468 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
November  20,  1902. 
Mrs.  E.  G.  Fairburn,  a  rich  golden-bronze  incurving  Jap;  Dr. 
Chisholm  Ross  (after  E.  Molyneux  type) ;  Madame  Paolo  Ra- 
daelli ;  Eldorado  ;  La  Fuson,  white  and  lilac  tinted  ;  Lady  Marcus 
Samuel;  Mrs.  E.  Seward;  Miss  Muriel  Tait  ;  and  Mrs.  A.  Jack, 
a  large  incurved  lilac-purple.  They  received  a  Silver  Banksian 
Medal. 
- 4*00 - 
Botanic  Gardens. 
(Continued  from  page  42o.) 
The  University  Botanic  Garden  of  Cambridge  was 
founded  in  1763,  by  Dr.  Walker,  Vice-Master  of  Trinity 
College.  He  gave  the  site,  comprising  nearly  five  acres,  in 
trust  to  the  chancellor,  masters,  and  scholars  of  the 
University  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  a  physic  or  botanic 
garden.  1'homas  Martyn,  who  was  then  professor  of  botany, 
was  appointed  reader  on  plants  ;  and  Charles,  son  of  Philip 
Miller  (who  had  aided  Dr.  Walker  in  selecting  the  ground) 
was  appointed  the  first  curator. 
Previous  to  this  date,  probably  the  number  of  exotic 
plants  cultivated  in  this  country  did  not  exceed  1,000 
species,  but  during  the  eighteenth  century  about  5,000  new 
species  were  introduced.  Professor  Martyn  died  in  1825, 
and  was  succeeded  in  the  chair  of  botany  by  Professor 
Henslow,  who  found  the  garden  in  a  very  neglected  state, 
and  utterly  unsuited  to  the  demands  of  modern  science. 
Botany  must  have  been  at  a  very  low  ebb  in  those  days, 
for  Thomas  Martyn  held  the  professorship  for  sixty  years. 
He  was  a  very  oid  man  when  he  died,  and,  from  age  and 
infirmities,  had  long  previous  to  his  death  ceased  to 
lecture  or  even  to  reside  in  the  University.  There  had 
been  no'  lectures  on  botany  for  at  least  thirty  years, 
although  he  deputed  some  able  botanist  to  lecture  in  his 
stead  ;  but  the  lectures,  for  some  reason  or  other,  were 
badly  attended.  Afterwards  the  late  Sir  James  Edward 
Smith  came  forward  to  supply  the  deficiency,  and  applied 
for  leave  to  give  a  course  of  lectures  on  botany.  He  had 
the  consent  of  Professor  Martyn  and  the  then  vice-chan¬ 
cellor,  but  there  was  such  a  strong  opposition  from  the 
tutors  of  the  colleges,  on  the  ground  of  his  being  neither 
a  member  of  the  University  or  of  the  Church  of  England, 
that  he  was  forced  to  withdraw ;  but  I  am  glad  to  say 
that  most  of  the  masters  and  tutors  of  this  University 
to-day  are  more  broad-minded  and  tolerant  than  their 
predecessors.  There  was  but  little  science  (as  we  know  it 
now)  taught  in  those  days. 
It  was  a  great  pity  that  Sir  James  Smith  was  refused 
permission  to  lecture,  as  he  was  an  eminent  botanist ;  but — 
to  return  to  our  neglected  garden.  As  Henslow  found  it, 
it  was  then  in  the  heart  of  the  town  (the  site  of  the 
present  new  museums  in  Downing  Street)  ;  consequently, 
only  a  limited  number  of  plants  could  be  grown  in  the  open 
ground,  while  the  glass  houses  were  too  small  and  few  in 
number,  and  he  often  reported  its  inefficiency  to  the 
governors,  but  it  was  many  years  before  anything  was 
done  in  the  matter.  An  opportunity  occurred  in  1831  by 
which  the  University  was  enabled  to  purchase  a  more 
extensive  piece  of  ground,  consisting  of  about  thirty  acres, 
in  the  outskirts  of  the  town,  which  is  the  present  site 
of  the  garden.  Many  years  elapsed,  however,  before  the 
plants  were  removed  from  the  old  garden.  Henslow  was 
always  advocating  the  enlargement  and  Improvement  of 
the  garden,  observing  “  that  the  larger  the  number  of 
species  cultivated  in  a  botanic  garden  the  greater  will  be 
the  facilities  afforded,  not  merely  for  systematic  improve¬ 
ment,  but  for  anatomical  and  other  experimental  researches 
essential  to  the  progress  of  general  physiology.  It  is 
impossible  to  predict  what  particular  species  may  safely 
be  dispensed  with  in  such  establishments  without  risking 
some  loss  of  opportunity  which  that  very  species  might 
have  offered  to  a  competent  investigator  at  the  exact 
moment  he  most  needed  it.” 
Professor  Henslow  advised  the  appointment  of  a 
curator,  who  should  be  comoetent  to  meet  the  demands 
which  such  an  establishment  might  require.  He  also 
visited  the  Royal  Gardens,  Kew,  to  get  advice  and  infor¬ 
mation  that  should  nut  this  garden  on  a  footing  with 
(hose  at  Glasgow,  Edinburgh,  and  Dublin.  The  result 
of  all  these  labours  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Henslow  was  the 
appointment  of  the  first  curator  of  the  new  garden.  The 
place  was  given  to  Mr.  Murray,  a  skilful  gardener.  To¬ 
gether  they  planned  the  garden,  which  has  remained  much 
the  same  ever  since,  except  in  a  few  minor  details,  such 
as  the  site  of  the  new  range  of  glass  houses  and  a  few  new 
beds  here  and  there.  The  first  tree  was  ‘planted  in  184S 
by  Dr.  Tatham,  then  vice-chancellor.  The  remainder  of 
the  trees,  shrubs,  and  herbaceous  plants  were  added  as 
money  allowed,  the  trees  being  planted  to  form  a  belt 
round  the  garden  as  much  in  their  natural  orders  as 
possible.  Mr.  Stratton  was  the  next  curator  to  follow 
Murray,  who  did  not  live  long  alter  his  appointment. 
