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Palms Attracting Attention Feet Up, Almost Touching the Glass Roof 53 19627 RUSSELL:KEW PALMS Palmsat Kew T. A. Russnll Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, England The first collection of palms in Eng- made foreman of the hothouses, and as land of which good record remains was foreman and then curator he served Kew that of Robert James,Bth Lord Petre, at for over forty years until advancing Thorndon Hall in the county of Essex, blindness caused him to retire from ac- some 2l miles east of London. Lord tive work. Ide lived on in the neighbor- Petre and his wife took great interest in hood for manv vears, emPloYing the growing unusual plants, and a feature days in dictating his memories of what oostove," of Thorndon Hall was the ttr had happened in the Gardens in his much heatedconservatory, which in 1736 con- time, a i"cotd {rom which springs at Kew' tained ten di{ferent palms. All are not of our knowledge of early palms recoenisable at this distance of time, In lB23 when Smith becameforeman but ihey plainly included the date-palm of the hothouses,he found the palms not of North Africa, a Brazilian fan palm, only few in number but also badlY the oil palm o{ tropical Africa, and the housed. The glasshousethen used for cabbage-palmwhich h4d been found by palms was a lean-to structure. 60 feet Sir Hans Sloanein Jamaica. iottg uttd rising to 15 feet at the highest When Princess Augusta, f)owager *u[. A central bed was filted with bark Princess of W'ales, put into effect in from the tanyard, whose slow fermenta' 1759 her plans for a botanic garden at tion provided heat, and in this the tubs the royal residence of Kew House, there and pots of palms were sunk' The finest was built a heated house for tropical *p""i-"tt. at this time were two pla,nts plants in which palms might find a it Sobnl Blackburnia and a CorYPha; place. In 1768 this held six species;the and Smith describes how theY antl a iate-palm and coconut, the talipot and Panrlanuswere continually pushing their palmyra palms, the European fan'palm, leavesthrough the glassof the roo{' He and a climbing palm or rattan. Additions adds that pitY was taken on them in to this number came slowly through the 1828 when the roof was raised 4 Ieet, vears, and not more than 20 sPecies but the relief so provided can have been were being grown in lB23 when the only short-lived. young palms came under the charge of a The year 1B4l saw great changes a-t man named John Smith. Kew foi in that year the Gardens ceased who com' Smith was a great gardener to be the property of the Royal Family an inde- bined skill and experiencewith and becameinstead a Government insti- Born in pendent and purposeful mind. tution. Sir William Hooker was aP- he had Scotland, the son of a gardener, pointed Director, and, with John Smith early age been taken from school at an as curator, developments rvere put in had to be apprenticed to his father, and motion. High on the list of new works in completed his training by working was a Great Stove or Palm House which travel- se,retal famous gardens. He then lvould provide a suitable habitation for 1822,when 24 years of led south and in palms and other exotic Plants. age, he was given emPloYment in the The Great Palm House Royal Gardens at Kew at a weekly waee day, of 12 shillings. In the next year he was A fashionable architect of that 54 PRINCIPES [Vol.6 Decimus Burton, was invited to submit and a pressure-headof water, Connect- a plan. Burton was a man of some dis- ing the two buildings was an under- tinction. The tenth son of an architect, ground passage (eventually made 7 feet he had chosen to follow his father's high and 479 fieet long) with a track profession,and before passingthe ageof along which fuel for the boilers could be 23 had not only set up his own business delivered. but was becoming well known for his The bestposition for this new building creative designs.An example of his work had still to be decided and the site pro- familiar to visitors to London is the posed by . Decimus Burton aroused all arch and facade of H,vde Park Corner. John Smith's scorn and indignation - o'the But his chief interests were in the coun- lowest spot in the parish" he said, "a try, in laying out gentlemen's estates quagmire for the greater part of the with dignity and elegance,a house in year." Smith, of course, knew what he classical style, an undulating park with was talking about, and we read in the groups of trees,in the