[
    {
        "id": 215634,
        "series_id": 26,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine",
        "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊",
        "series_use_hku_proxy": false,
        "document_key": "RAS-2001",
        "page_number": 411,
        "title": "RAS-2001",
        "content_text": "362\n\nwhich once made up Gondwanaland, with tree-ferns massing in the stream bed. It seems that the entire world is coming eventually to Cornwall.\n\nTom's in-depth knowledge of the flora of western China in particular was illuminating for us. He explained that whereas much emphasis is put in the protection of rainforests internationally, in fact small \"islands\" of temperate conditions and vegetation within the tropics, where unique species exist, are also vulnerable: a single fire, for instance, could break the growth cycle for trees. Collection of seed is of great importance, but Chinese taxonomy is underfunded (compared to botanical research for medical purposes) and collection for propagation abroad is illegal according to CITES. Another of his legacies to the future will be a naturalistically planted Far Eastern temperate woodland, with acers, viburnums, sorbus, gordonia, and the rare Taiwania.\n\nTom also delighted and surprised the group by being able to take us to see a specimen of the camellia named after HK Governor Alexander Grantham, and another of Camellia hongkongensis, plus a Hogplum (Choerospondias), which he said grows around reservoirs in Hong Kong. Full marks for being the only garden visited to have a direct Hong Kong connection, and to Tom for his thoughtfulness in pointing it out.\n\nAmong great gardens, that of Caerhays Castle is one of the greatest, particularly for oriental plants. The gardens are set spectacularly on a hillside cupped around the castle, with their back turned to the little beach and bay nearby and the sea winds, and are filled with some of the oldest specimens of rhododendrons, magnolias and camellias in England. The architect of the gardens was John Charles Williams, “one of the towering figures of the Edwardian age” (M. Campbell-Culver). By the time he died in 1939, he had the best collection of rhododendrons in the country, and he had been responsible for crossing for the first time the two most important types of camellia, C. japonica (from Japan) and C. saluenensis. The latter had been discovered by George Forrest in the early part of the 20th century in the Salween area of China, and Williams was an early recipient of seed. The resulting hybrids, C. x williamsii, are now some of the most highly regarded of all, being hardy, profusely flowering, and tidily shedding their dead blooms. (The original",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-2001.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zg651950g",
        "rank": 0
    },
    {
        "id": 215635,
        "series_id": 26,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine",
        "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊",
        "series_use_hku_proxy": false,
        "document_key": "RAS-2001",
        "page_number": 412,
        "title": "RAS-2001",
        "content_text": "363\n\nand still important C. saluensis can be seen, against a building which has since rather ignobly become the ladies' loo).\n\nCaerhays also had, for me, the most unusual side-light on the business of importing oriental plants: in the Castle itself there is a collection of Chinese blue and white porcelain, bought at the behest of Veitch's Nurseries (for whom Ernest Wilson collected plants in China between 1899 and 1905) in order to show its clients the plants painted in their Chinese settings!\n\nWe were guided around Caerhays by the Head Gardener, Jamie Parsons, whose tour was a hugely impressive mix of information about rare plants, and the science and practicality of running a large and important garden. His tour provided the most comprehensive range of oriental trees and shrubs of all the gardens we visited, thanks to the quality of the Caerhays collection, and to the amount of time he gave us despite the demands of his work.\n\nAmongst other things, he is engaged in working on the historic records of the gardens, much helped by a garden diary stretching back over some 100 years, and in identifying the many hybrids found in the garden. He sends away slips of material from rare specimens to a specialist centre in Switzerland for grafting, in order to ensure their survival. He battles with lichen, which will swamp and kill azaleas, rabbits which can ringbark (and kill) a magnolia overnight; with replanting the 150 acres of woodland largely felled by storms and hurricanes in recent years, and with the third biggest pest in gardens' (after rabbits and deer); human beings stealing plant labels.\n\nWe also learned, sadly, that these gardens are finding it increasingly difficult to find people to come and work in them: a recent advertisement by Caerhays produced no candidates at all, despite offering accommodation. When one sees how much (often heavy) work has to be done by ever smaller teams of staff, it is understandable perhaps, but - as we learned - there can be few gardens which are more important to the future of oriental plants, in the West. We wish them well for the future. Perhaps there are RAS members looking for an energetic new career after leaving Hong Kong, helping to maintain this marvellous oriental heritage?\n\n363",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-2001.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zg651950g",
        "rank": 0
    }
]