Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1879-05-31
THE HRRBARIUM.
q Aper by MIR. James Mop hersOn.
Read BEFORE the ID. C.lHor ticultn .
RAl SnCi4fK.

Read Before the ID. C.lHoriicuitn
raj Society.
A the meeting Of the horticultural Society O
the District Of Columbia. on Wednesday even
Ing, The following ESSAY on Hernariums wa
read by Mr.. James Mcpherson:
Easey has most instruct1vely given you a re
sumo OF the rise and progress OF botany II
Europe and America; he has told you that
soon became necessary to send out collectors {,
elaboration of the complete systems and emu
merations of the vegetable kingdom, now cul
ninating Gas Dr; vasey remarksl in the Genert
which will probably embrace generic descrip
lions OF some 115,00O species, which species art
at the same time being analytically described
f1oras. In fact the botanical stan OF the Kew
herbar1um Is flooding the English speaking
world with such wealth Of botanical lore
ina. l am AFRAID America will scarcely have
elaOorat1on OF its own flora, a work which
Messrs. Gray, Watson, and other able botanists
aag nov 1 th engaged upon; which ora
boundary to the Arctic limit of vegetatiOn) will
probably include some nine or perhaps nearly
ten thousand species The various territ OLA
work. DR.. Vasey has, however, SO exhaustivetS
reviewed the work of the American DOIaniSIs
that any remarks OF mine on that neao are
quite superfuOus.
THESE LABoRs OF THE BoTANIsT
mean that If there are any plants OF economic
value, OF great beauty, or OF botanical interest,
m nns sfsen aae oF the euous may
erence to the various descriptive flowers
know the plants when they see them, or II
n s eesr see dea them eP theme hey ms at
the student may learn the names by which
they are distinguished, "a strange medley OF
dead and live languages0 the shape OF the
height OF the stems, the duration Of their lives,
the nature Of their seeds. the climates they in
habit, and with the aid Of allied sciences almost
point with certainty to the soils upon which
his herbarian specimens very much as their
names are CLASSIFIED In the system he adopts,
thus rendering them available for purposes Of
exact study and for this purpose the steeas Is
den or the field; the herbarfum Is dried up
epttome Of the vegetable kingdom.
THE HERBARIUM Is THE BOND OF UNION,
so to speak, between the botaniSt and the gar
about One-fifth OF the $4,000 plants of the
world. Kew, the richest garden by far, hardly
contains this number, and quite one-half Of
Of the temperate regions and the heat of the
tropics alike interpOse bar to the universal
growth and production OF vegetable life. The
nernarum then ne e. Is the e mt means we have for
local hOrtus rirus will for a long time fall to
exhibit. The garden, on its side, Is the inst1tu-
ton where many OF the most enthusiastic and
uSe1ul collections have been trained to aid the
Dotan1st. The Cunninghams, Douglass, For
tune. Gibson, Purdie, Herbst, Mann, Horne, and
q host OF others, have gone from the garden to
DO brave and enduring work In the field of
botanical exploration.
FROM THE HERBARIuM TO THE GARDEN.
from the herbartum then we easily step to
the garden; we have been told how the "United
States Botanic Garden" ministers to the luxury
and refinement OF the United States capitol!
Inc government spends from Sc, 600 to $50, 900
per annum On horticulture, botany, and allied
mr. a. tom aYn<SH k1~
good nest egg to begin with; the largest portion
OF this sum Is spent on reservations and such
like, the botanic garden as you all know, being
ever, ought to make ten, acre garden the very
pink OF perfection. Fine gardening requires for
ITS FUN fruition large share OF opulent Guilt
Tatea leisure; 1t Is the much maligned large
horticulture its high Tone We have been told
1t was such an one who helped to set the great
Lnn9us on bis feet; 1T has been such men as
S1r Joseph Banks, the late Dukes of Devonshire.
Beuccleugb, Northumberland, Bedford, and
many others, who have helped with an un-
stlnted haEd to raise British gardening to the
themselves the names Of such men as Hooker,
LoWdon, Paxton, Mcintosh, Ingram, McNab
and Ba1nes are inseparably connected. If for
blind to the alleged faults OF wealthy landed
proprietary; their faults are more than miti-
gated by the splendid and munif1cent assistance
beautiful science which renders it's whole ma So
ter1al accessible to the mind of the student
NOR are these aristocratS selfish, as Dr. Vasey
mas mtlmated the majority freely admit the
largely due to their influence and example that
Europe possesses such multiplicity OF magnii
cent public gardens.
BOTANIC GARDENS.
Is system of ar1stOcracy necessary then Ito
me gardening? In my opinion 1t Is not. In
oeed, this Is sufficiently proven by the follow
ing. which has been made by the essentially
democratic English colonies. There is hardly
one OF them, from little st. Helena to the CONT
mental island Of Australia, from Jamaica and
Ir1n1oa0 TO Hong Kong, from British Guiana to
or from Ceylon and Singapore to the Mauritius
but they possess capital botanic gardens sur
passing In some features those of the mother
It Is true, by " Imperial Kew" which ssits en-
.glItterfng side
" Obedienf sails from realms unfurrowed bring
For her the unnamed progeny OF spring."
She nurses these
"Or fans in glass built fanes the stranger
With s p,,Ssr gales and sleeps with warmer
When her rarfttes are sufficiently numerous
she exchanges, distributes and redistrfbuteS
them: she trains the colonial and very often
writes the foras Of their various Countries
Above all, that regal establishment often de-
nghtfully entertatnS and fnstructs as many as
eoroVV ptOplc, Vi au Glasses, In q single
Gay, and few things would raise greater
STORM In the London world than a show OF Do
nl!cai tomfoolery with the botanic gardens at
Kew.
TIE DUTY OF OUR GOVERNMENT
Why should not the United States govern
ment do something more of this kind? Why
should they not emulate so splendid lead? No
people are more cumulative and ambitious: no
people have more appreciation for the beauties
Of nature and natures art than Americans
American ladies are unsurpassed anywhere
for their high appreciation OF the great achieve
ments Of horticulture, as any of you will agree
who heard the rapturOus and unstinted enco-
miums lavished upon Anthony Waterer's Anglo
American RhodOdendromS, at the Philadelphia
exhibition. No people that re-
MEMBER were more surprised and delighted than
American visitors to the NO. ~ conservatory at
Peru; But without the opportunity to see, how
can they De appreciative? Given wealth and
nigh instructive culture, who are we to blame
for the little we see? Is 1t the people, or is it
their legislators and leaders OF fashion? l can
scarcely think the gardeners are to blame; at
any rate, have sufficient faith In well trained,
orderly and Intelligent gardeners to believe
and know that when they love their business
and know 1t, (and knowledge implies something
more than an acquaintance with mere plant
names anG Suay1ty OF manner5,} when they pos
sesS modicum OF manlineSs and confidence In
themselves and security In their positions, their
patrons are splendidly and efficiently served. 1t
depends In great measure upon the collective
or individual patron, then, and the demands OF
that patron, whether garden shall resolve it.
self into mere boquet shop with exotic Access
rio hrx