grapes. 
Swarms of locust® also ate up eveiy green thing, leaving not 
a leaf where stood splendid beds of Dahlia®, Chrysanthemums, 
etc. He is evidently more successful with Solanum Wend- 
landii, half-ripe pieces of which cut off and stuck in tire open 
ground, being on the run in the course of six weeks. 
4 4 4 4 
Dr. Morris gives a good account of ia large number of the 
Kewites in charge of places under him in the West Indie®. All 
of them are engaged in furthering the interest® of agriculture, 
which, of course, includes tropical cultures of almost arumhing. 
4 4 4 4 
An interesting account is given of William Aiton, the author 
of “ Hortus Kewensis,” by Mr. W. Bolting Hemsley, F.R.S., 
keeper of the herbarium and library. Mr. Aiton was the first 
botanical gardener of the Royal Botanic Gardens', Kew, being 
gardener to His Majesty King George III. 
