- 1787. Letters to William Forsyth indicate that Anderson's appointment at the Garden was contested by the Governor, who in 1785 '[appropriated] the ground and [superintendent's] house to his own use'; namely as a 'common pasture for his cattle'. Having remodelled the house for the 'convenience' of his own wife and child, Anderson was forced to seek refuge at a Tavern in Kingstown, the 'expense of which was far above [his] finances'. After Lincoln threatened to 'alienate [the Garden] from the Crown', the dispute was finally resolved when London's War Office dispatched the 'necessary orders' to '[re-establish] the old Botanic Garden and House'; albeit with a warning that its 'permanent' survival would depend on Anderson's 'attention to the most ridgid[sic] economy'. Despite Governor Valentine Morris' ostensible 'fondness of horticulture and rural economy', Anderson's predecessor Dr. George Young had previously failed to secure the necessary 'assistance and support' for the Garden between 1772 - 1776, with 'the unhappy state of island politics' precluding the allocation of 'useful labour and funds'. Foreign Communications and Exchanges Anderson's network of foreign correspondence was extensive. During his time at the St. Vincent Botanic Garden the number of 'correspondents became so large that great part of [his] time and attention were taken up in answering them'. As per his Account, the scarcity of scientific expertise in the Caribbean obliged Anderson to cultivate a 'correspondence with scientific men' and 'particularly lovers of botany in every part to which a communication could be kept open'; primarily to ensure 'liberal returns for seeds and plants' from around the globe. In North America, some of Anderson's most notable correspondents included Thomas Jefferson, George Washington and Benjamin Vaughan, the then negotiator for Britain in drafting the Treaty of Paris. Surviving letters between Anderson and Washington show that seeds were sent from St. Vincent during 1789, after which time he received specimens of olive tree. A year later in 1790 Jefferson sent seeds of 'the dry red rice' to the Botanic Garden and informed Anderson of future opportunities for importing it from China. Other correspondents in the Americas included the Spanish Governor of Trinidad José Maria Chacón - whose 'liberal sentiments' and 'encouragement' for 'adventurers from British islands' allowed him to 'reap a great harvest [of plants]' in 1786 - and a host of unnamed contacts on the Island of St. Lucia. Anderson identified one of these individuals as 'a gentleman' who