Nurseries and acclimatisation gardens

When the governor and captain-general of Madeira, Dom Diogo Forjaz Coutinho, proposed to the botanist Vandelli the creation of large plant nurseries on the island, intended to supply not only the Ajuda botanical garden but also, if need be, the gardens and hothouses of all Europe, the central authorities soon sent the civil government building (Governo Civil) of Funchal the authorisation needed to put the project into practice. On 6 May 1799, the said governor having already died, the provisional government ordered the bachelor (bacharel, university graduate) José Maria de Afonseca to choose a suitable site for a plant nursery. On 9 August following, the same government stated in an official document that the land intended for growing northern species lay at the Lombada (‘long ridge’), in the parish (freguesia) of Monte (‘hill’), and that the southern species would be grown at whatever sites seemed most suitable until land of their own was assigned to them. Afonseca himself was put in charge of the nursery for northern species; if he was prevented, he could be replaced by José Joaquim de Vasconcelos, who would take charge of the nursery for southern species once it came to be established.

By 10 August 1823 the Monte nursery had distributed more than 20,000 trees to various places on Madeira and Porto Santo (‘holy harbour’), according to a report on the work carried out for the benefit of the archipelago’s rural economy, submitted to the competent authorities by José Maria de Afonseca. The Monte nursery was abolished in 1828 by the government of Miguel I, and no one afterwards thought of restoring it. The decree of 4 January 1837 ordered the convent grounds of the former Convent of São Francisco (St Francis of Assisi) to be turned into a plant nursery, but it seems that nothing useful was done there to revive an undertaking that had already given such good results here in Madeira.

The land where the Monte nursery stood is still known today as the ‘Quinta do Jardim Botânico’ (‘botanical garden estate’). As for the nursery for southern species, we have no record that it was ever created.

What follows, written some years ago by one of the co-authors of this Elucidário, provides new information for the article ‘Acclimatisation Garden’ (Jardim de Aclimação) on page 178 of volume II.

“

In the locality (sítio) of Lombada, in the parish of Monte, there is a quinta known as the Botanic Garden (Jardim Botânico). Yet if we enter this quinta and closely examine the species that cover it, we find nothing that could in any way justify the name by which it is known. There is neither varied vegetation nor any rare species there; indeed, it may even be said that the Botanic Garden quinta, despite its name, is one of the properties in that parish that hold least interest for amateurs of botanical study.

Nevertheless, the name is not wholly inappropriate. If we consult old documents now unknown to the great majority of the people of Funchal, it is easy to see that on the spot where only common species now grow there was once an excellent nursery, which came to supply a large number of trees to various parts of the island.

The history of the nursery, or Botanic Garden, of Monte can be told in a few words. The Portuguese government learnt that the botanical explorations of Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander in 1768, and those of Francis Masson in 1776 and 1777, had led to the discovery of many valuable species in Madeira. This prompted the government to send an instruction to the governor and captain-general, Dom Diogo Forjaz Coutinho, to have gathered and sent to the botanic garden of Ajuda, then under the charge of Domingos Vandelli, not only all the recently discovered plants but also all those to which any economic or therapeutic value was attributed.

The request was carried out through the inspectors-general of agriculture. On that occasion the governor proposed to Vandelli the creation of large nurseries on the island, intended to supply not only the botanic garden of Ajuda but also, if need be, the gardens and hothouses of all Europe. Before long the central authorities sent down to the civil government of Funchal the authorisation needed to turn this idea into reality.

On 6 May 1799, Dom Diogo Forjaz Coutinho having by then died, the provisional government that had succeeded this governor ordered the bachelor (bacharel, university graduate) José Maria d'Affonseca to choose a suitable site for a plant nursery. On 9 August following, the same government stated in another document that the land set aside for raising northern species lay in the Terra da Lombada, in the parish of Monte, and that the southern species would be grown in whatever places seemed most suitable until proper land was assigned to them. José Maria d'Affonseca himself was put in charge of the nursery for northern species; should he be unable to act, he could be replaced by José Joaquim de Vasconcellos, who was to have charge of the nursery for southern species, which, we believe, was never established.

As can be seen, the Monte nursery was already in existence in August 1799. It was an establishment of unquestionable usefulness, which prepared the island to receive the plant riches of various parts of the world. By 10 August 1823 the nursery had distributed more than 20,000 trees to various parts of Madeira and Porto Santo, according to a report on the work carried out for the benefit of the archipelago’s rural economy, submitted to the competent authorities by the aforementioned José Maria d'Affonseca.

The Monte nursery was abolished by the government of Miguel in 1828, and no one afterwards sought to re-establish it. The decree of 4 January 1837 ordered the convent grounds of the former convent of São Francisco to be used as a plant nursery but, it seems, nothing was done there either to revive an undertaking that had already produced such good results here in Madeira.

On acclimatisation gardens there is only one thing to record: the proposal made on 23 August 1852 by Dr Friedrich Welwitsch, the learned Austrian botanist, to the Portuguese government for the creation of two such establishments, one in São Paulo de Luanda and the other in Funchal. According to this botanist, the garden to be created in Funchal would be a subtropical garden. It would receive both tropical plants and those of cold countries, acclimatising them and, if possible, naturalising them, so that they could later be carried to other climates without harm.

Dr Welwitsch’s idea, although it won the approval of the Overseas Council (Conselho Ultramarino), was never put into practice, as is well known. We are left, however, with dozens of official letters recorded in the books of various public departments. They show that as early as the middle of the 19th century our official bodies spared neither paper nor ink when called upon to give an opinion on matters of which they understood nothing whatsoever.

Had things taken the same course at the end of the 18th century, the nursery or botanic garden of Monte would never have been established – the garden from which thousands of plants went out to repopulate a great many parts of the island (1921). See Agricultural Board, Passada da Novilha, Smith and Welwitsch.