December  4,  1902. 
JOURNAL  CF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
517 
Botanic  Gardens. 
( Concluded,  from  page  46S.) 
The  Oxford  Botanical  Gardens,  like  that  at  Cambridge,  is 
the  property  of  the  University,  founded  in  1632  by  Henry, 
Earl  of  Derby,  who  endowed  it  as  a  Physic  Garden.  It  is 
the  oldest  institution  of  its  kind  in  Great  Britain  and  Ireland, 
occupies  five  acres  of  ground  ;  for  400  years  previously  it  was 
used  as  a  Jew’s  burial  ground.  The  old  glass  houses  were 
replaced  in  1893-4  by  a  range  of  five  houses. 
The  gardens  are  open  until  six  p.m.  ;  the  houses  from  two 
till  four.  The  library,  museum,  and  herbarium  may  be 
visited  by  permission  of  the  Professor  of  Botany.  Jacob 
Bobart,  a  German  from  Brunswick,  was  the  first  appointed 
curator,  although  John  Tradescant  is  said  to  have  been  the 
first  gardener  here.  Bobart  was  followed  by  his  son,  whose 
list  of  the  plants  cultivated  in  1648  contains  1,600  species  and 
varieties,  nearly  600  of  these  being  native  plants.  The 
Oxford  garden,  though  the  oldest,  can  hardly  be  said  to  have 
moved  with  the  times  ;  they  still  have  only  the  five  acres 
surrounded  by  a  high 
wall.  There  has  been  a 
good  deal  of  discussion 
about  having  a  new  site, 
as  the  present  one  can¬ 
not  be  extended.  Some 
people  are  reluctant  to 
part  with  old  associa¬ 
tions. 
The  Physic  Garden, 
Chelsea,  was  founded 
1673,  at  an  annual  rent 
of  £5,  for  a  term  of 
sixty-one  years.  A  Avail 
was  built  round  it  in 
1674,  and  the  gateway  is 
dated  1686,  which  is  sup¬ 
posed  to  be  the  date 
Avhen  the  collections  of 
plants  were  arranged. 
In  1732  Sir  Hans  Sloane, 
a  great  traveller,  bought 
some  ground  which  in¬ 
cluded  this  garden,  and 
he  gave  it  to  the  Apothe¬ 
caries’  Company,  condi¬ 
tionally  that  it  was 
always  kept  as  a  Physic 
Garden. 
Philip  Miller  was 
made  curator.  Another 
condition  of  the  gift  was 
that  the  society  was  to  give  fifty  new  plants  each  year  to 
the  Royal  Society  until  they  had  given  2,000  ;  this  they  con¬ 
tinued  until  1773,  and  gave  in  all  2,550  specimens.  We 
cannot  here  go  into  all  the  ups  and  downs  of  this  old  historic 
garden. 
In  1899  the  garden  was  reconstructed,  and  a  new  curator, 
Mr.  William  Hales,  of  the  Royal  Gardens,  Kew,  was 
appointed.  For  many  years  previous  to  this  the  gardens 
had  been  going  from  bad  to  worse,  as  the  Apothecaries’ 
Society  found  it  too  expensive,  and  it  would  have  fallen  into 
the  hands  of  the  builder  had  not  a  hue  and  cry  been  set  up 
against  such  a  step  being  taken.  The  Charity  Commissioners 
took  action,  promising  to  find  money  for  its  upkeep  ;  a  com¬ 
mittee  of  management  was  appointed,  and  all  that  has  since 
taken  place  is  well  known  from  the  recent  notices  in  the 
gardening  papers.  I  have  paid  a  recent  visit  to  this  old 
historic  place,  and  am  glad  to  say  that  Chelsea  is  again 
flourishing  under  its  young  and  able  curator.  May  it  long 
continue  so  is  my  sincere  wish. 
The  first  physic  garden  in  this  country  was  that  of 
Gerarde,  established  at  Holborn,  in  1567.  John  Gerarde  was 
not  only  a  physician,  but  also  a  practical  gardener.  His  own 
garden,  according  to  a  catalogue  published  by  himself,  con¬ 
tained  nearly  1,100  kinds  ;  quite  a  large  collection  for  those 
days.  He  .was  also  for  twenty  years  superintendent  of  Lord 
Burghley's  garden.  In  Johnston’s  edition  of  Gerarde’s 
“Great  Herbal”  are  mentioned  2,717  kinds  of  plants. 
The  new  Botanical  Gardens  opened  at  New  York  contain 
250  acres,  large  glass  houses,  and  a  very  imposing  and  sub¬ 
stantial  building  for  the  herbarium,  and  they  are  rapidly 
acquiring  large  collections  for  it-  and  the  gardens.  This 
promises  to  be  a  fine  institution,  and  one  worthy  of  the 
United  States. 