The  first  glass  houses  were  constructed  in  1855.  These 
were,  however,  replaced  by  a  splendid  new  range  of  houses 
in  1889-1890.  There  is  a  great  deal  one  might  say  in  a 
general  way  without  going  into  details,  but  a  few  brief 
remarks  must  suffice  before  closing  this  subject.  There  is- 
not  another  garden  in  the  British  Isles,  or  perhaps  in  the 
world,  that  is  called  upon  to  provide  such  a  vast  amount 
of  material  for  the  different  lectures  and  research  work  as 
Cambridge,  in  addition  to  the  keeping  of  a  collection  of 
plants,  which  in  this  country  is  rivalled  only  by  the  vast 
collection  at  Kew.  We  have  been  famous  for  our  rare 
and  interesting  plants,  many  of  which  have  flowered  here 
for  the  first  time  in  cultivation,  and  then  figured.  Then, 
again,  we  have  been  famous  for  collections  of  various 
groups  of  plants  ;  for  example,  I  would  mention  Insecti¬ 
vorous  plants,  Succulents,  Crinums,  Pseonies,  Fuchsias**  and 
Bamboos. 
Many  a  so-called  stove  plant  has  been  tried  successfully 
on  the  sheltered  borders  of  the  plant  houses.  The  rockery 
and  bog  garden  have  been  the  subject  of  much  comment  in 
the  gardening  press.  Many  years  ago,  before  the  present 
appreciation  of  Bamboos  took  hold  of  the  public,  there 
were  some  good  specimens  grouped  naturally  in  sheltered 
positions  near  the  pond.  So  well  did  they  grow  here  that 
their  culture  was  taken  up  with  zest  by  the  Kew  autho¬ 
rities,  where  they  are  now  well  grown  in  a  place  specially 
constructed  for  them,  known  as  the  Bamboo  Garden.  Kew 
is  rich  in  number  of  species,  and  has  spared  no  expense 
and  trouble  to  make  the  collection  a  success.  No  extra 
money  or  labour  has  been  spent  on  them  at  Cambridge, 
and  although  we  have  a  collection  of  over  forty  species 
and  varieties,  it  is  far  surpassed  by  the  Kew  collection. 
Our  hardy  succulents  have  created  quite  a  sensation  in 
the  horticultural  world,  and  some  of  them  are  still  the 
finest  examples  of  their  kind  in  this  country  ;  but  in  these, 
as  with  the  Bamboos,  we  shall  have  to  bow  to  Kew  and 
other  places  where  space  and  money  is  less  limited  than 
here,  but  we  are  consoled  by  the  knowledge  of  having  set 
the  example  and  shown  what  can  be  done. 
Gerbera  Jamesoni,  or  the  “  Transvaal  Daisy,”  first 
flowered  here  many  years  ago,  and  ever  since  it  has  been  a 
great  success.  We  distribute  hundreds  every  year  from 
seed  ripened  out  of  doors.  A  yellow-flowered  variety  was 
discovered  at  Barberton  by  the  Curator  of  the  Botanic 
Garden  at  Johannesburg  whilst  a  fugitive  in  the  Transvaal 
during  the  recent  war.  He  collected  a  few  seeds  and  sent 
them  to  the  Curator  of  the  gardens  here.  Young  plants 
were  raised  which  flowered  in  due  course.  Mr.  R.  I.  Lynch 
very  carefully  examined  and  compared  it  with  the  type,  and 
found  that  it  was  a  variety  only,  not  a  distinct  species.  It 
is  now  known  as  Gerbera  Jamesoni  “  Sir  Michael,”  in 
honour  of  Sir  Michael  Foster,  whose  services  to  horticulture 
and  botany  is  well  known.  We  hope  to  propagate  and  dis¬ 
tribute  this  variety. — Albert  Hosking,  Cambridge. 
Postscript. — I  had  believed  that  Gerbera  Jamesoni  was 
figured  from  here.  I  find,  however,  that  this  is  not  the  case, 
and  that  the  figure  in  “  Bot.  Mag.”  in  1889  was  made  from  a 
plant  growing  at  Kew.  Our  plants  having  flowered  at  the 
same  time,  but  whereas  the  Kew  plants  were  lost,  ours  have 
succeeded  and  flowered  every  year,  and  plants  have  been 
sent  to  Kew  from  these  gardens  more  than  once. — A.  H. 
- *.#♦* - 
The  Vintage  of  1932. 
The  nineteenth  century’s  vintage  records  close  with  a  Grape 
gathering  throughout  Europe  phenomenally  successful,  both  as 
to  quality  and  quantity.  The  first  vintage  of  the  new  century 
promised,  up  to  a  certain  date,  almost  to  rival  the  final  one  of 
the  old,  but  in  quality  failed  entirely  to  realise  expectation, 
owing  to  adverse  conditions  of  weather  at  the  last.  The  1901 
wines,  therefore,  must,  though  not  so  very  far  behind  1900  in 
quantity,  be  classed  as  of  a  low  order  of  merit. 