distancea placid Journal how, for somewinters to come, lake. water seepedinto the boiler-room so fast In March lB44 Burton submitted his that fire-engines had to be employed plan of the Palm House, a plart which night and day to pump out water lest the was finally adoptedafter somemodifica- fires should be extinguished. But this tions suggestedby John Smith and by defect was made good in time, and now, Richard Turner, headof the firm supply- as we view this building, the crystal ing the iron framework. The house was centre piece of the present Gardens, we to be 362 feet long, the largest structure can see in its admirable siting, the evi- of glass which had hitherto been made. dence of Burton's genius and artistic It was to have a lofty central chamber vision. 'Work 63 feet high and 100 feet across,and a on the foundations and boiler- wing to north and south, each 30 feet room was started in 1844. Progress on high and 50 feet across. The structure the upper structure was slow and there was to be supported by a framework appear to have been delays in delivery mainly of wrought iron, and the panes of the ironwork which was being fash- of glass were to be tinted a particular ioned in Dublin. The construction at- shade of green to moderate the scorch- tracted great interest, and amongst visi- ing effect of bright sun (a refinement tors viewing its progress were Queen soon shown to be needlessin the smoke- Victoria and her Consort whose sur- filled atmosphereof Greater London). prise visit is described in a letter from A suitable temperature for tropical DecimusBurton to Sir William Hooker: plants was to be maintained, even in 6 Spring Garden, the depth of winter, by hot-water circu- 30th June. lB4B lation, and to do this adequately four NIv Dn.qnSm Wu.r-rlu. and one-third miles of piping (later in- I trust that change of air is benefitting creasedto nearly five miles) was reck- your health and that you will soon re- oned necessary.Twelve boilers installed turn in strength . You will have heard beneath the building would supply the of the unexpected visit there yesterday hot water. of Her Majesty and Prince Albert. Mr. At some distance from the glasshouse Smith very properly immediately offered was a shaft or ornamentaltower design- his services,and I, who happenedto be ed to provide a chimney {or the boilers in the Palm House, was afterwards de- 1962f RUSSELL: KEW PALMS $. th" FJ; House,Kew, Irom the air. Photographbv R' R' Zabeau' us his feelings sired to attend H.M' and the Prince who John Smith records for to ar- asked many questions and expressed in going into the great structure much satisfaction.I took the opportun- range their disposal. He saw ironwork girders in ity of expressing my regret that, in con- in every direction, massive r".r,t"tt"" of a serious accident, you had iron, the gallery with its two spiral iron to the staircases,the iron plates forming the been ordered by your Physicians 'osome seaside.I addedyou would be mortified flooring, all, he says, more like on having a second time lost the oppor' dockyard smithy or some iron railway tunity of being present on the occasion station than a hothouse to grow plants of H.M. visiting the Gardens. I added in." A firm of shipwrightswas employed that it would be some comfort if I rnight to move the large sabals,one of which I7r/i tons say to you that H.M. would again be with attached soil weighed manhandled over rollers there this summer. The Queen smiled and had to be and said She certainly should and I was from the old hothousehalf a mile away. to inform you so. The palm collection was soon in place You will be glad to hear that the Palm and to it was added a collection of cy- House Flues are greatly improved as to cads and of screw pines and tropical draught. plants of economic interest, bananas, Yours verY trulY, mango, coffee and cacao. At first the Dncs. Bunrox plants stood in pots or tubs on the metal given At last, in July 1848, the house was flooring, but in 1854 Smith was considered ready to receive plants, and his way and some of the iron Plating 56 PRINCIPES [Vol.6 was removed to make six large beds of Sources of the Palrn Collection soil in the central room. Planted in ln the skilled hands of John Smith, these,the larger palms were encouraged and swelledby contributions from many to make much better growth and the parts of the world, the palm collection mango tree was described as fruiting improved rapidly in variety and condi- well.
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