72  London  Botanic  Gardens.  { AFebJrXy!>imm' 
The  heads  of  the  departments  (b\  (c),  and  (d)  are  directly  respon- 
sible to  the  Director  for  the  work  done  under  their  care.  The 
organization  of  the  scientific  work  of  Kew  is  hence  of  the  simplest 
kind,  and  resolves  itself  into  departmental  government,  the  depart- 
mental chiefs  being,  in  turn,  severally  and  individually  dependent 
upon  the  Director  for  their  instructions. 
In  considering  the  nature  of  the  work  done  at  Kew  it  will  be 
necessary  to  adopt  a  method  of  rigid  selection.  A  short  account 
will,  therefore,  be  given,  in  the  first  place,  of  the  special  training 
provided  at  Kew  for  young  gardeners,  after  which  the  relation  with 
the  Colonies  will  be  touched  upon,  especially  with  reference  to 
economic  plants.  Finally,  the  Kew  publications  and  the  facilities 
enjoyed  by  scientific  workers  and  others,  together  with  the  concomi- 
tant results,  will  be  briefly  surveyed,  in  so  far  as  they  relate  to 
medicinal  plants. 
The  training  of  gardeners  constitutes  the  only  direct  educational 
work  carried  on  at  Kew,  but  it  is  of  far-reaching  importance.  Five 
years  previous  experience  is  required  of  every  candidate  for  admis- 
sion. The  training  consists  of  practical  work  and  lectures.  In  the 
former,  the  student  is  taken  successively  through  the  various  sections 
of  the  gardens  and  houses ;  the  lectures  are  delivered  concurrently 
by  the  officers  or  their  assistants.  The  lectures  comprise  a  course 
in  physics  and  chemistry,  as  applied  to  botany  and  geology ;  another 
in  general  botany ;  a  third  on  economic  plants  and  their  products ; 
and  a  fourth  on  geographical  botany.  During  his  stay  at  Kew,  the 
young  gardener  has  to  collect,  mount,  and  name  a  herbarium  of  250 
specimens  himself ;  at  the  end  of  two  years  he  is  granted  a  Kew 
certificate,  provided  that  his  work  has  been  satisfactory.  The  great 
importance  of  this  training  lies  in  the  fact  that  Kew  is  thereby 
enabled  to  act  as  a  feeder  for  the  staffs  of  Colonial  and  home  gardens 
and  other  botanical  institutions. 
The  relation  of  Kew  to  the  Colonies  is  somewhat  peculiar,  inas- 
much as  the  botanical  establishments  of  these  are  in  touch  with  the 
Colonial  office,  and  do  not  fall  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Board 
of  Agriculture  as  Kew  does.  The  connection  between  the  two  is 
consequently  not  very  apparent  at  first  sight,  but  Kew  is  never- 
theless the  hub  of  botanical  enterprise  in  India  and  the  Colonies. 
The  whole  key  to  the  situation  is  simply  this,  that  the  Colonial 
office  depends  chjefly  upon  Kew  for  its  scientific  advice  where 