Most  of  our  colonies  have  either  botanic  gardens  or 
botanic  stations,  at  which  are  grown  and  propagated  in  large 
quantities  such  plants  as  yield  either  food,  medicine, 
material  for  clothing,  or  manufactures,  and  distributed  to 
the  planters  (often  gratis)  for  the  development  and  prosperity 
of  their  respective  countries.  Altogether  there  are  many 
such  gardens,  and  the  men  who  have  charge  of  them  arc 
selected  from  Kew.  It  is  impossible  for  nre  to  treat  more 
fully  in  this  lecture  on  these  colonial  gardens,  and  the  useful 
work  which  they  do.  Notes  and  illustrations  are,  however, 
often  to  be  seen  in  the  pages  of  the  gardening  papers. 
Of  British  botanic  gardens,  those  at  Kew  are  not  only  by 
far  the  largest  and  most  important  in  this  country,  but  also 
in  the  world.  Other  botanic  gardens  in  England  are  Bir¬ 
mingham,  Bath,  Liverpool,  Regent’s  Park  (London)  belong¬ 
ing  to  the  Royal  Botanic  Society,  and  another  rather  small 
one  at  Bury. 
In  Scotland,  besides  Edinburgh,  there  are  the  following  : 
Glasgow,  Aberdeen,  and 
one  at  St.  Andrew’s 
University.  The  Glas¬ 
gow  garden  is  more  de¬ 
votee!  to  the  ornamental 
and  decorative  use  of 
plants  rather  than  the 
purely  botanical  ar¬ 
rangement  of  the  col¬ 
lections.  This  is  not  to 
be  wondered  at  now  that 
it  is  managed  by  the 
Town  Council.  In  Ire¬ 
land  we  have  one  at 
Cork,  Belfast,  and: 
Trinity  College  Gardens, 
Dublin,  in  addition  to 
that  already  mentioned 
at  Glasnevin.  —  Albert 
Hosking, 
- - 
Killerton,  Devon. 
The  notes  furnished! 
on  pages  496  and  497  re¬ 
lating  to  the  magnificent 
trees  at  Devon  will  be 
further  emphasised  by 
the  addition  of  the  short 
table  which  Mr.  J.  C'outts 
lias  supplied,  and  which  is  given  below.  I  had  omitted  to  mention 
that  graceful  shrub  Nandina  domestica,  with  bushy  sprays  of  its 
pinately  cut  leaflets  and  panicles  of  pretty  white  flowers,  plants 
of  which  are  in  the  grounds.  Trachycarpus  (Chamgerops)  ex- 
celsus  is  well  represented,  and  it  is  proposed  to  line  both  sides 
of  a  short  open-air  drive  or  avenue  with  these  members  of  the 
Palmge.  Lavender  was  not  to  be  found  at  Killerton  two  years 
ago,  but  the  present  gardener  is  nursing  a  goodly  stock  of  it  for 
prospective  liberal  plantings.  He  already  has  a  broad  border 
filled  with  it,  through  amongst  which  is  planted  the  White 
Lily  (L.  candidum). 
In  a  cosy  corner  between’  a  garden  Avail  and  one  end  of  a  vinery 
there  is  a  luxuriant  Eupatorium  odoratum,  which  has  attained- 
to  woody  growth  tov  ards  the  stock,  and  reaches  over  7ft  high.  Its 
robust  shoots  ivere  laden  with  the  pale'  whitish  flowers  in  the 
middle  of  November,  and  itsi  glossy  green  leaves  Avere  very 
handsome.  As  a  rule,  this  plant  is  grown  in  pots  for  the  green¬ 
house.  Abelia  rupestris  also-  called  for  notice  by  reason  of  its 
vigour ;  while  Clianthus  puniceus,  the  Glory  Pea,  is  remarkably 
rampant  on  a  doom-ay  in  the  same  corner,  and  flowers  very  freely. 
Growers  northward  will  envy  Mr.  C'outts  in  having  climate  so  mild 
and  balmy.  I  have  now  done  Avith  the  shrubs,  and  append  the 
list  referred  to  abcA-e  : — 
Height, 
ft.  in. 
Girth  at  5ft.  from 
base, 
ft.  in. 
Sequoia  gigantea 
83  0 
13  6 
Sequoia  sempervirens  - 
.-  75  -  0  • 
11- *4 
Cryptomeria  japonica 
70  0 
6  (> 
Eitzroya  patagonioa  . . 
-  £0  0  ■ 
. .  2  (i 
Libocedrus  decurrens 
.  65  0 
5  C 
Cunninghamia  sinensis 
.  ■  60  0 
5  9 
Thuiopsis  do'.obrata  . . 
25  0 
This  has  no  girth 
to  speak  of. 
In  borders  lift  broad,  and  specially  prepared,  Irises  have  been 
planted.  These  narrow  borders  run  in  line  with  and  close 
Southampton  Show:  A  general  view  of  the  Fruit  Section. 
