re NOVEMBER. 337 
"A mon Hhocraty om Mood ovad. ot bis » dotduy panoris 
ny soni bein attHB ROYAL GARDENS, KEW. 
T'nm Royal Gardens, like, a:great number of private ones, have been 
emuch shorn of ‘their splendour this season, owing to the unfavourable 
summer and autumn.! The flower beds, therefore, on’ the occasion of 
sour wisit, »presenteda patchy appearance, some plants having far 
exceeded the bounds. of propriety marked out for them, and had 
encroached ‘largely on their: neighbours, who, on’ the contrary, had not 
efilled their allotted :space.»: This: 'was very observable with edgings of 
oPerillaj;variegated Mint) and Nasturtium; ‘indeed, so far’as the former 
plant: is concernedy/the grounds ‘are:much: overdone with ‘it, and the 
‘beds hada look asif they had been putin half mourning in consequence. 
eLimame this to show how: easy it'is tooverdo'a thingy when a’ popular 
eplant; turns: up./« The) Perilla. issasmost useful plant. when’ properly 
placed as an edging to divide variegated-leaved plants or white flowers, 
but! to:plant)it-:imdiscriminately'as an edging to’ every kind of bedding 
plant (this:was not done at: Kew),:as we haye''seen it’ this season, or 
seven Incbeds»byritself; is:a misapplication of “an otherwise useful: plant. 
‘Thereswere some gay beds: of ‘Verbenas parallel with the’ long walk, 
chord Raglan-appearing’ in the»best condition; and was very effective 
sedged with Cerastium. « Wenoticéd also good beds’ of Purple ‘King 
eVerbenaledgedewith Alma Geranium, Calceolaria amplexicaulis edged 
owith; Heliotrope,: Dahlia beds having a deep scarlet. for’ the centre row, 
mmext.a good yellow: rather dwarfer; and edged’ with purple’ Zelda ; 
these» beds 'were:very well filled and showy. We noticed also good 
sarrangements of Tom Thumb’ Nasturtium’ (a ‘very useful’ thing), 
and variegated’ Mint. The fountain in the lake’ fronting the ‘Palm- 
house, although scarcely imposing enough for the situation, would look 
much better if itvhad an’ architectural base to rise from, than ‘the’ small 
“patchy of rockwork, dotted-with Ferns; from ’which it’ now rises. As 
water jets» and fountains are entirely artificial creations, they'should 
‘never be disguisedso as to appear as natural objects, and require there- 
fore artificial accompaniments to carry out’ the object. Such may consist 
only: ofa simple stone’ base or'plinth ‘for jets ard plain’ basin or tazza 
for-fountains; but whatever the ‘materialor shape may be, it should 
form anvarchitectural accompaniment, 
|) oTheyplants inthe» Palmi-housé have made great progress and are in 
svigorous: health,and*imevery respect worthy of their royal: residence. 
The grounds-and arboretum’ were also’ in ‘excellent’ keeping; the latter 
will form an important feature in a few, years, as the trees get up in 
size. The foundation of the new Winter Garden is being proceeded 
with. This, as many of your readers will know, is intended to contain 
the vast collection of half-hardy and greenhouse plants which have 
been collecting ever since the time of Sir Joseph Banks and the late 
Dr. Robert Brown. Formerly they were chiefly Australasian and Cape 
species, but more recent additions to this class of plants from other 
temperate regions have been made to an extent which demanded either 
a large additional building to contain them, or their destruction was 
inevitable. Very many of the plants now huddled together in the old 
greenhouse are unique and invaluable as a national collection, and 
VOL, XV., NO. CLIY. Z 
