Both the City and the Home Office supported it financially. But, the Independence of Belgium (1830-1831) was detrimental to the Dutch-born institution: it was regarded as orangist, as a mere playground for the local elites, and as not useful for the country's agriculture, among other critiques. From then on, the garden would have to battle to survive. The state and the city did not want to support it anymore unless it proved useful to the whole country, so the Garden was obliged to develop its commercial activities. It sold plants by the thousands, and created several money-consuming attractions and events for the local élite, like aquaria, a dance room, fairs, a fish nursery, concerts etc. In the 1860s, the aging buildings required renovation. The board of the Society of Horticulture tried to raise the money, but the costs were just too high for the company. In 1870, the Belgian Government took over the company. The National Botanic Garden was created in the very same year. Barthélemy Dumortier (1797-1878), a Belgian politician and botanist, had played a major role in this process. He wanted a ?Belgian Kew? to be created in the capital of Belgium, that is to say a botanical garden dedicated to taxonomy. That is why, some months before the garden was bought by the state, the Belgian Government had purchased the famous von Martius Herbarium that was held in Munich. So, in 1870, Belgium had a great herbarium and an appropriate building. This was the dawn of a new era for Belgian botany.
